Airing of Grievances: Penalties; injuries; ill-timed big plays highlight Steelers' latest upset loss to Raiders

On Saturday at Heinz Field, it was S.O.P — same old Pitt.

On Sunday at Heinz Field, it was S.O.S — same old Steelers.

Yet another upset loss to the Raiders franchise, their sixth in eight games since 2006. Yet another offensive catastrophe. Yet another give-back game in the standings after securing an impressive win in Buffalo the previous week.

In other words, just an extension of what we have seen since their 11-0 start a year ago and a lot of what we have seen since they were 7-2-1 at the 10-game mark in 2018.

So let’s begin the venting in this week’s “Airing of Grievances” after a 26-17 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday afternoon.

Airing of grievances

Call the doctor!: The Steelers started the game without Devin Bush, Joe Haden and Carlos Davis. Then Tyson Alualu left on the first defensive series with fractured ankle. T.J. Watt left with a groin injury late in the second quarter, and Diontae Johnson injured a knee on the last play of the game.

If the Steelers are going to rely on that defense as much as they appear to be doing, it has to stay healthy. Depth is being stretched at positions where they are already challenged.

There is no other true nose tackle with any significant experience besides Alualu. They were already missing Davis and Stephon Tuitt along the defensive line. After the game, defensive lineman Cameron Heyward said he had to take a few snaps at nose tackle.

“Losing Ty was definitely something we had to adjust to. It was something that took me a while to settle down,” Heyward said. “Having (guys) like Tyson and T.J. out there, there is almost a blanket there. We were already down Tuitt to start with. But it is going to have to be a collective effort. No one guy has to be Superman, but the group has to pick up the slack.”

Cornerback depth is an issue even when everyone is healthy, and this team simply can’t afford to lose Watt for an extended period of time.

Penalty problems: Penalties will happen. It’s one thing if the offensive line holds or the defense gets flagged for a pass interference infraction.

But Steelers wide receivers were penalized three times, two while the clock was stopped. Ray-Ray McCloud got an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after a punt return. It caused the Steelers to start on their 8-yard line. That drive resulted in Ben Roethlisberger’s interception five plays later on a third-and-10 from their 22.

JuJu Smith-Schuster was flagged on a hold. Johnson was busted for a false start.

“We didn’t play smart enough from a penalty standpoint,” coach Mike Tomlin said. “That can’t be a characteristic of our ball. Part of being a tough team to beat is about not beating yourself. I thought we beat ourselves in the area of penalties today.”

The Steelers finished with five penalties for 43 yards.

Can’t take it all away: The Steelers managed to minimize the damage from Raiders star tight end Darren Waller. He had five catches for 65 yards — just one for eight yards in the first half.

Las Vegas quarterback Derek Carr found plenty of other options, though. Hunter Renfrow, Kenyan Drake and Henry Ruggs III caught five passes each. Another tight end, Foster Moreau, had two catches for 34 yards and a touchdown.

Ruggs did the most damage with 113 yards and a touchdown.

The big bomb: The most pivotal play of the game came with the Steelers down 16-14 in the fourth quarter. The Raiders answered a Steelers touchdown with a 61-yard touchdown pass from Carr to Ruggs on third-and-10.

Tre Norwood blitzed on the play but seemed to slow up — or fail to reach higher gear — with a clean lane to Carr.

HENRY RUGGS IS FAST. #RaiderNation

: #LVvsPIT on CBS
: NFL app pic.twitter.com/hjVv6vvE2y

— NFL (@NFL) September 19, 2021

But Tomlin said the bigger issue was allowing Ruggs to get open deep.

“We’ve got to keep a lid on it. Always. Regardless of what the structure of the call is or the situation or circumstance. We can’t have people running behind our defense,” Tomlin said.

Carr in top gear: The Steelers defense can’t figure out Carr.

The Raiders signal caller now has three very good games in three tries against the Steelers, winning two. In his first two starts against the Steelers, Carr was 49 of 78 (62.8%) for 623 yards and a passer rating of 108.

On Sunday, he was 28 of 37 for 382 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. That’s a rating of 126.

Why punt?: With 8:36 left and down 23-14 on the drive after Ruggs’ touchdown, Tomlin decided to punt.

Why?

“I felt comfortable with our ability to stop them. I wanted to play the field position game. We punted it and stopped them,” Tomlin said.

Fair enough. But more than two minutes burned off the clock when Vegas got the ball and the Steelers still needed two more scores. I know Tomlin should have little faith in his shabby offense being good enough to get a yard when it counts. But what were the chances of getting the ball back and scoring twice?

Obviously, not good. Yes, the Steelers scored on the next possession, but it took a 56-yard Chris Boswell field goal to do it. Then the defense allowed the Raiders to get three points back again on the very next drive.

The magic loogie: Trai Turner was ejected for allegedly spitting at Raiders defensive lineman Solomon Thomas.

Trai Turner was ejected after spitting on an opponent.pic.twitter.com/0Em3oyX2cE

— The Sporting News (@sportingnews) September 19, 2021

After the game, Tomlin said someone spit in Turner’s face first.

OK, regardless, two things, Trai:

1. Don’t spit back.

2. If you do spit in retaliation, don’t do it with two officials close enough to see — and maybe even hear — what you did.

B.J. Finney replaced Turner at right guard. We’ll see if any extra discipline comes from the league.