Spillane's Experience with Steelers Could Help Raiders

Las Vegas Raiders linebacker Robert Spillane spent four seasons in Pittsburgh. His knowledge of the Steelers' offense could come in handy on Sunday.

Last season, the Las Vegas Raiders lost a three-point game to the Pittsburgh Steelers. 

One of the Steelers' linebackers led the Steelers' defense in tackles that game while also playing 100 percent  of the defensive plays. Both of these surely caught the attention of a Raiders Coach Josh McDaniels.

"Just watching him play and playing against him, competing against him," McDaniels said. "We competed against him last year late in the season, had an opportunity to see that firsthand just his physicality, his toughness, his intelligence, passion for football, the way he plays and competes on every play." 

Fast forward a season, and after playing four seasons for the Steelers, often in a reserve role and as a special teams player, Spillane signed with the Raiders in the offseason. 

Spillane, a fifth-year veteran out of Western Michigan, arrived in Las Vegas, matured from his time in Pittsburgh, and was ready for a starting position in the National Football League.

"They asked a lot of him and so do we," McDaniels said. "So, we're just fortunate that we have him on our team, are excited to continue to grow with him, and obviously our team feels the same way about him."

Spillane officially made a name for himself in Pittsburgh and his knowledge of the inner workings of the Steelers' offense may or may not benefit the Raiders on Sunday. 

For McDaniels, Spillane's knowledge, while valuable, will only help so much.  

"I mean I think obviously there's information that any team has the opportunity to do that if you have a player that might have played somewhere else before," McDaniels said. 

"Honestly I'm not sure that there are many games that we play in that we don't have some carryover or somebody who has some familiarity with that. So, you do the best you can, but obviously, you take it with a grain of salt because they can do whatever they want to do this week, and I'm sure that they will, whatever they think they need to do to win."

Spillane is giving any additional information possible to his teammates that could potentially give them all a competitive advantage on Sunday. 

However, Spillane feels the Raiders' success on defense will come down to the same thing it always does: sound fundamentals and communication.

"Of course, there's some preparation knowing the [Steelers] guys and trying to help my teammates understand who these guys are a little bit better, Spillane said. "At the end of the day, we stick with fundamentals, communicate as a defense, get 11 hats to the ball, and good things will happen."

While Spillane's knowledge of the Steelers' offense might only go so far, every little bit helps, even the most minor tidbit. Professional football is, of course, a game of inches. 

The Silver and Black return home to Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas to play the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, Sept. 24, at 8:20 p.m. EDT/5:20 p.m. PDT.

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