Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Oakland Raiders - Unleashing Hell

It's Oakland what pre-view could you possibly need? This SHOULD be a cakewalk! But will it?

After another disappointment the Steelers fearless leader and Head Coach Mike Tomlin had this to say: "We will not go gently. We are going to unleash hell here in December. Because we have to."

No better place to start than against the lowly and embarrassing Raiders. And yet they are the same Raiders who beat the Eagles and the Bengals. So how is hell to be unleashed?

Here is what the devil the Steelers need to do:

• Unleash Rashard MendenHELL! There are 32 NFL franchises and the Raiders are #31 against the run. It is that simple folks. Since taking the starting workhorse label from Willie Parker Mendenhall has began to rack up some respectable numbers on the ground. The Raiders allow over 160 yrds per game. So how about 25 carries for 150.

• The Raiders do have a quality front four so the rushing will negate the pass rush they can manage. The Eagles got killed because they ran the ball 13 times and threw it 50 times. McNabb ate grass all day. Be smart and set up the pass.

• Ben should throw 33 times for 280 against the 17th ranked passing defense.

• Oakland is -8 in turnover ratio. Take advantage of that.

• Steelers are tied for 2nd in the NFL with 35 sacks. That should go up during Hell unleashing!

• The Raiders average a monstrous 10.5 points per game. This is a chance for the Defense from Hell to put the pitchfork into the Raiders early and often.

• Stop Darren McFadden is the key. The Raider QB's will stop themselves.
  

 

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Honestly this is a game where you can re-establish the fundamentals and get your act together for the future. On offense even the Raiders no they stink. Raiders CB Nnamdi Asomugha said this about his own teams defense. "We're a team that chooses to be who we are regardless of who we're playing against and regardless of the match-ups or the things that the other team is going to present," Asomugha said Wednesday. "We've got one way of doing it, and that's what we do, and teams can get us into some tough situations."

Although it should be noted that Oakland has had 79 defensive plays that resulted in negative yardage for their opponents. That is among the league leaders. But their breakdowns negate that.

In a similar vein the Steelers have had a propensity for much of the same. Not quite as dramatic but the Steelers have had some of their customary smothering defense but have had some uncharacteristic breakdowns. In some games their 3rd defense has been downright brutal. Yeah most teams can say that in some games but we are not accustom to the Steelers defense being this way more than maybe 1 game a year.

This is the 12th game of the season, and Tomlin is right, it is attitude time. This is the time of the year where you need to pick up the pace and the intensity for your playoff push.

Pittsburgh 35 Oakland 3! This is unleashing Hell for me!

PS - of course the Hell references are all metaphorical!

By: Andy Natalie
ProFootball-fans.com Pittsburgh Steelers Correspondent