The Oakland Raiders and the Pittsburgh Steelers have something in common other than their meeting Sunday night (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN) -- the New England Patriots. Both teams lost to the Patriots in their playoff run to the Super Bowl title, and New England dumped the Steelers again Monday night.

Patriots offensive coordinator Charlie Weis gets my vote for assistant of the year so far. He designed a great game plan against the Steelers' defense. The strength of Pittsburgh's defense is its ability to force teams into third-and-long situations and then wreak havoc. But the Patriots were able to spread out the Steelers' 3-4, complete passes and prevent the Steelers from making defensive substitutions.

On a positive note, every other team in the AFC North lost as well. So the Steelers are still tied for first. Plus, although opponents will look at what the Patriots did, they will not line up and simulate the Patriots' offense because they don't have the same personnel.

Theismann's keys

OAKLAND RAIDERS Offense -- Catch the ball: Because I don't think the Raiders will be able to run the ball as effectively as they did a week ago, they have to hang onto passes when the opportunities present themselves, like the Patriots' receivers did Monday night. It doesn't matter if the catches go for five yards or 25. And this goes for both the backs and the receivers. Defense -- Stop the run: This applies to both Bettis and Stewart. Against New England, the Steelers had about seven calls that were specifically designed for him to run the ball. He is a part of their running attack. The Raiders must force Stewart to try and beat them passing the ball. You have to force him to try and beat you running the ball. 37 times passing, eight times for Bettis. Anyone would take that. PITTSBURGH STEELERS Offense -- Get Jerome going: I don't think the Steelers will be able to run up the middle. They need to run at the edges and the Raiders' smaller ends, Armstrong and Bryant. This is important to keep the Steelers out of long-yardage situations. Defense -- Ground the Raiders: The Steelers must get back to being a dominant run-stopping defense. If they can make the Raiders' offense one-dimensional, the Steelers can get their nickel defense on the field. They can't let the Raiders rush for 200 yards again.

Other than losing, the scariest part for the Steelers was Kordell Stewart's performance. He was coming off his best season, although in the final four games he threw 10 interceptions. The first two he threw Monday went to areas on the field where his receivers were nowhere to be found. Apparently, Stewart and his receivers are not on the same page.

While he completed a high percentage of passes as the game went on, he completed them to the wrong people when it counted the most. Steelers offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey needs to figure out a way to get Stewart comfortable.

Secondly, the Steelers base much of their offense around running the football. They led the NFL in rushing last season, averaging more than 173 yards a game. But against the Patriots, they gained only 74 on the ground. Jerome Bettis fumbled once and rushed for 35 yards on only eight carries. The Steelers' lack of efficiency running the ball has to be a concern.

Running the football wasn't a problem for the Raiders in their opener against Seattle. New head coach Bill Callahan is trying to sell his philosophy. He talked about the Raiders re-establishing their running game, which led the NFL in 2000, and they did last week -- with 221 yards on 40 carries. Players have more confidence in a coach's program when they are able to execute it.

The biggest adjustment for the Oakland offense is how offensive coordinator Marc Trestman will call plays as opposed to former coach Jon Gruden. Against the Seahawks, it looked he did what he wanted to do -- run the ball and then balance it with the passing game. Mostly, he got the ball to his running backs, Charlie Garner and Tyrone Wheatley, and they pounded away at Seattle. Garner had 191 total yards, rushing and receiving, and Wheatley had 83.

While Rich Gannon is the Raiders' constant, the player who makes everything happen for their offense, they don't have a vertical passing game. However, I expect Trestman to be more aggressive than Gruden as the year goes on. They have a diamond in the rough in Jerry Porter. As a physical receiver, he could be much like an Eric Moulds or a Terrell Owens. But at what point will he step up? This is the first year he has really acted like a pro.

The defense, however, is where the Raiders made the biggest adjustments. John Parrella and Sam Adams inside give the Raiders two huge run stoppers. Adams is as big as a building; Parrella can lift one. At end, Trace Armstrong is back as a pass rusher, and Tony Bryant has settled in on the other side. The additions of linebacker Bill Romanowski and safety Rod Woodson give the Raiders more playing and championship experience.

If Parrella and Adams can continue to clog up the middle and spill everything outside, the center and two guards will have a difficult time getting to the middle linebacker, rookie Napoleon Harris, who had seven tackles last week. When the Ravens had Adams and Tony Siragusa, Ray Lewis was able to go from sideline to sideline making tackles. I'm not saying Harris is close to Lewis, but he has a chance to play a similar style.

The Raiders look more complete than the Steelers, but that is only after the first game. There are still 15 more to go, and the biggest factor for both teams will be injuries. By the end of the season, either team could have an opportunity to exact revenge against the Patriots in the playoffs.

Former NFL quarterback Joe Theismann is an NFL analyst on ESPN Sunday Night Football.