Banged-up Steelers drop home opener to Raiders

Forget all of the positive vibes the Pittsburgh Steelers generated with their season-opening win at Buffalo.

Any goodwill the Steelers established a week ago wilted in the 79-degree heat at Heinz Field amid a sea of injuries and big second-half plays that enabled the Las Vegas Raiders to spoil the home opener with a 26-17 victory.

Two years ago, the last time the Steelers played a home opener with fans in attendance, Ben Roethlisberger was lost to a season-ending elbow injury. This time, nose tackle Tyson Alualu fractured his right ankle in the first quarter, and All-Pro linebacker T.J. Watt exited before halftime with a groin injury.

The Alualu and Watt injuries came after the Steelers started the game minus cornerback Joe Haden (groin) and inside linebacker Devin Bush (groin).

Taking advantage of the Steelers’ shortcomings on defense, Raiders quarterback Derek Carr threw two touchdown passes and totaled 263 of his 382 yards passing after halftime while helping Las Vegas build a trio of nine-point leads.

“I’m not going to say London Bridge is falling down, but we’ve got to grow from this,” defensive captain Cameron Heyward said. “We have to continue to keep harping on our mistakes and understanding how big those plays are.”

Carr’s 9-yard touchdown pass to Foster Moreau in the third quarter provided the Raiders a 16-7 lead, and a 61-yard bomb to Henry Ruggs III on a third-and-10 came with 9 minutes, 35 seconds to play after the Steelers had pulled within two points.

“I didn’t think we had enough detail or playmaking on possession downs,” coach Mike Tomlin said. “A lot of that had to do with our inability to make plays in spots when attrition set in, but that is the nature of this thing. Put that on me.”

The deep pass to Ruggs came as a result of free safety Minkah Fitzpatrick focusing on tight end Darren Waller, who had 10 catches and was targeted 19 times in the Raiders’ season-opening win against Baltimore.

Cornerback Akhello Witherspoon, acquired from Seattle late in the preseason, was on the field for a rare snap and allowed Ruggs to get behind him on the post pattern. Fitzpatrick retreated but was unable to provide help in time. Ruggs caught the pass in stride and scored untouched.

“We expect guys whether you’ve been here three days or three years to play at a high level,” Fitzpatrick said. “That is what happened to me when I came in here.”

The touchdown was magnified considering the offense had shown signs of life with Roethlisberger collaborating with rookie Najee Harris on a 25-yard swing pass for the running back’s first NFL touchdown with 11:15 to play.

“We really needed to get off the field on that drive,” Heyward said.

With the Steelers down by nine for the second time in the half, Tomlin elected to punt on fourth-and-1 from the Steelers 34 with 8:36 remaining.

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

The Steelers got the ball back with 5:51 to play, and Chris Boswell booted a Heinz Field-record 56-yard field goal with 3:42 left. But the Steelers didn’t get the ball back again until 20 seconds remained. Carr hooked up with Waller on a 25-yard completion that enabled the Raiders to wind down the clock before Daniel Carlson kicked his fourth field goal to restore the nine-point lead.

Waller, held to one catch for 8 yards in the first half, finished with five receptions for 65 yards.

“We’ll absorb this and make corrections and grow from it,” Tomlin said. “More than anything, we’ve got to grow. Win or lose, we’ve got to grow. We have too many young people, new people in significant roles. They’ve just got to grow in understanding those roles, the details required to win, the skills relative to their position and executing in those critical moments.

“Back to work for us.”

When the Steelers resume practice Wednesday in advance of their game Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals, they will do so without Alualu, who is headed to injured reserve. The Steelers can hope that Haden, Bush and Watt return against Cincinnati.

“It’s devastating to us all because they’re who they are. They’re a great defense,” Roethlisberger said. “It’s tough when you don’t see those guys out there.”

Minus Watt for more than half of the game, the Steelers totaled two sacks. One was provided courtesy of Watt, his third of the season. The Steelers hit Carr five times, half as many times as Roethlisberger was pressured.

“It’s not for one man to be Superman,” Heyward said. “The group has to pick up the slack.”