Comedian Dave Chappell jokes that there is a sign on the bridge from San Francisco to Oakland that says, “Welcome to Oakland, bitch!” It’s not that hard to believe. If there is a team more well known than the Ravens for thuggery, it is the Oakland Raiders.
The Ravens may be the current bad boys of the NFL, but the Raiders represented the criminal element in the NFL long before the Colts packed up few Mayflower trucks and cruised out of Baltimore on I-70.
During this game in the Steel City, the Raiders and Steelers reminded everyone that hard-hitting football was around a long time before the Ravens debuted their beautiful purple uniforms.
Enjoy Your Points, They Are the Last You Will Get
After the Steelers went three and out on the first possession of the game, the Raiders managed to drive to the Steelers’ 23-yard line where their drive stalled.
Citizens around the world must have felt a little ill at ease when the Steelers committed three penalties for 30 yards on the drive.
This would be a recurring theme during the game as the Steelers racked up 14 penalties for 163 yards. That set a new franchise record for penalty yards in a game.
Another theme of the game was the absolute domination the Steel Curtain laid on the Raiders. Until late in the fourth quarter, the Steelers had more penalty yards than the Raiders had offensive yards. QB Jason Campbell was chased from the game to be replaced by Bruce Gradkowski. Gradkowski was about as effective against the Steelers as you would expect Jason Campbell’s backup to be. Each Raider quarterback threw an interception and neither had 100 passing yards.
Those three points would be the only points the Raiders would score for the remainder of the game. After watching Tom Brady and the Patriots move the ball at will the week before, the Steel Curtain redeemed themselves as only they could and it was something to watch.
Not Without a Little Controversy
Naturally, it wouldn’t have been the Steelers without a little controversy. There were several roughing the passer and unnecessary roughness penalties, and a clipping call (which I had not seen in several years).
James Harrison collected one of those roughing the passer penalties when he slammed Raiders’ QB Jason Campbell to the turf after Campbell had thrown a pass. It reminded this child of the ’80s of Randy “Macho Man” Savage, Rick Flair, and of course, Hulk Hogan. Maybe we can start a Twitter campaign to get Silverback to put a figure-four leg lock on someone this year. That would be great!
Not to be outdone, and anxious to prove that if it is criminal conduct you are looking for you need look no further than the silver and black, DE Richard Seymour was tossed from the game after he delivered an open hand slap to QB Ben Roethlisberger’s face. How did Big Ben respond to Seymour’s act (which should have gotten him arrested)?
He threw two more touchdown passes for a total of 3 on 275 yards and no picks. He had already rushed for a score prior to the ejection. RB Rashard Mendenhall added a rushing touchdown, and newly hired kicker Shaun Suisham was perfect on his extra point attempts.
The Play That Changed the Game
No question, the play that changed this game Manny Sanders’ great touchdown catch to put the Steelers up 21-3. The catch was remarkable, but what really changed the game was the punch Richard Seymour delivered to Ben Roethlisberger after an Sanders’ catch.
Check out the 1:49 mark in this highlight package courtesy Youtube, for Manny’s catch and the aftermath.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLuR8_dj1pM&feature=related