'Immaculate' decisions are difficult

By John Clayton
http://www.espn.go.com
September 25, 2012

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• Breaking Down Monday Night's Officiating

A little less than 40 years ago, I was an 18-year-old high school student credentialed to cover the Pittsburgh Steelers for the St. Mary's Daily Press, a small paper in the middle of Pennsylvania.

The Pittsburgh Steelers made the playoffs, and I was witness to history. Franco Harris caught a deflected pass -- dubbed the "Immaculate Reception" by the late Steelers broadcaster Myron Cope -- and ran directly toward the auxiliary press box at Three Rivers Stadium where I was seated. Several members of the media stood up and cheered the game-winning touchdown pass over the Oakland Raiders. I turned to an NFL official standing behind me and asked for replay because I thought it was an illegal catch.

As Myron would say, "It was deja vu all over again" on Monday night as Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Golden Tate caught what I call "The Immaculate Deflection." Tate was awarded a controversial touchdown on a Hail Mary pass from quarterback Russell Wilson, in which it looked as though Green Bay Packers defensive back M.D. Jennings intercepted the ball.

What I can't believe is that 40 years of technological development left the Packers in the same situation as the Raiders: hopeless and angry. I'll never forget the scene in the Packers' lockerroom when the offensive players saw the replay of Tate's touchdown. They shouted their anger and threw towels at the television sets. They felt as though they were robbed.

Sensing this could be a crazy finish, I went down to the 15-yard line for the final two minutes to see if anything would happen. I purposely positioned myself in a spot to follow referee Wayne Elliott. I was no more than 10 feet away from him on the field when the play was ruled a touchdown.

Elliott immediately went over to the replay monitor.

One of the legends of the Immaculate Reception is that the referee actually went over to a television set that was on the field and watched the play. While probably not true, the legend has it that the ref turned to someone and said, "How many people are in the stands? … Touchdown, Pittsburgh."

Seeing Elliott come out of the hooded replay area, you almost felt as though he wasn't going to do anything to anger the 68,218 Seahawks fans. What concerned me was how lost he looked going back to the field. He didn't seem to know that both teams had to be on the field for the extra point.

There has been a debate as to whether replay can overturn Tate's touchdown. Long-time referee Jerry Austin, working as an analyst for ESPN during the broadcast, said this particular play wasn't reviewable for possession of the ball. The rule pertaining to simultaneous possession is that the offensive player wins all ties.

From my vantage point on the field -- and having watched the replays -- it should have been ruled an interception. Of course, I still believe the Raiders should have been given the Tom Brady fumble that was called an incompletion because of the Tuck Rule.

But going back to the Immaculate Reception, former Steeler Frenchy Fuqua, whom Harris' catch bounced off of, waited 10 years after his retirement to announce his opinion about whether or not it was a catch. He said it wasn't a catch because the ball bounced off him, and at the time NFL rules stated the ball couldn't touch two players from the same team.

As it turned out, Vic Ketchman, a longtime football writer, was at Monday's game covering for Packers.com. We both covered the Steelers during the 1970s and compared notes after Packers-Seahawks game. We agreed the ball should have been ruled an interception and the Packers should have won.

And still, with all the technology advancement of the past 40 years, we're at the same place we were in 1972. We all have doubt.

The only thing I'm certain of is this game should end the replacement officials experiment. The NFL shield has become cracked, tarnished and ruined during the start of this season.

Raiders 34, Steelers 31

At a loss for words: Steelers collapse late, fall to Raiders
September 24, 2012
The Associated Press , The Altoona Mirror
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OAKLAND, Calif. - Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said Sunday's loss to the Oakland Raiders was the fault of the whole team.

Safety Ryan Clark said the collapse was his fault for "not making sure everybody's where they need to be and understanding the urgency of the moment."

Defensive end Brett Keisel said to "blame this loss on me" because "I messed up some things that resulted in touchdowns."

Article Photos


The Associated Press
Ben Roethlisberger had a huge day but was left hanging his head walking off the field following the Steelers’ last-second loss to the Raiders on?Sunday.

Wide receiver Antonio Brown referred to his fourth-quarter fumble as something that "shouldn't happen."

