Without Watt, no stopping Raiders
PITTSBURGH — Jon Gruden’s long, arduous, multistate, multiyear rebuilding project finally might be nearing its end.
The swagger might be back for the Las Vegas Raiders. The deep ball certainly is.
Derek Carr threw for 382 yards and two touchdowns, including a pretty, 61-yard strike to Henry Ruggs midway through the fourth quarter, as the Raiders toppled Pittsburgh 26-17 on Sunday.
Not bad for a team playing on a short week on the other side of the country without its running back and any sort of offensive balance. It didn’t matter, particularly once the Steelers lost star outside linebacker T.J. Watt to a groin injury in the second quarter.
“Anytime he is on the field he wrecks everything,” Carr said of Watt, adding, “When he’s out of the game you notice he’s out but that doesn’t mean that we can do this or we can do that. We run our stuff in Las Vegas and have full confidence in our guys.” It certainly looked like it. Carr shredded the Pittsburgh secondary in Watt’s absence, completing 16 of 21 passes for 263 yards in the second half, including a nine-yard flip to Foster Moreau in the third quarter and a rainbow to Ruggs with 9:35 remaining that gave the Las Vegas defense all the cushion it needed.
“You just see this gear that not a lot of human beings have,” Carr said of Ruggs. “It makes it fun for me.”
Ben Roethlisberger passed for 295 yards, including a 25-yard catch-and-run in the fourth quarter that rookie running back Najee Harris turned into the first touchdown of his career, drawing the Steelers within 16-14.
The Raiders (2-0) responded immediately. Facing third and 10 on Las Vegas’ next possession, Carr had plenty of time to step up and heave it to a streaking Ruggs, who raced past Pittsburgh’s Minkah Fitzpatrick and Ahkello Witherspoon and into the end zone as the Raiders beat the Steelers for the sixth time in their last eight meetings.
“Not many guys can run that fast and track the ball,” Gruden said of Ruggs. “It was certainly a big play. The protection, the revolving door we had up front in the critical moment and the throw ... there was a lot of good stuff to go around.”
Ruggs finished with five receptions for 113 yards, one of four Raiders with five grabs as Carr spread it around. “We’re loaded with playmakers,” Ruggs said.