Pryor's record run leads Raiders to victory

OAKLAND, Calif. -- The Oakland Raiders were looking for a fast start Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers, and quarterback Terrelle Pryor gave them one for the record books.

On the game's first play from scrimmage, Pryor made NFL and franchise history with a 93-yard touchdown run, sparking the Oakland Raiders to a 21-18 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers at the O.co Coliseum.

Pryor's touchdown run was the longest by a quarterback in NFL history, breaking former Steeler Kordell Stewart's mark of 80 yards set on Dec. 22, 1996, against Carolina. It was also the longest run from scrimmage, regardless of position, in Raiders history. His 93-yard run broke running back Bo Jackson's franchise record of 92 yards set on Nov. 5, 1989, against Cincinnati.

"I think that was the longest run I've ever had in my life," Pryor said, looking back to his high school and college career.

Pryor had 100 rushing yards after two carries and finished the game with 106 yards on nine carries. He completed 10 of 19 passes for 87 yards with two interceptions but was sacked only twice.

The Raiders, who built a 21-3 halftime lead and held on for a slim win, improved to 3-4 and snapped their steak of 10 straight losses in games after a bye week.

The Steelers had won two straight games after losing their first four, but they fell to 2-5 as their winning streak came to a painful end. They lost for the third straight time in Oakland.

"Obviously we made too many errors early to give ourselves a legitimate chance," Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said. "We allowed them to control and dictate the flow of the game and how we started really in all three phases. The first 30 minutes of football was poor on our part, and I take responsibility for that. It starts with me. Obviously we can't choose to defer a kickoff and allow them to explode and spot them seven points on the first play of the game."

On the Raiders' first play, Pryor faked a handoff to running back Darren McFadden, who rammed up the middle, drawing almost the entire Steelers defense his way. Pryor bolted around right end, getting a huge block from wide receiver Rod Streater on safety Troy Polamalu, and raced untouched to the end zone.

Pryor said he was "reading" Steelers outside linebacker LaMarr Woodley on the play.

"The guy bit down that I was reading," Pryor said. "I came out, Rod made a phenomenal block, and it was off to the races."

Pryor said he couldn't believe how much open space he saw.

"I was very surprised, because it's never open like that," Pryor said. "Very surprised. But with the game plan, the way they put things together, it doesn't surprise me that sometimes it may happen like that."

McFadden rushed for 73 yards and two touchdowns -- one from the wildcat formation -- on 24 carries.

Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger completed 29 of 45 passes for 275 yards and one touchdown. He was intercepted twice and sacked five times, two of those by linebacker Sio Moore.

"They're good," Roethlisberger said of the Raiders. "Good defense. They got after us, and they were better than us."

In the first half, the Raiders outgained the Steelers 244 yards to 90 and outrushing them 182-8.

Pittsburgh cut Oakland's lead to 21-10 on Roethlisberger's 9-yard touchdown pass to Emmanuel Sanders with 12:11 left to play, just two plays after Raiders wide receiver Jacoby Ford lost a fumble at the Oakland 11.

The Steelers threatened again after Antonio Brown returned a punt 44 yards to the Raiders 31 with 7:34 left. On third-and-3 from the 24, Brown caught a 4-yard pass, but Mike Jenkins forced a fumble, and Tracy Porter recovered for the Raiders at the 21.

The Steelers pulled to within 21-18 with 1:24 left. Le'Veon Bell scored on a 2-yard touchdown run, capping a 12-play, 83-yard drive. The Steelers went for two points, and Sanders converted, taking a pitch, heading left, then reversing course and reaching the end zone.

Oakland recovered an onside kick but nearly gave the ball back on first down. The ball popped loose at the end of McFadden's 1-yard run, but officials ruled he was down by contact, and the call stood after a video review.

"We made it our job to make sure we harassed the quarterback throughout the day and stop the run, and we were able to do that," Sio Moore said. "And the biggest thing is we were able to do that when it came down to the fourth quarter and were able to finish."

The Raiders needed just 19 seconds to take a 7-0 lead, thanks to Pryor's record-setting run on the read-option.

The Raiders increased their lead to 14-0 on McFadden's 7-yard touchdown run with 7:28 still left in the first quarter.

The Raiders had to drive only 26 yards for McFadden's score after Rashad Jennings partially blocked Zoltan Mesko's punt, which traveled only three yards. On third-and-10 from the 26, Pryor hit Denarius Moore in stride on a slant, good for 14 yards to the 12.

Taking a direct snap in the wildcat formation, McFadden faked a handoff to Ford on a sweep, then powered up the middle for 5 yards to the 7. McFadden scored on the next play, taking a handoff from Pryor and powering over left guard.

The Steelers answered with Shaun Suisham's 47-yard field goal, cutting Oakland's lead to 14-3 with 14:14 left in the first half.

The Steelers capitalized on a Pryor interception for their only first-half points. After spinning away from pressure and rolling to his left, Pryor overthrew a wide-open Brice Butler, and Polamalu intercepted the pass and returned it 17 yards to the Raiders' 48.

Pittsburgh drove 19 yards but stalled at the 29 and settled for Suisham's 15th straight field goal of the season.

The Raiders increased their lead to 21-3 with 1:55 left in the half on McFadden's 4-yard touchdown run out of the wildcat formation, capping an 11-play, 72-yard drive. Taking the direct snap, McFadden faked a handoff to Ford, headed right, then cut back up the middle and into the end zone.

"I love being back there at quarterback," McFadden said. "I feel like I can go back there and make the procedures, and the coaches have a lot of faith in me to do that. I saw three guys running outside, and I looked back, just cut across the grain. Nobody was there."

McFadden had a 19-yard run earlier in the drive, and Pryor completed both of his passes, both to Streater, for 28 yards.

The Steelers had a chance to cut into Oakland's lead before halftime after Cortez Allen intercepted a Pryor pass that deflected off of Butler's hands and returned it 3 yards to the Pittsburgh 46. The Steelers marched to the 16, but Suisham pushed his 34-yard field goal attempt wide right, missing for the first time this season after making 15 straight.

Suisham missed again, this time from 32 yards, with 5:49 left in the third quarter as the Steelers drove 64 yards and took 9:11 off the clock but came up empty.

NOTES: Steelers starting left guard Ramon Foster suffered a concussion midway through the first half and did not return to the game. Foster's backup, Guy Whimper, suffered a left knee injury early in the third quarter and left the game. ... Raiders starting RT Tony Pashos (hip) was inactive, and backup tackle Matt McCants made his second start of the season. ... C/G Andre Gurode (quad), OT Menelik Watson (calf) and S Tyvon Branch (ankle) were also among the Raiders' inactives. ... WR Markus Wheaton (finger) and TE Richard Gordon (toe), a former Raider, were among the Steelers' inactives. ... Raiders C Stefen Wisniewski (knee) returned to the starting lineup after missing two straight games.