Heading into the bye week, the Steelers have plenty of blame to go around.

The Raiders scored the final 13 points after wide receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey was knocked out and hospitalized by a scary hit, sending the Steelers to a 34-31 loss when Sebastian Janikowski kicked a 43-yard field goal as time expired.

"That was a poor performance by us," Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said. "You're going to lose games when you play like that, as we did today. We have to chew on this one for a while. It's not going to go down easy, as it should not go down easy. But it won't define us. We'll go back to work. We'll continue to search for areas of improvement, which are many."

Early in the fourth quarter, Heyward-Bey was knocked unconscious by a helmet-to-helmet hit in the end zone by Steelers safety Ryan Mundy that was not called a penalty by the replacement officials. Heyward-Bey was taken to the hospital with a neck injury.

Carson Palmer then threw his third touchdown pass for Oakland (1-2) and Janikowski kicked two field goals to beat the Steelers (1-2) and give coach Dennis Allen his first win.

The Raiders took over with the game tied at their 25 with 1:42 remaining. Palmer got the drive going with a 24-yard pass to Brandon Myers on third-and-10 and then hit Derek Hagan on a 17-yard pass down to the Pittsburgh 26 with 27 seconds left.

Oakland ran down the clock to set up Janikowski's winning kick that sent the crowd into delirium less than an hour after silence overtook the stadium when Heyward-Bey was injured.

"It's tough," said Mundy, sitting in the far corner of the Steelers' locker room. "He has a job just like I have a job. Anytime that he's not able to perform his job because of injury, that's tough as a player. We don't play like that. We don't try to injury people or anything like that. We understand this is people's livelihood. We take that serious."

Mundy's helmet hit Heyward-Bey in the facemask on an incomplete pass in the end zone. Heyward-Bey's neck jerked violently and his head also crashed into the ground. Players from both teams kneeled in prayer as Heyward-Bey was attended to for about 10 minutes. He raised his right hand while being taken off the field on a cart to go to the hospital with a neck injury.

Four plays later, Palmer eluded pressure and found Denarius Moore on a 6-yard touchdown pass that brought Oakland within 31-28 with 12:13 remaining.

Raiders cornerback Pat Lee then forced a fumble downfield by Brown that Philip Wheeler recovered at the Oakland 36. Palmer drove the Raiders down the field and tied the game on a 32-yard field goal by Janikowski with 6:30 to play.

"Their defense made the stops when they needed to, and we didn't," Clark said. "It wasn't from a lack of trying. Maybe it was trying too hard. I know myself I was just, gotta be everywhere, gotta make a play. I take blame it even got to that point, because we kept giving up scores."

With the Steelers missing Pro Bowl defensive stalwarts Troy Polamalu (calf) and James Harrison (knee), the Raiders were able to move the ball effectively most of the game.

Darren McFadden ran for 113 yards, including a 64-yard TD burst in the first quarter that surpassed his rushing total from the first two games of the season combined.

Palmer overcame an interception on the first play of the game to go 24 for 34 for 209 yards and three touchdowns, including a 3-yarder to Heyward-Bey late in the first half.

But Roethlisberger was even better, throwing two TD passes to Heath Miller in the first quarter, as well as third-quarter scores to Mike Wallace and Brown. Roethlisberger finished 36 for 49 for 384 yards as Oakland failed to generate any sustained pass rush.

But Roethlisberger failed to convert a third-and-9 under pressure following the two-minute warning to give Oakland the chance at the winning score.

As if the loss wasn't bad enough, the Steelers will have some extra time to deal with the loss. They don't play again until hosting the Philadelphia Eagles on Oct. 7.

"We let them come back and get the win," Keisel said. "We got to chew on it, and we got to chew on it for two weeks."

NOTES: Myers left the game with a concussion on the final drive. ... Hall of Famer Marcus Allen lit the torch honoring late owner Al Davis in a sign that his long-running feud with the organization has ended. ... Miller has four TD catches in three games.

 © Copyright 2012 The Altoona Mirror. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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History can never repeat Steelers-Raiders of the 1970s

By Mike Bires mbires@timesonline.com | Posted: Saturday, September 22, 2012 11:45 pm

For Steelers fans younger than 50, there’s nothing like Steelers vs. Ravens. It’s one of the NFL’s nastiest rivalry right now. But for those old enough to have witnessed the 1970s, there was nothing like Steelers vs. Raiders.

