The Oakland Raiders have no answer for Ben Roethlisberger, who is having no problems going up and down the field at the O.co Coliseum. Roethlisberger completed 11 passes for 117 yards and two touchdowns in the first quarter to give the Pittsburgh Steelers a 14-7 lead.
Carson Palmer had his first pass of the game picked off by Ryan Clark, leaving Roethlisberger and the Steelers offense just 36 yards to go to the end zone. They had no problem doing that, capping their short drive with a four-yard touchdown pass to Heath Miller.
The only real offense that the Raiders showed came on a 64-yard touchdown run by Darren McFadden. He burst through the line and raced down the right sideline before diving for the pylon. That evened the score at 7-7 and got the Raiders going, but the Steelers would grab the momentum right back.
Pittsburgh essentially eschewed the running game on their following drive, calling for a run just once. That came at the four yard line, after the Steelers drove down from their own 19 yard line thanks to some splendid work by Roethlisberger. When the one run went for no gain, Pittsburgh went back to the passing game as Roethlisberger found Miller again to put the visitors back on top 14-7.