Steelers Defensive Snap Counts: Steve McLendon Absent Again

Oakland ran a hurry-up offense for many of their 56 plays, focusing on attacking the Steelers' base defense. The result of that was only three snaps for Steve McLendon, five snaps for Cameron Heyward and a very tired defensive line down the stretch.

The Raiders used the no-huddle as a means to wear the Steelers down, and with the advantage of a second-half turnover (off an Antonio Brown fumble), the Raiders held the ball for 8:45 in the fourth quarter, and were able to pull out the last second victory.

Starting nose tackle Casey Hampton performed a bit better in Week 3 than he did in Weeks 1 and 2, and he'll continue to build stamina. After a first quarter run of 64 yards by running back Darren McFadden, the Steelers locked the Raiders' running game down, allowing 55 yards on 20 carries. Excluding the McFadden run, they only had seven carries for 11 yards in the first half.

It wore on the secondary, as well, allowing seven passing first downs in the fourth quarter. The Raiders scored 13 unanswered points to steal the victory, as Palmer completed his last four passes consecutively for 49 yards setting up the final field goal.

It was the only time in the game Oakland had a lead.

Oakland kept it short, peppering the Steelers' short zones often. The McFadden run was the only play they had over 20 yards, but the Steelers only managed one hit on Palmer - a sack by LaMarr Woodley.

Defensive Snap Counts

Ryan Mundy, 57

Ryan Clark, 57

Larry Foote, 57

Lawrence Timmons, 57

LaMarr Woodley, 56

Ike Taylor, 56

Keenan Lewis, 55

Ziggy Hood, 55

Brett Keisel, 54

Chris Carter, 32

Cortez Allen, 30

Casey Hampton, 27

Jason Worilds, 24

Cameron Heyward, 5

Steve McLendon, 3

Will Allen, 1

Al Woods, 1