The Pittsburgh Steelers made the daunting trip out west to Allegiant Stadium to take on the Las Vegas Raiders for their first road game of the 2023 regular season. Second-year quarterback Kenny Pickett played arguably his most complete game of his young professional career so far, including having his first multiple-touchdown passing game.
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Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett unloads a pass in the 23-18 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders.
Not only did the offense show signs of life, but T.J. Watt and the entire Steelers defense showed fans why they are one of the league's highest-paid units. Raiders new quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo was under immense pressure from the Steelers defense for a significant portion of the game and it became tough for the Raiders to get into any sort of rhythm offensively.
Not only did the team show up on the field for Pittsburgh, but the fans did as well. The sea of terrible towels overtook Allegiant Stadium and made it seem like "Acrisure West" on the Las Vegas strip.
The Steelers ultimately won the game 23-18 and improved to 2-1 on the young season. There was a noticeable improvement on the offensive side of the ball when compared to the Steelers' Week 2 performance against the Cleveland Browns.
Pickett and the offense were able to establish multiple long drives that finished in points as well as being able to make the splash plays. None was bigger than Pickett's 72-yard touchdown pass to Calvin Austin III. Austin, known for his speed, caught the Raiders' secondary sleeping on a go-route and took advantage scoring the first regular season touchdown of his NFL career.
Associated Press
Steelers' Calvin Austin III breaks away for a touchdown against the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 3 of the 2023 season.
The biggest mishap of the road trip for the Steelers wasn't on the football field or even in Las Vegas for that matter. During the team's flight home, the plane suffered a mechanical issue and was forced to make an emergency landing in Kansas City.
Steelers defensive tackle Cam Heyward spoke to Good Morning Football about the incident and gave details on how the players responded after being woken up to a "Code Yellow" (a code on an airplane that means there is an emergency landing underway).
Heyward told the Good Morning Football crew that he even Googled the "best way to deal with impact on a plane."
He also jokingly blamed Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick on Twitter for being the reason the team was forced to make an emergency landing due to his roughing the passer foul on Garoppolo.
"I started live tweeting in a moment of that and I blamed Minkah, you know they're going to call the roughing the passer in the game. Now we are going to land because of Minkah."
Peter Schrager of Good Morning Football went on to ask Heyward jokingly who the "grimiest" Steelers player on the plane was and who he (Heyward) could never look at the same after smelling them while they sat on the tarmac in Kansas City.
"Hygienics, we were pretty good as players. I won't say any names, but there were some other people on that plane that didn't take showers right after the game so it was pretty smelly in the back of the plane, but in the front of the plane we were all good," Heyward said with a smile.
Steelers Have Another Long Flight Ahead Of Them In Week 4
For the second straight week, the Steelers will be leaving the Eastern time zone to head out west (something they didn't have to do once in 2022), this time the Houston Texans stand in their way.
Rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud showed why he deserved to be one of the first picks in the 2023 NFL Draft after a breakout game in Week 3 against the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Steelers' pass rush will be one of the toughest the young quarterback has faced in the early stages of his rookie season.
Gene J. Puskar / Associated Press
Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson (4) throws over Pittsburgh Steelers defensive end DeMarvin Leal (98) during the first half of an NFL football game Monday, Sept. 18, 2023, in Pittsburgh.
It will also be interesting to see how the Steelers prepare for the rookie quarterback who uses both his arm and legs to his advantage. The Steelers did a tremendous job of containing Deshaun Watson in Week 2 and will hopefully be able to get the same results in the upcoming week.
Will the Steelers continue their dominant defensive ways in Week 4? What are you looking forward to the most in the matchup against the Texans? Tell us your thoughts in the comment section below!
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