By Alex “MereKat” LeMere
As a Bills fan, it’s hard not to have come into this game with a full head of steam ready to see the 9-3 Bills play host to the 11-1 Steelers on Sunday Night Football.
Josh Allen is coming off one of his best showings of the season against the NFC defending champion 49ers in a 34-24 Buffalo win while the Steelers suffered their first loss of the season to the 4-7 Washington Football Team last week. Recency bias would favor the Bills coming into this one. Did I mention it’s color rush week too? Bye, bye white face masks *sigh*.
Some things I highlighted coming into this one that I was going to keep an eye on were:
- The Bills’ secondary depth behind Tre White against the Steelers’ receiving core. JuJu Smith-Schuster, Diontae Johnson, Chase Claypool, James Washington, and Eric Ebron…that’s a group that can decimate a defense. Levi Wallace came into this game under some fire but had a chance to step up along with Taron Johnson. Can Big Ben get his weapons the ball is the question?
- Seeing Matt Milano’s role increase post-injury. Last week, Milano didn’t play a ton after coming back from IR, and we didn’t really need him that much with A.J. Klein’s recent play. Against the Pittsburgh defense, though, he can be a crucial piece in taking away the “dink and dunk” passing style the Steelers have started to develop. He also does have a stage to show he deserves a contract extension despite the injuries.
- The Bills’ offensive line’s ability to keep Allen upright against a top tier pass rush. The Steelers’ front seven, even without Bud Dupree and Robert Spillane, is a force. The unit leads the NFL in sacks so far the season with 44, and the Bills’ offensive line can be questionable at times. Look for Allen to get the ball out a little quicker than usual in this one and, hopefully, avoid being sacked a lot.
It was shaping up to be a good one in the elements of Buffalo, that’s for sure.
Here’s how this Sunday Night Football matchup between two titans unfolded:
The Steelers would start with the ball at their own 10-yard line after a Tyler Bass kickoff is covered aggressively, and Ray-Ray McCloud gets a warm welcome back to Buffalo. Roethlisberger starts with an incompletion to Johnson, then hits Claypool out of the backfield before Levi Wallace reads the play and swats the pass to force an opening three and out by the Steelers.
Josh Allen leads his offense onto the field for the first drive and starts by overthrowing Beasley. Allen takes off on second down for 6 yards before Darryl Williams gets a false start to create a third-and-9. Allen takes a deep shot to Diggs downfield trying to convert, but some physical defense by the Pittsburgh secondary forces a three-and-out for the Bills. It wasn’t a bad throw by Allen, and there wasn’t interference on Diggs, but it just seemed like a bad decision to force it into double coverage downfield early.
After lackluster opening drives by both teams, Pittsburgh took the field looking to get their offense going first. Roethlisberger dunks one off to Johnson, who zooms for a first down on a 12-yard opening catch and run. Big Ben hits JuJu for a short gain to bring up second-and-6, where the Buffalo defense shut down James Conner’s opening carry for a loss of 2 yards. On third-and-7, Roethlisberger looks for Diontae Johnson again, who starts to run before he has possession and drops the ball. Pittsburgh is forced to punt again after another ineffective drive. You could really see here how Roethlisberger doesn’t push the ball downfield and relies on his receivers to get yards after the catch.
Singletary takes his first carry of the game and gets 2 yards to the sideline to start things before Allen hits his safety blanket Beasley for 12 yards and the first. Allen goes for Beasley again but is incomplete to bring up a second- and-10 where Allen fires one deep again, but his arm is hit as he throws, and the ball flubs into Mike Hilton’s arms for the Pittsburgh interception. Allen’s arm was hit there which I chose to blame for the INT here, no way he’d throw THAT bad of an interception there.
The Steelers open up with back-to-back runs for the first time, and as Conner gets just 3 on both to bring up a third and 4 after some good tackling by the Buffalo D. Roethlisberger’s third down pass for McDonald is played expertly by Tre White to force an incompletion and another punt. Buffalo’s defense had a great 3 down stand there. It couldn’t get better against this offense.
We see Zack Moss get his first look of the night with a nice 5-yard rush up the middle behind some nicer blocking. Moss gets the gall again on second- and-5 for just 3 yards to set up third-and-2 where Allen sits tight in the pocket and fires on to a crossing Gabriel Davis, who drops it. Looked more like Gabe there than Gabriel. Buffalo goes scoreless for the third straight drive.
Roethlisberger gets his fifth incompletion on his eighth attempt with a misfire to Claypool on first before he’s able to hit him on second down for 4 yards. Big Ben finally fires downfield after a few of his patented pump fakes and hits JuJu for 13 yards and the first. Roethlisberger hits JuJu for 8 on second-and-7 after a Conner runs for a first. Jaylen Samuels gets his first two carries of the game and gets a total of just 4 yards to bring up the third-and-6 for the Steelers. Buffalo’s defense brings the pressure, and Big Ben misfires downfield for James Washington and comes up short….another punt. Under bettors are loving what they saw to this point as the snow trickles down in Orchard Park.
Diggs gets his first catch on his third target for 8 yards to open the drive here and, after a Moss rush for no gain, gets his second catch for 3 yards to convert on the third-and-2, but Pittsburgh’s too many men on the field penalty makes it a no play and grants the Bills a first down. Allen faces pressure and throws incomplete for Knox on first, then completes to Gabriel Davis for a loss of 1 on a broken play. The Bills open the second quarter facing a third and 11, and Allen is under duress from the Steelers’ pass rush and fires incomplete towards the middle of the field as he was hit. GUESS WHAT….another PUNT! Pittsburgh is doing a good job of scheming up to abuse the patch worked Bills’ line.
