The Pittsburgh Steelers and Las Vegas Raiders under the lights in tonight’s primetime National Football League game. The Steelers and Raiders have a fierce rivalry that goes back even further than the Franco Harris catch that snatched victory from defeat in an opening game of the 1972 playoffs. Earlier that same season, on opening day, Pittsburgh upset Al Davis’ boys at Three Rivers Stadium, 34-28.
Three years in a row these two teams decided who would represent the American Football Conference in the Super Bowl. In 1974 and 1975 the Steelers beat Oakland to advance. In 1976 the Raiders earned a trip to Super Bowl XI and handed the Vikings their fourth loss in the NFL’s biggest game of the year. The Steelers first two Super Bowl wins were over the Minnesota Vikings and Dallas Cowboys.
During the past two seasons, the Raiders and Steelers have battled and each team has won once. The Raiders defeated the Steelers in Pittsburgh two years ago, 26-17, and last season the Steelers downed the Raiders, 13-10.
For tonight’s matchup in Las Vegas, the Steelers opened as a one point road favorite, a line that was quickly wagered to the Raiders favored by two points and more.
The Steelers got a must win last Monday night to avoid a pair of home losses to start the season. It didn’t come easy, the Cleveland Browns outgained Pittsburgh on the ground nearly 4 to 1, 198 rushing yards for Cleveland while the Steelers were limited to 55 infantry gains. The Browns also had more yards passing, and possessed the ball ten minutes longer than Pittsburgh, but two defensive touchdowns turned the final score in the Steelers favor, 26-22.
That is what desperate teams can do … make up for a lot of statistical deficits with the game turning plays from a team fighting for their lives. The Steelers knew that a loss to the Browns would drop them two games back in the AFC North Division standings behind both Cleveland and the Baltimore Ravens. But the win allowed Pittsburgh to pull even with the Browns and only one one game back of the undefeated Ravens.
It appears the public and wise guys are in agreement that the Silver and Black will prevail tonight. It can make logical sense when considering the Steelers are coming off that emotional win over the Browns and the Raiders are looking to take out their disappointment for a one-sided loss in Buffalo last Sunday, 38-10.
I don’t have enough evidence to disagree with the consensus opinion on this one, but hesitate to wager into a four point shift on the line. The Raiders as an underdog looked promising, Las Vegas as a bet-on favorite, not so much.