That feud was so vicious that some of the battles wound up in a court of law.

Count Steelers linebacker James Harrison, who’s 34, among those who don’t know much about the Pittsburgh/Oakland rivalry of yesteryear. One day during training camp last August, Harrison said he had never even heard of Ken Stabler. Nicknamed “the Snake,” Stabler played quarterback for the Raiders on the 1970s and played a leading role in the rivalry with the Steelers.

When asked what he knows of the history between the Steelers and Raiders, running back Isaac Redman, who’s 27, proudly proclaimed that he knew all about Franco Harris and the Immaculate Reception. Kudos to Redman for having an appreciation of the most famous singular play in sports history.

But the Steelers/Raiders rivalry of the ‘70s that gave us much more than just the Immaculate Reception.

Consider that:

-- The Steelers and Raiders met an unprecedented five straight times in the playoffs -- including three times in the AFC Championship game -- from 1972-76.

-- On Dec. 22, 1972 before the Raiders played the Steelers in a first-round playoff, Oakland tight end Rob Moore claimed he was mugged by Pittsburgh police outside the Downtown Hilton. A throng of Steelers fans had gathered outside the hotel and jeered any Raider who ventured in or out.

A police report said that “all hell broke loose” when Moore and a teammate tried squeezing through the crowd after watching a movie. Moore was treated at Mercy Hospital where he needed five stitches to close a gash on his head. Moore played the next day, although he had a hard time putting on his helmet.

-- After losing a first-round playoff game to the Raiders in 1973, the rivalry continued to take shape a year later. During the regular season, the Steelers lost in Oakland. Then on Dec. 29, 1974, the Steelers returned to Oakland for the AFC championship. This was a pivotal game in Steelers’ history, one that got them to the Super Bowl for the first time.

It also marked one of the few times in Chuck Noll’s career as coach that he gave a pre-game pep talk. Noll was none too happy about remarks made by Raiders coach John Madden the previous week. After Oakland knocked off Miami, the two-time reigning Super Bowl champs, in a first-round playoff game, Madden called the Raiders and Dolphins the NFL’s best two teams.

Noll was livid and told the Steelers that “the Super Bowl is two weeks from now, and the best team in pro football is sitting right here in this room.”

The Steelers beat the Raiders 24-13. Two weeks later, they beat the Vikings in Super Bowl IX.

-- The following season, the Steelers and Raiders met again for the right to go to the Super Bowl. But this game was played at ice-cold Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. The temperature that day was 17 degrees with a wind-chill factor of minus 10.

“The ice may have been worse than the cold, especially the ice along the sidelines,” said Madden, who insinuated that the Steelers’ grounds crew created this icy situation on purpose in an effort to slow down the Raiders’ passing attack.

“Cold as hell,” Noll said after a 16-10 win. “You couldn’t do the things you do normally. You couldn’t play perfect football, but it was a true test. It brings out character.”

-- As if the football gods added fuel to the feud, these two rivals opened the 1976 season in Oakland. The Raiders won a brutal battle 31-28 in a game in which defensive back George “Doctor Death” Atkinson knocked out Steelers receiver Lynn Swann with a vicious forearm to the head (just as he had dine in the '75 AFC Championship Game). Afterwards, Noll referred to Atkinson when talking about the “criminal element” in football.

Atkinson filed a $2 million defamation lawsuit against Noll and the Steelers, but lost.

-- In the 1976 AFC Championship Game, the Steelers and Raiders met again. But in Oakland, the Steelers lost 24-7 while Harris and Rocky Bleier sat out with injuries.

-- So just how intense and entertaining was the Steelers/Raiders rivalry in the 1970s?

Perhaps ex-NFL referee Tommie Bell put it best before the '76 playoffs.

Because he was about to end his long career as an official, NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle granted Bell a retirement wish: For your final assignment, you can work the AFC Championship Game between the Steelers and Raiders, or you can ref the Super Bowl.

Bell chose Steelers vs. Raiders.

