PLAYER NOTES
–RB James Conner, who suffered an ankle sprain against the Chargers, will not play this week against Oakland.
–T Marcus Gilbert, who has missed the past six games with a knee injury, did not practice Wednesday.
–S Morgan Burnett, who missed the Chargers game with a back injury, returned to practice Wednesday.
–LS Kameron Canaday suffered a knee sprain against the Chargers, but he went through a full practice Wednesday.
–OLB Anthony Chickillo, who suffered an ankle injury against the Chargers, did not practice Wednesday.
–WR Ryan Switzer is in the concussion protocol, but he went through a full practice Wednesday.
PLAYER SPOTLIGHT: RB Jaylen Samuels could have a larger role in the game plan against the Raiders with starting running back James Conner nursing a leg injury this week. Samuels has bypassed veteran Stevan Ridley as the top backup behind Conner and scored his second career touchdown late in the fourth quarter when he caught a 10-yard pass from Ben Roethlisberger. Samuels did not play running back in college. At North Carolina State, Samuels played tight end/H-back and slot receiver. He is at his best as a pass receiver out of the backfield, but his skills as a runner will be under scrutiny over the final four games if Conner is not 100 percent for the stretch run.
GAME PLAN: The Steelers have to get their rushing attack back on track and there is no better opponent to cure what ails them than the Raiders, who give up 153.3 yards per game on the ground, tied for last in the league. The Steelers have morphed into the NFL’s pass-happiest team this season, but they would be wise to attack Oakland’s biggest weakness with their talented offensive line and control the clock as well as the game’s tempo. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is struggling with interceptions in recent weeks and taking some pressure off their signal-caller is a good idea. The Raiders certainly can be attacked in the secondary as well, but a cautious game plan is in order after another pass-heavy plan that failed against the Chargers Sunday night.
Oakland’s offense heated up against the Chiefs. The Raiders scored 33 points, their second-highest point total of the season. Quarterback Derek Carr will look to take advantage of a shaky Steelers secondary that allowed Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers to lead a comeback that included 25 second-half points. Carr hasn’t been very good overall this season, but he did throw three touchdown passes against the Chiefs without throwing an interception. The Steelers can’t allow Carr to get a rhythm early. If they do they could be in for another long day.
MATCHUPS TO WATCH:
–Steelers S Terrell Edmunds vs. Raiders TE Jared Cook. The Steelers have struggled covering tight ends this season and Cook has the ability to take advantage of Edmunds, a rookie who is just getting his feet wet in his first NFL season. Cook had seven receptions for 100 yards against the Chiefs on Sunday. Edmunds, who has been exposed in coverage at times this season, has a tough assignment ahead of him.
–Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger vs. Raiders S Marcus Gilchrist. Roethlisberger has thrown 13 interceptions, including six in the past three games. Gilchrist has two interceptions in the past four games. The Raiders only have nine interceptions this season, but Gilchrist and his Raiders teammates could get a chance to pad their totals against Roethlisberger, who has the most pass attempts of any quarterback in the league.
