Offensive touchdowns dominated Sunday's game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Oakland Raiders, but a field goal as time expired gave the Steelers the win on Sunday, 38-35. They would never have been in position to get the win if not for a massive day from wide receiver Antonio Brown, though.
Antonio Brown’s record game leads Steelers to thrilling win over Raiders
Brown had a record-setting day against the Steelers and DeAngelo Williams filled in as well as anybody could have for Le’Veon Bell.
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Brown caught 17 of the 23 passes thrown his way for 284 yards. He didn't actually find the end zone himself, as quarterback Ben Roethlisberger threw touchdowns to Martavis Bryant and Jesse James, and DeAngelo Williams rushed for the other two.
The receiving yardage was a single game franchise record. He also compiled the ninth-most receiving yards in a single game, the most since Calvin Johnson had 329 for the Detroit Lions in 2013, and had this going for him:
Antonio Brown's 284 rec yards are the most by any player w/o a rec TD since the merger (previous high: 232 by Keenan McCardell in 1996)
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) November 8, 2015 Running back DeAngelo Williams, who was signed this offseason to be the backup for Le'Veon Bell and start the first couple games of the season while Bell serves suspension, had an excellent game as well. Bell is now out for the season with an injury and Williams, a veteran who many assumed had little left in the tank this year, put up 170 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 27 carries.
Williams is playing in his 10th season and is 32 years old, so he can slow down at some point, but he’s showing no signs of that at this stage of the season.
Roethlisberger played well, with a couple touchdown passes and 334 yards passing, but he sustained a concerning foot injury late in the fourth quarter. Immediately after Aldon Smith got the sack that injured Roethlisberger, the Raiders followed up the drive with a three-and-out. An Antonio Brown fumbled punt set up what looked like a Raiders win, but Derek Carr tossed an interception.
The Raiders did wind up striking though, as Carr put together yet another four-touchdown, 300-yard performance. With a minute to go, he found Michael Crabtree for a 38-yard touchdown, tying the game. But Roethlisberger's backup, Landry Jones, led the Steelers on a seven-play, 79-yard drive in 1:13, capped off with the game-winning field goal.
Jones finished the game having completed four of six passes for 79 yards. Roethlisberger left the stadium to have his left foot evaluated further.
The loss drops the Raiders to 4-4 on the season. They are playing much better than expected and had some momentum coming into Sunday’s game, so this is a real setback. Still, there are a lot of bad teams in the AFC and the Raiders’ playoff hopes are alive and well. The Steelers are alive and well in the playoff hunt themselves as they move to 5-4, still well back of the undefeated Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC North.
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