For Steelers, epic game vs. Raiders in 1972 regular season

By Alan Robinson
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
September 21, 2012

Forty years ago, during the 40th season for a franchise that was championship-free and victory-deprived, the Steelers came of age against the Oakland Raiders.

The Steelers were three years removed from a one-win season and nine years past their last winning season. Yet they physically manhandled the Raiders, who were polishing their playing-on-the-edge reputation for nastiness under coach John Madden.

Joe Greene and an under-construction Steelers defense (Jack Ham, Mel Blount and Dwight White were all in place) shoved around a Raiders team that went 10-3-1, punished them, made them change quarterbacks not once but twice.

It was the day the Steelers grew up, shed all the laughable-loser labels of the previous four decades and never looked back.

It was the day their reputation as the NFL’s version of the Washington Generals disappeared. The day that the rest of the league realized what Chuck Noll and his staff, Dan Rooney, Art Rooney Jr. and Dick Haley were molding in Pittsburgh — Pittsburgh! — might be something special, something formidable, something to be reckoned with.

But it wasn’t that day in 1972.

Those old enough to remember the year the Steelers turned the corner recall the wonderment and improbability of them beating the Raiders, 13-7, in the Immaculate Reception playoff game. To this day, Franco Harris’ gift-from-the-heavens touchdown is widely recognized as the most implausible game-winning play of all time in any sport.

But what is largely forgotten is that the Steelers beat the Raiders twice that season, including their turn-the-corner 34-28 win before a sellout crowd (rare for the time) of 50,141 at Three Rivers Stadium on Sept. 17, 1972. It was 40 years ago this week, if you’ll recall.

Even if many who were there don’t.

“I didn’t remember that,” said Haley, the Steelers’ player personnel director at the time and father of current offensive coordinator Todd Haley.

This upset win wasn’t a Harris production, either. In his first NFL game, the rookie whose 1,055-yard season is widely credited for transforming the Steelers from mediocre (5-9 in 1970, 6-8 in 1971) to magical (11-3 in 1972) was held to 28 yards on 10 carries.

Terry Bradshaw, still two years away from winning the quarterback’s job full time, was 7 of 17 for 124 yards and three interceptions, yet the Steelers opened a 27-7 lead partly because he ran for two touchdowns.

“I played stupid football at times,” Bradshaw said afterward.

No, this was about a developmental-stage defense that chased Ken Stabler (5 of 12, 54 yards, three interceptions) and ageless wonder George Blanda, who turned 45 that day and went 4 of 11 for 64 yards and a touchdown before being yanked for Daryle Lamonica.

Madden, asked afterward about his quarterback rotation, said, “The second guessers can go (expletive) themselves.”

Lamonica threw two touchdowns to rookie Mike Siani and was 8 of 10 for 172 yards in barely a quarter, but he ran out of time on the day it finally became the Steelers’ time. They had been waiting only since 1933.

“This is the way the defense can win games, playing together,” said Chuck Beatty, a college teammate of Greene’s at North Texas State who had two interceptions, one for a touchdown. Henry Davis blocked a punt for another score.

Beatty had no idea how prophetic he would be.

That win put the Steelers on a path to a 7-0 home-field record in 1972.

Count Steelers safety Ryan Clark among those who wish they had been there.

“It was a different game then,” Clark said. “(Cornerback) Mel Blount would probably play rush linebacker now. It was a physical game; it was what it was predicted on. That’s why you had a name like the Steel Curtain.”

Only then, the defense had yet to gain its famous nickname. This was also before Franco’s Italian Army, the Terrible Towel, a single playoff game or even the thought of one Super Bowl, much less four in six seasons.

But a dynasty was born 40 years ago this week, against the very team — the Raiders — the Steelers will play Sunday.

Even if many have forgotten this epic Raiders-Steelers game. Even if many don’t realize this was the day — not Dec. 23, 1972, the date of the Immaculate Reception — that the Steelers became the Steelers.

Alan Robinson is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at arobinson@tribweb.com.

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The Pirates aim to be....Hell's Angels?

Pirates assistant general manager Kyle Stark (left), talking with general manager Neal Huntington, had the organization's minor leaguers work with Navy SEALS last weekend. (Christopher Horner | Tribune-Review)

Kovacevic: Pirates aim to be … Hells Angels?

