The Raiders’ matchup in Pittsburgh with the Steelers on Sunday has grown a lot more intriguing with way Oakland has played this season.

The Raiders bring a 4-3 record and two-game winning streak into town to face a team that’s taken notice of one of the bigger bright spots this season in the AFC.

“They’re making splash plays and they’re competitive,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said on a conference call Wednesday. “Their young talent is performing. (Derek) Carr is really impressive. (Amari) Cooper is impressive. (Khalil) Mack is impressive. Mario Edwards Jr. is impressive. They’re getting great contributions from young talent. They appear to be a team that’s on the rise.”

That’s the kind of compliment Raiders GM Reggie McKenzie would certainly love to keep hearing, considering Tomlin made special mention of his top four picks from the past two drafts.

Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger will play his second game back from a knee injury, but his return came just in time for the Steelers to suffer another blow in losing running back Le’Veon Bell to a torn MCL.

“It’s never easy losing a guy, especially a guy like that who’s one of the best in the business,” Roethlisberger said.

That turns the job back over to DeAngelo Williams, who started the first two games while Bell was suspended and gained 204 yards in those outings.

“Injuries are part of the game of football,” Tomlin said. “Obviously we’ve played without Le’Veon already this year. We’ve got a lot of confidence in DeAngelo, that’s why we acquired him and brought him here. On a personal level, obviously, you feel for Le’Veon, but he’s a competitor and a professional. I’m sure he’ll come back stronger than ever.”

* Tomlin, like many across the league, continues to be impressive by Raiders’ 39-year-old safety Charles Woodson.

“This guy has really had a legendary, legendary career,” I think we all should just appreciate what he does while we still have an opportunity to see him do it, because he is a generational guy. He’s a special guy. He’s done it at a high level for an extremely long period of time.”