Grades and thoughts on the Steeler win against the Raiders

Offense... A-

The Steelers offense played a very good game Sunday. It all started with QB Ben Roethlisberger. He completed 18 of 29 for 275 yards and 3 Tds and a QB rating of 127.8. Ben also ran for a 16 yard TD and had 55 total yards rushing.

The offensive line was again hampered by injuries with center Maurkice Pouncey leaving the game early among others who played through injuries off and on all day .The line allowed only 2 sacks and the Steelers rushed for 162 total yards but Rashard Mendenhall only had 59 yards rushing on 23 carries . He did have a TD run .He also had a lot of good runs called back because of penalty. Overall the line did well considering the circumstances .

WR Mike Wallace had another great game with 3 catches for 116 yards and a TD. WR Emmanuel Sanders had another TD and 2 catches for 35 yards. The Offense scored 35 points and looked very good overall .

Defense...A+

The Steelers defense was once again dominate and played lights out Steelers football. They played very physical and was not going to be pushed around by the Raiders . Linebacker James Farrior was the leader on defense and played some very inspired football. He lead the team in tackles with 8 tackles

,1 sack and set the tone for the day.

Linebacker James Harrison had 2 sacks and an interception . The Defense had a total of 6 sacks . Safety Troy Polamalu had an interception. The whole defense played together and just dominated the Raiders in every phase of the game. The Steelers held the number 2 running team in the league to just 61 rushing yards and the Raiders to 3 total points. The Steelers defense played championship caliber defense.

Special Teams...A-

The Special teams coverage unit played very well stopping the Raiders returners . Rookie WR Antonio Brown added a spark to the return team . Punter Dan Sepulveda averaged 45 yards a punt and had 4 inside the 20 ,another good day. The new kicker did not kick any field goals so its hard to judge him but his kickoffs were no worse then Reeds and he was 5 of 5 on extra points.

The Steelers played like an elite team against a pretty good Raider team ,lets hope this continues.

The Good... James Farrior's outstanding defensive performance ,Ben Roethlisberger and Mike Wallace and their big plays... and James Harrison and the rest of the Steelers defense.

The Bad... The Raiders and their cheap shots.

The Ugly … The refs and all those flags that was some ugly officiating.

Ok so there you have it another great Steeler win and don't forget where you got it ...Spread the word about the blog and leave comments !  LATER STEELER NATION!