By Dejan Kovacevic

Published: Thursday, September 20, 2012, 11:20 p.m.Updated 14 hours ago 

Even as these Pirates keep muddling through Epic Collapse II, their minor league prospects spent the past weekend in Florida inexplicably, indefensibly performing military drills under the direction of former Navy SEALS. No bats, no balls, no gloves.

Yeah, this again.

Here’s the deal: Since I brought this topic to light in a column last Friday, many, many more people have come forward to express their disdain for Neal Huntington and his assistant, Kyle Stark, for adding three days of soldier-level training to their Instructional League regimen. And in every case, those people have contacted me, not the other way around.

A few readers asked if I would have written last week’s column in June or July, when the Pirates were flying high. The answer is almost certainly no. But that’s only because a) the event just happened and b) the mood wasn’t the same for these people to talk.

So let’s start with the SEALS activity list I was texted. And bear in mind, these are baseball players:

• Wake up at 5 a.m.

• Organize room/locker

• Pushups and sit-ups

• Serpentine on the grass

• Crab walk

• Running along the beach with a telephone-type pole, carried by five or six players

• Pushing a truck tire through the outfield for 90 feet, then flipping it

• Being sprayed by a hose

• Diving into a sand pile

All with a drill sergeant barking orders throughout.

When the Penguins had a team-building session at West Point in 2007, their most grueling exercise, according to most players, was an extended round of jumping jacks.

I’ll repeat: These aren’t soldiers. They’re baseball players. Their training varies from position to position. They’re also teenagers for the most part. Most have never heard of these types of exercises, much less prepared mentally or physically to endure them. Ask anyone in the military, and they’ll attest there’s no comparison between what they do and even the highest level of athletics.

Most of the people who called have used fierce language to denounce this, none more so than those within the Pirates who obviously can’t speak on the record for fear of their jobs.

That’s OK. I’ll say it for them: It’s a joke.

And it’s doubly so in the context of an organization that’s seen prospect after prospect arrive in Pittsburgh lacking in the most basic fundamentals.

But don’t take my word. Have a laugh yourself at how goofy the Pirates’ development approach has become and why they are, as one American League scout put it, “the laughingstock of the industry.”

On June 28 at 5:22 p.m., Stark sent an email to his minor league managers and coaches, copies of which were forwarded to me from within the organization. Huntington, who promoted Stark to assistant GM last winter, was copied on the email. I confirmed Thursday that neither Bob Nutting nor Frank Coonelly was.

“So what do we need to get done in the second half?” Stark opens the email.

He then stresses developing “boys into men” for the purpose of reaching the majors, listing three points: “Dream and be creative like a Hippie. Have the discipline and perseverance of a Boy Scout. Be crazy and take risks like the Hells Angels.”

Yeah, those Hells Angels.

The famous motorcycle club that is listed as an organized crime syndicate by the U.S. Department of Justice. The one that poses “a criminal threat” in 27 nations because of drug trafficking, theft, money laundering, extortion, assault and homicide.

Here’s guessing “Play ball!” isn’t their motto.

More Stark: “The biggest impact we can have is developing more Hells Angels. We are really good at working before games. We excel at developing Boy Scouts. However, men play in the Big Leagues and that requires the reckless abandon of a Hells Angel. They’re not consumed or swayed by what others think. They sell out to their purpose and live life fully and in-the-moment (‘this pitch’).”

The nonsense goes on for several paragraphs, including this cultish creepiness: “At the end of the day, the Hells Angels are fiercely loyal to each other. ... They love each other. Are our players bound by brotherhood? Are we bound by brotherhood?”

And this: “We must get out of our comfort zones and flex our own Hells Angel muscle. We must be extreme in our commitment to these ideas. This is ultimately about developing a mentality and a culture where this becomes our identity. A culture of risk and less control is unsettling for us control freaks!”

Unsettling, indeed.

Stark, 34, has zero military background. Truth be told, he didn’t come to the Pirates with much of a baseball background, either. He played volleyball in school, spent two years as pitching coach at St. Bonaventure and worked in the Indians’ system for four years.

