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Najee Harris, Defense Power Steelers to Win over Raiders

Najee Harris went off and the Pittsburgh Steelers defense dominated the Las Vegas Raiders for a 32-13 victory.

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Pittsburgh Steelers Las Vegas Raiders Najee Harris
Pittsburgh Steelers running back Najee Harris, right, dives for the end zone to score past Las Vegas Raiders cornerback Jack Jones during the second half of an NFL football game in Las Vegas, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/John Locher)

LAS VEGAS โ€” The Pittsburgh Steelers finally got their slow-to-start running game in gear, and Najee Harris ran all over the Las Vegas Raiders in a messy 32-13 victory for the Steelers on Sunday.



Harris entered with 82 carries for 270 yards on the season, for a measly 3.3 yards per carry. But he finally go on track against the Raiders, breaking out for 106 yards on 14 carries.

The rest of the Steelers offense struggled for most of the day, but the team found itself with an eight-point lead in the third quarter, when Harris took over. He took a 2nd and 10 carry for 26 yards to get the drive started, and then broke free on a toss sweep, jetting 36 yards through the Las Vegas defense, and leaping the final five into the end zone for a touchdown.

Justin Fields struggled in the passing game throughout the day. He attempted 24 passes, completing just 14 of them for 145 yards, a passer rating of 75.9. George Pickens, who saw his snaps increase after playing a career low last week, did not do much with his targets. Fields sent eight balls his way and Pickens caught just three for 53 yards. Pickens has caught just six of his last 15 targets over two games.

Besides Harris, the next-best thing the offense did was use Fieldsโ€™ legs. He had 11 carries for 59 yards and found the end zone twice.

Despite the lack of offensive production โ€” the Steelers finished with 293 net yards and were out-gained by the Raiders until the very endโ€” it turned out to be a relatively easy victory for the Steelers thanks to the efforts of the Pittsburgh defense and special teams.

T.J. Watt forced two fumbles, with Keeanu Benton and DeShon Elliott picking up recoveries. Donte Jackson intercepted Aidan Oโ€™Connell to set up a score. Another Steelers score came after Jeremiah Moon blocked a Raiders punt inside the 10-yard line.

The Raiders drove down the field and score a touchdown on the opening drive of the game. After that? Punt, punt, fumble, turnover on downs, blocked punt, fumble, interception.

By the time the Raiders found the scoreboard again, on a late Oโ€™Connell pass over Beanie Bishop to Kristian Wilkerson, the game had already been decided.

The Steelers sandwiched Chris Boswell field goals around that opening-possession Raiders touchdown. After Wattโ€™s first forced fumble, Fields threw an interception to Divine Deablo, but it was overturned by a roughing the passer call. He got into the end zone four players later.

The Steelers actually lost 10 yards after Moonโ€™s punt block, getting just a Boswell chip shot for that effort, but continued to extend the lead to 15-7. Thatโ€™s where the score was when another roughing the passer penalty against Fields extended the Pittsburgh drive, and Harris cashed in with his big play.

Jacksonโ€™s intercepted set the Steelers up with first and goal, and Fields cashed in there, as well, turning the game into a rout.

The Steelers move to 4-2 and will return home to face the New York Jets in Week 7.

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