The historically bitter rivalry started with the Steelers' first playoff win over the Raiders by way of Franco Harris' Immaculate Reception on December 23, 1972.

[2][3] Las Vegas is one of four AFC teams with a winning overall record against Pittsburgh (the Denver Broncos, Jacksonville Jaguars, and New England Patriots are the other three).

To date, the two last met in the playoffs in 1983 when the eventual Super Bowl champion Raiders, playing in Los Angeles at the time, crushed the Steelers 38–10.

The Steelers would go on to win 21–20 and prevented the Raiders from obtaining home field advantage as the AFC's first seed would eventually fall into the hands of the Titans.

Despite this, neither team played each other in the postseason as the Steelers were eventually knocked out by the Titans while the Raiders went on to lose against the Buccaneers in Super Bowl XXXVII.

They erased a 35–21 fourth quarter deficit and tied it at 35 with 1:15 left, but despite losing Ben Roethlisberger to a foot injury the Steelers behind backup quarterback Landry Jones drove to the Raiders one-yard line; the key play was a 57-yard catch by Antonio Brown on his way to a franchise-record 284 receiving yards.

[12] The teams met in Week 14 of the 2018 season in what was the Steelers' last trip to Oakland, due to the Raiders relocating to Las Vegas in 2020.

The Steelers advanced deep into Oakland territory with a quick pass to James Washington, who pitched it to Smith-Schuster for a big gain in the waning seconds of the game, but lost to the Raiders after kicker Chris Boswell slipped and missed a potential game-tying field goal.

The two teams met again in Week 2 of the 2021 season at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, with this being the first meeting between the two clubs since the Raiders relocated to Las Vegas in 2020.

The Raiders would once again upset the Steelers for the second time in four seasons, winning 26–17 behind 382 yards passing and two touchdowns from Derek Carr.

The game was also notable for the ejection of Steelers offensive lineman Trai Turner early in the fourth quarter, as a result of Turner spitting on Raiders linebacker Marquel Lee during an altercation between the two clubs following a Steelers touchdown, a 25-yard pass from Ben Roethlisberger to rookie running back Najee Harris.

After getting the ball back on offense, Derek Carr threw a deep pass intended for Hunter Renfrow that turned out to be the eventual game-losing interception by Cameron Sutton.

They fell short of the comeback after new QB Jimmy Garoppolo threw the game-losing interception, sealing the Steelers' first road win against the Raiders overall since 1995.