And yet Stark has been running a baseball system in a military way — including cleaning house of established baseball men to hire like-minded coaches — for five years here.

His email ends with this: “HOKA HEY — It’s a good day to die!!!”

This was the battle cry of the Native American hero Crazy Horse.

Crazy, indeed.

Or power hungry.

Or just plain incompetent.

About Dejan Kovacevic

Tribune-Review Sports Columnist Dejan Kovacevic can be reached via e-mail or at412-380-5677.

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Pirates Collapse

By Stan McNeal
The Sporting News
September 20, 2012

Give this much to the Pittsburgh Pirates: This year’s collapse has been a total team effort.

Pitching, hitting, defense … it all has fallen apart as a season that looked so promising just a month ago has turned into a sad situation. Since Aug. 20, the Pirates’ pitching staff has posted the third-highest ERA, their offense has scored the fifth-fewest runs and their defense has allowed the most unearned runs in the National League.

The Pirates are in jeopardy of a 20th consecutive losing season. (AP Photo)

The result has been a 7-20 skid that not only has taken Pittsburgh out of playoff contention but left it in need of a dramatic turnaround to avoid another losing season. This would be the franchise’s 20th consecutive sub-.500 finish, extending what already is the longest streak of losing seasons in the history of U.S. pro sports.

Shortly before the Pirates’ plummet began, I was talking to reliever Jason Grilli about the team’s strong season. We talked about Andrew McCutchen deserving the MVP, about the positive vibe established in the clubhouse by manager Clint Hurdle, about being in the playoff race so deep into the season.

“A lot of people come up and talk to me about a winning season,” Grilli said. “A winning season might be what they’re thinking about but not us. We have our sights set higher than that.”

Two days later, the Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals in 19 innings and moved two games ahead of them in the standings. Considering that the Pirates’ second-half troubles last season coincided with a 19-inning loss, the marathon victory seemed like an appropriate omen for 2012.

Oh, well. Pittsburgh then lost three consecutive games in San Diego and never recovered.

Now we are left to wonder how much this season’s collapse will carry over to next season. By the All-Star break this year, the Pirates already—and understandably—had grown weary of being asked about their 2011 collapse. Now they are certain to enter 2013 hearing the same kind of questions, only reinforced another disappointing second half.

Maybe the club will be more aggressive next year at the nonwaiver trading deadline. As valuable as are prospects—and the Pirates have at least three of the most valued in the game—sometimes you need to be bold. Trading for Wandy Rodriguez, Gaby Sanchez, Travis Snider and Chad Qualls hardly was bold.

Rodriguez has been effective, going 4-4 with a 3.76 ERA in 11 games (10 starts). But the other three have contributed about as much as expected, which isn’t much. Sanchez and Snider have combined for four homers, and Qualls has a 7.94 ERA in 14 appearances.

You can say this about the newcomers, though: They have fit right in on a sinking team.

Scouting Report: Steelers at Raiders

By Mike Bires
Beaver County Times
http://www.timesonline.com
September 19, 2012

Years ago when the Raiders were a force in the NFL, eccentric owner Al Davis registered trademarks for the slogans he coined to describe his operation.  Pride and Poise.  Commitment to Excellence.  And the most famous: Just Win, Baby.

But since losing in the Super Bowl 10 years ago, the Raiders have been irrelevant. They have not had a winning season since 2002. Davis, who died last year, lost his touch as a keen evaluator of talent. His shaky personnel decisions reflected the demise of the Raiders. Davis also lost patience with coaches too often. In the past 10 years, the Raiders have had seven coaches. So much for stability.

Now that Davis’ son is running the franchise, he’s hired Dennis Allen as the new coach and proclaimed this as the "New Era of Excellence."

There hasn’t been anything excellent about the Raiders’ 0-2 start. After opening their new era with a 22-14 home loss to Chargers, they were embarrassed on the road by the Dolphins, 35-13. And now they await the arrival of the Steelers (1-1).

Today, Times pro football writer Mike Bires takes a look at the struggling Raiders, one of six NFL teams yet to win this year.

OFFENSE

It doesn’t bode well for a team when its quarterbacks are Carson Palmer, Matt Leinart and Terrelle Pryor.

