NFL Week 3 Preview - Steelers vs Raiders - Intangibles / Prediction



The Steelers Last Trip to Oakland
Wasn't a Good One For Pittsburgh


The Steelers and Raiders lock horns on Sunday in a much anticipated matchup of two classic NFL teams that can't stand one another.  You watch those NFL Films of the best rivalries, the "America's Game" on the Steelers SB victories and you can just see and hear the disdain for the other team when those older players talk.  Lets face it, since Jon Gruden and Rich Gannon left Oakland the team has been in shambles.  Picking up Terrelle Pryor, then getting Carson Palmer, to drafting Deriyus Heward Bey in the early rounds.  I used to love it when it was week 4 and people said Heward Bey has more names than he has catches!  Anyways, here are some intangibles to look for in the showdown on Sunday and then at the bottom of this post I put on my prognostication hat and will give the readers my prediction.

- The Black Hole - Everyone knows about those cooky morons that wear shoulder pads with spikes, show up in Darth Vader costumes and paint their faces like a bunch of idiots as "the Black Hole".  If you ask me, it looks like a freak show.  Personal feelings aside, it can get plenty loud when traveling to Oakland, but if the Steelers come out quick there is a good chance the Black Hole will fall upon deaf ears.  Home Field advantage is more about the Steelers traveling across country than the Steelers playing in the hole.

- Coaching Opposites - The Steelers are the model of consistency when it comes to coaches.  They hire them and keep them.  There have only been 3 since Chuck Noll was hired in the early 70s.  Everyone knows that, but the Raiders are the complete opposite.  It feels like they have a new coach every 8 weeks.  Regardless of the coach, the Steelers consistency has players knowing what they are going to get week in and week out, year in and year out, and that can lead to trust and overall better performance.

- Protect the Pigskin - It seems every time I talk about intangibles on this site its really categorizing the same things week by week.  The Steelers have avoided the turnovers for the most part in 2 weeks of work.  However, the past few visits to Oakland haven't been kind to the Steelers when it comes to turnovers.  They have caused them, but also coughed up alot of them.  Protect the football and there is a good chance the Steelers enjoy the flight home while knowing they aren't going to have to play the next week.

- Big Win for Pittsburgh - The Steelers have their bye week after this game (as you just read above), but after that bye they have 2 games in 4 days.  They play the Eagles at home for a 1:00 start, then travel to Nashville to face the Titans on Thursday night.  This win is a big one as they can pile them up quickly after their bye week.  The Steelers don't have an easy schedule, but it seems that they play better when they play competition that forces them to put forth 100% focus and effort. 

- Special Teams - The Steelers have been solid on special teams this year, but need to remember to avoid the big play when they are defending on speical teams.  If the Steelers could break a punt / kick return and get Chris Rainey some space it could really kick start this team in the right direction.  However, the Raiders have some of the best special team players in the NFL in Janikowski (not sure about that spelling and don't care enough to look it up) and Lechler.  With them having the ability to make long conversions as well as pin the opponent deep in their own zone, field position will be huge.

- PREDICTION - The Steelers bring in a pedigree that the Raiders don't really know about.  There is NO DOUBT the Steelers are the more talented team, but that doesn't mean anything with the Steelers.  The Steelers are always willing to drop a dud for anyone...just look at the last time they were in Oakland after they won the Superbowl.  Lets analyze this like we do every week.

Offense               Defense                Special Teams        Coaching
Pittsburgh           Pittsburgh                Oakland               Pittsburgh

Looking at those categories its pretty obvious who I'm going to pick.  Surprise Surprise...

Final Score - Steelers - 31 / Raiders - 17