Steelers Offense vs Raiders Defense - BREAKDOWN

Oakland Has NOT Been Friendly to Big Ben

The Pittsburgh Steelers are headed to the "Black Hole" on Sunday for a 4:05 game between two, 2-4 teams.  The ramifications of this game are well documented, so its time I break down the opposition and today I break down the Steelers offense vs the Raiders defense in my Top 5 Storylines of the matchup:

- Big Ben = NO Big Mistake - Ben Roethlisberger doesn't like Oakland.  He has never won there.  Heck, the Steelers haven't won there since 1995.  Big Ben's struggles date back to 2006 when coming off of the Superbowl 40 victory where the big mistake was made on more than one occasion.  If the Steelers want to win this game, Ben Roethlisberger needs to be the Big Ben of the last 2 games, and not the Big Ben of the previous 4.  Keep the INT / Fumble line clean and the Steelers should be sitting pretty in terms of the ability to win the football game.

- Run, Run, Run - Did everyone see the Steelers run the football against that "vaunted" Ravens defense last week?  First time the Steelers rushed for over the century mark this season.  Now its time to duplicate that against a Raiders defense that gives up a stingy 99 yards a game.  Well, that isn't that stingy, but its actually better than the Steelers defense.  The Raiders are a vulnerable group through the air (giving up 241yds on average per game), but the Steelers need to run the football to open up the passing game.  Look for heavy doses of Le'Veon Bell, as well as Guy Whimper and Mike Adams as extra tackles to open up lanes for Bell to get loose.

- Redzone = Fun Zone? - The redzone has NOT been the "fun zone" for the Steelers.  Mike Tomlin recently addressed that during his weekly press conference.  The Steelers HAVE to be better in the redzone if they truly want to be an offensive team that can score more than 19 points.  The Steelers defense is pretty solid, but holding teams in today's NFL to under 17 points is difficult.  The Steelers shouldn't turn down points, but at the same time they shouldn't settle for FGs.  Shaun Suisham is "money", but the Steelers need TDs not FGs.  The Steelers gimmick plays typically were run between the 40s, but it might be time to expand that part of the playbook to the redzone too.  Just a thought!

- Spread the Love - The Steelers passing attack has been spreading the love, and it needs to continue.  Sometimes the Steelers offense gets hyper focused on one player, and this year it has been Antonio Brown, but look at the distribution chart and the Steelers are certainly spreading the love.  This offense needs to keep getting Heath Miller open down the seam, hitting Antonio Brown on those quick hitters, and hopefully get Emmanuel Sanders open deep on play action.  Spread the love to force the defense to say spread out, which will open up running lanes as well.  Wow, look at that...a novel idea...you listening Haley?!

- Mix and Match to Confuse the Raiders - The Steelers game plan last week confused the Ravens.  Anyone else see the Ravens CB not knowing what to do when Ben Roethlisberger split out wide?  The Steelers need to continue to use different line combinations, different formations, and different personnel to keep the Raiders guessing on what the Steelers offense will do in certain packages.  If they can't run the ball down the oppositions throats like in the past, you might as well out think them.  The Steelers accomplished that last week, lets see if they can get it done again Sunday.