4 Things to Watch: Steelers Star Rookie Could Shine Against Raiders
It's been a tough week for Pittsburgh Steelers nation as everyone is mourning the loss of the late great Franco Harris. Pittsburgh is planning to retire Harris' jersey at halftime of the game in Week 16, but it's going to be an emotional day all around the city due to this week's unfortunate events.
Both teams are playing for more than just nostalgia as they are both clinging to very slight playoff hopes and prayers. Here's what to watch for when the game kicks off on Christmas Eve.
Derek Carr's Evolution
Always the hot-button topic amongst the Raiders fan base, Carr has had an eventful season in 2022.
While his numbers this season are pretty much in line with his career averages, there has been a sense of disappointment surrounding his name, mainly due to the fact that there were such high expectations once Las Vegas made the move to go all in and acquire superstar wide receiver Davante Adams. Now an established veteran in the league, Carr has proven himself to be a solid signal caller, but the narrative around him has certainly shifted.
Once known as a check-down artist, Carr has gotten more bold by aggressively pushing the ball down the field more in recent years.
Carr is tied for the league lead with 11 passing touchdowns that travel 20 or more yards down the field. He and Adams have hooked up for several huge touchdown scores over the course of the season, rekindling some of their chemistry from their Fresno State game.
It's worth noting that there are only three NFL defenses that have allowed more deep ball touchdowns (6) this season than the Steelers.
Carr has looked impressive in previous matchups against the Steelers, owning an 8-1 TD/INT ratio while averaging a spectacular 8.7 yards per attempt. Carr delivered a dagger to Henry Ruggs in the final moments of last year's game, and surely many of the members of the Pittsburgh defense would like to atone for that one this week.
Josh Jacobs and the Raiders Power Run Game
Fourth-year running back Josh Jacobs has had a career breakout season in 2022 after the Raiders elected not to pick up his fifth-year option.
Not only does Jacobs have a commanding lead for the rushing title at the moment, but he also leads the entire NFL in yards after contact (984) and broken tackles (41), according to Sports Info Solutions. Jacobs has always been a talented player, but under new play-caller Josh McDaniels, he seems to have unlocked this gear that pretty much no one knew existed as he's looked like a completely different back this season by showing flashes of utter dominance.
Is this the classic case of a player over-performing in a contract year or is this breakout a sign of things to come?
All of the advanced metrics seem to say the breakout is legit and that he's not just simply a product of his environment, but the scheme in which he is currently operating in certainly doesn't hurt. Las Vegas is one of the few teams around the NFL that really feature a fullback as an integral part of their offense. No tailback has carried the ball more this season with a fullback in the backfield as the Raiders are in 21 personnel at the fourth-highest rate in the league.
In those sets, Jacobs is averaging an astounding 5.5 yards per carry. Pittsburgh has faced a couple of power heavy rushing attacks in recent weeks in Baltimore and Carolina to various degrees of success and this week will be another challenging task for Mike Tomlin's group.
Steelers Tackles Have Tough Matchups
The Steelers offensive tackle position has been much maligned over much of the season, but both will need to be on their A-game against the Raiders.
Right tackle Chuks Okorafor will be matched up against Las Vegas EDGE rusher Maxx Crosby for the overwhelming majority of the game. The fourth-year pro out of Eastern Michigan has earned the right to insert his name into the defensive player of the year conversation as he's accumulated the third most pressures in the league this season.
Crosby comes equipped with plus-athleticism, a red-hot motor and a dominant two-hand swipe move that he routinely cooks opposing tackles with. As gaudy as the numbers appear on paper, arguably the most impressive aspect of Crosby's 2022 campaign has been the massive workload that he's been able to absorb, playing in 96% of the team's defensive snaps on the season.
His running mate on the other side gave Raiders faithful quite the scare earlier in the season as he got off to a dreadful start to the year in his transition over with his new team. But you can't close the door just yet on Chandler Jones as he's found a recent resurgence as a pass rusher with a whopping 27 pressures over the past four games, according to Pro Football Focus.
The hero from last week's win against his former team the New England Patriots, Jones has one of the more unique body types and styles of any pass rusher that you'll see in today's game. Most edge rushers rely on athleticism, but Jones's game really revolves around his jaw-dropping length and quirkiness as a pass rusher.
Jones loves to use his length to make first significant contact and then long arm his way into the laps of quarterbacks which will test the anchor of Steelers left tackle Dan Moore Jr.
Trouble in the Raiders Secondary?
Fortunately for both of these teams, the Steelers and the Raiders come into this matchup with a relatively clean bill of health with both sides getting some of their more marquee players back in recent weeks. There is one particular injury of note that is worth talking about, and it's surrounding cornerback Rock Ya-Sin who has already been declared out for this matchup. In last week's matchup against the Patriots, Sidney Jones took over on the boundary but shortly after the first series or two, Amik Robertson was inserted into the lineup and played the lion's share of snaps for the rest of the afternoon.
Robertson was targeted a whopping seven times in the game but only allowed one catch for negative yardage, a solid showing off of the bench.
It's safe to expect that Robertson will once again get the nod this week and see plenty of playing time on the boundary. He's a feisty, highly competitive cornerback who hasn't seen a ton of playing time on defense since being drafted three seasons ago after picking off 14 passes in college at Louisiana Tech.
The biggest drawback with Robertson is that he's only 5-8, 187 pounds, with arms on the shorter side as well. Despite less-than-ideal weather conditions, expect the Steelers to try and take advantage of George Pickens and that side advantage down the sideline at some point in the game.
The Steelers' second-round selection from this past year currently leads the entire NFL in contested catches of over 20+ air yards with nine. Few teams throw as many go balls as the Pittsburgh Steelers do and it's a good bet that we'll see a few more shots taken this weekend.
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