The Oakland Raiders opened their upset bid with a Sebastian Janikowski field goal early in the first quarter to take a 3-0 lead. The Raiders defense forced a Steelers three and out thanks to a third down sack of QB Ben Roethlisberger.
The Raiders offense struggled a bit on the ensuing drive but benefited from 20 yards of Steelers penalties including a bit of a ticky tack roughing the passer and then a five yard defensive holding penalty. The Raiders added in a Jason Campbell 17-yard hookup with Johnny Lee Higgins to get into field goal range. Janikowski had little trouble hitting the 41 yard field goal.
Although the Steelers currently are 6-3 and tied for first in the NFC North they’ve been a bit inconsistent. They’re coming off a demoralizing 39-26 home beatdown against the New England Patriots and are looking to bounce back. Meanwhile the Raiders find themselves in first place in their division, but it’s a tightly packed bunch with the Chiefs and Chargers both hosting relatively weak opponents. The AFC West divisional race will go down to the wire but a win today would be monstrous for the Raiders.