Oct 27, 2013 3 min read

OAKLAND, Calif. – The read-option offense was looked at for years as a college or high school offense that would never work in the NFL.

And in previous matchups against teams that employ the read-option, which includes a lot of misdirection and quarterback runs, the Steelers had done a good job defensively, topping Robert Griffin and the Redskins last year and beating Geno Smith and the New York Jets this season.

Sunday, a kid from Jeannette gave the Steelers a lesson on the read-option that they won’t soon forget.

Oakland quarterback Terrelle Pryor faked a handoff on the game’s initial play from scrimmage and raced around right end, running 93 yards untouched for a touchdown that all but broke Pittsburgh’s back before its own offense had even taken the field.

“It was a nice play by them and a poor play by us,” said Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin. “Overaggressive would be a play to describe it. I don’t want to take anything away from them. They executed the play. We did not.”

By the time Pryor and the Raiders were finished, they had ran over, around and through the Steelers for 182 time-consuming yards while building a 21-3 lead.

It was an ugly defensive performance against an offense that Tomlin said this spring was the “flavor of the day,” and one the Steelers looked forward to eliminating.

On this day, the flavor of the day was crow.

And the Steelers had to eat plenty of it.

They could neither stop nor contain Pryor, who ran through them as if he was back in the Interstate Conference.

And once he had established himself with the long run on the game’s opening play, Pryor’s confidence level, which has never been at a loss, went through the roof.

Heck, even when the Steelers seemingly had him in trouble, Pryor would deftly slide out of the pocket to break off another run or complete a pass.

Meanwhile, the Raiders were doing their best to make Pittsburgh’s pocket passer – albeit one who has made a career out of escaping pressure – into a human piñata. Ben Roethlisberger was harried, hurried and hit. His jersey was nearly ripped from his body.

The Steelers had only 90 total yards and scored three points in a first half. Pittsburgh’s defense forced three turnovers in the game – one more than it had in its previous six games combined – and still found itself in a hole.

Heck, placekicker Shaun Suisham, who had been a perfect on his first 15 field goal attempts and was named the AFC special teams player of the week after last Sunday’s game against Baltimore, missed not one, but two field-goal attempts.

It was that kind of day for the Steelers.

While the Steelers were struggling, the Raiders were chugging along, making Pittsburgh pay for every missed tackle, every wrong step and every wrong read.

Pryor threw for less than 100 yards, but he did what he had to do, beating the Steelers with his legs by keeping plays alive, even when pressured.

“He did a good job keeping plays alive with his legs,” said Steelers linebacker LaMarr Woodley. “But we’ve got to do a better job as a team of just playing our responsibilities. We didn’t do that in the first half.”

It was a humbling day for the Steelers, just another in what has become a humbling season.

F. Dale Lolley can be reached at dlolley@observer-reporter.com.