5 Pittsburgh Steelers who need to step up in a big way vs. the Raiders in Week 14

The Pittsburgh Steelers now turn away from their Week 13 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, and start to look to the Week 14 showdown vs. the Oakland Raiders at the Coliseum.

Looking at the Steelers’ roster, there are several players who need to step up their play for the team to attain their 8th win of the season, and make yet another step towards winning the AFC North for the third year in a row.

Here are 5 players who need to step up in a big way for the black-and-gold:

1. Ben Roethlisberger

The Pittsburgh Steelers go as Big Ben goes, and lately he has been as inconsistent as they come. Roethlisberger needs to play a clean game, not throw 54 times. If the Steelers want to not just win the game vs. Oakland, but rattle off several wins in the final stretch of the season, Roethlisberger needs to be on his A-game.

2. Offensive Line

The Raiders have 10 sacks on the season. Yes, for the entire season. T.J. Watt has 10 sacks by himself this year, and if there is ever a game where No. 7 doesn’t even get breathed on it would be this one. The past two weeks Roethlisberger has been under duress on occasion, and this is a game where the offensive line should be dominant in every sense of the word.

3. T.J. Watt/Bud Dupree

The Oakland Raiders offensive tackles are ripe for the picking. The Steelers are currently on pace to fall just under their 56 sack record set in 2017, but a big game against the Raiders’ porous offensive line could not only dominate the game but also put them on pace to set a new franchise record for sacks in a season.

4. L.J. Fort/Morgan Burnett

The Raiders have shipped out almost all of their weapons under Jon Gruden, but Jared Cook remains. The monster of a tight end has been abusing defenses the past few weeks, and it will be up to a combination of Fort, and Morgan Burnett (if he plays) to slow down Cook and take away the Raiders’ No. 1 threat.

5. Chris Boswell

Right when you thought Boswell’s issues were resolved, he missed his 5th extra point of the season. While no one knows for sure, but Boswell’s miss allowed the Chargers to be behind just by two scores. This fact equated to two touchdowns followed by two-point conversions to tie the game. Boswell isn’t going anywhere, but the Steelers need their kicker to be the automatic kicker of 2017, not the kicker with the yips we’ve seen in 2018.

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These are my 5 players who need to step up...what about you? Let us know what you think in the comment section below!