Palmer, 32, never lived up to his hype after the Bengals selected him as the No. 1 in 2003. Palmer, who won the Heisman Trophy at Southern Cal, has never played in the Super Bowl. He’s never even won a playoff game.

In Leinart, another former USC Heisman Trophy winner, the Raiders have one the biggest busts in recent NFL history. Leinart, picked 10th by the Cardinals in 2006, is now with his third team. He has an 8-10 record in games he’s started.

In Pryor, a former Jeannette High School star, the Raiders have a young enigma on their hands. Pryor is an amazing athlete who’s 6-foot-5 and 230 pounds. But he’s a project who might not have what it takes to play QB in the NFL.

This season, Palmer has already thrown 94 passes. Only Drew Brees of the 0-2 Saints has thrown more (101). Palmer has thrown for a lot of yards (670), but he’s only produced two TD passes. He ranks 22nd in the league with a 84.1 passer rating.

“Carson Palmer is very familiar with us and how we attack people,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said. “He probably has as much experience facing our defense and our pre-snap looks and blitz packages as any quarterback in football. He has always represented himself well against us.

“He fits well with some of the things they do on offense, under the leadership of offensive coordinator Greg Knapp, and his West-Coast principles. They make quick reads and quick throws. Palmer is capable of doing that.”

RB Darren McFadden rushed for 1,157 yards two years ago. Last year he led the NFL in rushing (614) after six weeks before suffering a season-ending knee injury.

This year, McFadden has just 54 yards on 26 carries. As a team, the Raiders rank with 68 rushing yards.

McFadden does lead the Raiders with 15 receptions for 105 yards. The Raiders’ top wide receiver is Darrius Heyward-Bey, who led the team last year with 64 catches for 975 yards and four TDs

DEFENSE

With the exception of veteran DT Richard Seymour, the Raiders have a no-name defense with plenty of problems.

At cornerback, they have serious issues now that Shawntae Spencer, a former Pitt and Woodland Hills standout, is out indefinitely with a sprained foot. Ron Bartell, the other starting corner, is on injured reserve with a broken shoulder blade. It’s getting to the point that free safety Michael Huff could move to cornerback this week.

Although the Raiders rank 15th in total defense, they’re 29th in rushing defense at 147.5 yards per game. Sunday in Miami, the Raiders gave up 263 rushing yards, including 172 to Reggie Bush.

That’s encouraging news for the Steelers, who rank 30th with 141 rushing yards.

SPECIAL TEAMS

The Raiders have had a strong kicking game for several years. Last year, four Raiders went to the Pro Bowl. Joining Seymour were LS Jon Condo, P Shane Lechler and K Sebastian Janikowski.

In the season-opening loss to the Chargers, the Raiders had major problems after Condo left the game with a concussion. His backup bounced one snap back to Lechler and rolled another. The Raiders also had a punt blocked. But Condo is back this week.

“When you talk about the Raiders, you talk about great stability in the kicking game and their specialists,” Tomlin said. “Shane Lechler has been around there for a decade as their punter. He’s a top-quality guy. Sebastian Janikowski ... has a powerful leg. He has been very successful. I doubt we will get very many kickoff return opportunities in the game. And I am really intrigued by Phillip Adams, their punt return man.”

Adams returned a punt 47 yards against the Dolphins.

WHAT LIES AHEAD

Already 0-2, the Raiders face a tough stretch of their schedule starting Sunday against the Steelers. The next three QBs they face are Ben Roethlisberger, Denver’s Peyton Manning and Atlanta’s Matt Ryan.

“I’ve got my eye on Pittsburgh. That’s the only place I’m looking,” Allen said. “I don’t concern myself with a lot of those big picture things. I’m working one week to the next … how can we try to develop a plan that’s going to give us a chance to be successful against Pittsburgh?”

Despite the Raiders’ woes, Tomlin expects a severe rest in Oakland.

“The challenge is facing the Raiders who are thirsty for a win,” he said. “And they are ready to do so in front of their home fans, which always creates an extremely hostile environment for visitors, particularly us, given the history there.”

Years ago when the Raiders lived up to Davis’ mottos, Pittsburgh vs. Oakland was one of the NFL’s most bitter rivalries. But that’s hardly the case anymore.