After season-opening road win, Steelers' Mike Tomlin not taking Raiders lightly at home

Based on what transpired Monday night in the desert, the Pittsburgh Steelers hope that what happened in Vegas stays in Vegas.

Rallying from a 14-point deficit, the Las Vegas Raiders beat the Baltimore Ravens, 33-27, in overtime, making them a formidable opponent when they meet the Steelers on Sunday at Heinz Field.

The Raiders, 1-0 like the Steelers, will be traveling across the country and working on a short practice week after playing the final game on the Week 1 NFL schedule. Still, what they did against the Ravens was enough to catch Steelers coach Mike Tomlin’s attention.

“We expect that they are going to challenge us in a big way,” Tomlin said Tuesday at his weekly news conference.

Not only did the Raiders rally to tie the score for the first time in the fourth quarter, they also came back from 24-17 and 27-24 deficits, sending the game into overtime on a 55-yard field goal with two seconds left in regulation. And the Raiders ended the game on a 31-yard touchdown pass after it looked like they had frittered away a chance to win it on their previous series when they mishandled a first-and-goal at the 1.

That type of resiliency was lacking in coach Jon Gruden’s first three seasons in his return to the Raiders. Even with an 8-8 season in 2020, the Raiders were 19-29 in Gruden’s tenure and haven’t had a winning record since 2016.

Derek Carr led all quarterbacks in the opening week with 435 yards passing as part of an offense that totaled 491 yards. Tight end Darren Waller caught 10 passes for 109 yards and a touchdown, and six players had at least 46 receiving yards for the Raiders.

That presents a challenge for the Steelers, who are coming off a 23-16 upset victory in which they limited the Buffalo Bills and star quarterback Josh Allen to one touchdown.

“We have a lot to work on,” Tomlin said. “We have a lot of details to improve. We need to continue to gain experience and cohesion individually and collectively. … It’s just a growth that needs to continue at this stage of the journey. We walk into this parking lot each and every day, and we’re either going to get better or we’re not. And we better get better.”

For the first time in two seasons, the Steelers can try to help their cause by having legitimate home-field advantage. After having crowds of fewer than 6,000 fans last year during the coronavirus pandemic, the Steelers are expecting a capacity crowd at Heinz Field.

Tomlin said it is the responsibility of his players to make sure the crowd remains lively. He noted that the Steelers didn’t succeed in taking a boisterous Buffalo crowd out of the game early in the opening matchup in Orchard Park, N.Y.

“It’s our job to make the plays to keep the crowd engaged and entertain them to make it as hostile as we can make it,” Tomlin said. “We’re excited about getting back in the comforts of Heinz Field and entertaining Steeler Nation, but we also are not running from — we are running to — the responsibilities that come with playing at Heinz Field.”

Playing at home, the Steelers offense won’t have to work with a silent count like they did in Buffalo. Tomlin credited a revamped offensive line that featured two rookie starters in left tackle Dan Moore Jr. and center Kendrick Green with not being overwhelmed by the environment.

The Steelers committed just one false start, and it came courtesy of second-year guard Kevin Dotson.

“To not have a bunch of pre-snap penalties and things of that nature, I just thought was a win,” Tomlin said. “I was prepared to deal with first-and-15 some or losing 5 yards on the third-and-3 … because they’ve got the ears back and we’re working on the silent count. I can’t say enough about the work those young guys did. By no means have they arrived. We’ve got so much work ahead of us, but it was enough to get out of that stadium with a win, and I’m appreciative.”