Big Ben tries to show what’s left in his arm and chucks one deep for Chase Claypool whose blanketed by Josh Norman as the ball goes incomplete. A Buffalo neutral zone infraction cuts the second-and-10 down to 5 yards, and Benny Snell converts with a 7-yard rush. Roethlisberger fires again for JuJu as he was crossing the field. Smith-Schuster abuses the Bills’ man coverage and gets 20 yards, mostly from yards he got after the catch. The Steelers were up against a third-and-3 after Snell gets another tough 5 yards. Roethlisberger delivers the ball into Eric Ebron, who drops the ball as he fell. Instead of going for it, Mike Tomlin sends out his punting squad again.
To this point, Allen was just 4/11 for 22 yards and the interception…not the start the Bills’ had hoped for. Singletary gets to the Buffalo 12-yard line with a 3-yard rush to start the drive. On second down, Allen hits Blanket Beasley again for 4 to set up the third-and-3, where Gabriel (not Gabe) Davis makes up for his drop with a 7-yard reception for the conversion. Allen goes incomplete trying to land a deep ball again, this time for Dawson Knox before another unfortunate play goes against the Bills. Allen’s pass for Knox is bobbled the tight end and drops (fumbled, I guess?), where it popped into the air and Sutton’s hands for Buffalo’s second turnover of the game.
The Bills almost immediately get one back as Jordan Poyer forces a fumble on Conner’s opening carry, but JuJu recovers it. A play later, Roethlisberger puts one on a rope between two defenders to hit James Washington for the 19-yard touchdown, and Pittsburgh takes a 7-0 lead with 8:21 left in the first half. What a great throw by the old man.
Would the Bills be able to match the score after an awful start to the game? Andre Roberts has a nice return to set Allen and the offense up at their own 24-yard line. Allen fumbles the snap and almost loses it, but Morse is able to dive on it. Allen targets Gabriel Davis against T.J. Watt down the sideline, and he makes the catch, just not in bounds. Third-and-18 in front of him and under pressure, Allen scrambles, but he gets just 11 yards, and Bojo comes out to punt for his fourth punt of the first half. Allen looked under duress from the pressure he was receiving courtesy of that Pittsburgh pass rush.
Pittsburgh continues to try and get their rushing attack rolling to no avail with 2 rushes for just a yard to set up a quick third-and-9. Big Ben fires incomplete intended for James Washington on third-and-9, but a penalty is seemingly against Tre White. After arguing his case and some discussion, it was ruled an incompletion. ANOTHER PUNT!
Buffalo comes out firing, desperately trying to get Allen in a groove, as he hits Beasley for 8 on first down and then a beautiful throw and run after the catch by Diggs for 23 yards. Buffalo’s longest play of the night to this point gets them in Steelers’ territory. After a 6-yard run by Moss, Allen stands tall under pressure and delivers to Diggs again for the first down on a 7-yard completion. Allen hits Diggs for the third time this drive, this time for 18, but a penalty is called. An illegal formation is called against the Bills, but a roughing the passer (that I’ll admit was super questionable) outweighs that penalty and gives the Bills a free 15 yards. Coming off the two-minute warning, on the Pittsburgh 16-yard line, Allen overthrows Beasley, again…under pressure. Steven Nelson gives the Steelers some great coverage against Diggs and pushes him out of bounds as he’s attempting to haul in a pass. The Steeler’s bring the heat on third-and-10, forcing Allen to throw it quickly to Dawson Knox towards the end zone but it’s incomplete. Tyler Bass hits his first FG attempt of the night, from 34 yards out, and cuts the score to 7-3.
After a touchback, Roethlisberger is able to complete his first two passes to Samuels and Ebron for 17 yards before going incomplete out of a timeout to Claypool on first down. On second-and-5 following a penalty, the Bills get their big break as Taron Johnson jumps a Roethlisberger pass and takes it all the way to the house for a 51-yard pick 6. A thing of beauty by the scrappy corner whose being thrown into a bigger role lately. Buffalo regains the lead by two after Bass misses the PAT, 9-7.
The Steelers show absolutely no desire in scoring before half and run out the clock after 2 short plays. Buffalo heads into halftime with the lead.
Halftime Grades:
Bills – C+
This was about to be a C- until that Taron Johnson pick 6 shortly before the half gave the Bills a 9-7 lead to bring into halftime. I will credit the Bills’ defense and their ability to limit any major plays and force so many punts tonight. The defense isn’t enough to bring this grade up any higher, though, with the offensive performance. Allen has just 93 total yards and 2 turnovers at half, and the Singletary/Moss duo has rushed for a measly 17 yards on 5 attempts. They can’t rely on the defense to continue to carry Allen and the offense.
Steelers – C+
This is the first time I think I’ve given out two of the same grade. This game has been fairly even though, with the Steelers having a slight edge offensively and the Bills with the defensive edge. Big Ben hasn’t been awful and has dealt with more than a couple of drops from his receivers. He needs to force the ball downfield more and hope Diontae Johnson has some Elmer’s Glue for his gloves in the locker room. The dink and dunk won’t work forever. Their defense has done a great job stifling Josh Allen and needs to continue to get pressure with that four-man rush to shut down the Bills again in the second half.
The second half gets rolling with Andre Roberts’ 37-yard kickoff return, and the Bills will take the field with a start at their own 35-yard line. Allen continues to target Diggs, this time for a 5-yard completion. Singletary gets 3 yards to set up the third down where Allen connects with Diggs again for a first down on the 6-yard completion. Knox gets his fifth target of the game and brings it down for 8 before Singletary gets his best run of the night and scampers to the right for 14 yards. Diggs stays hot with another catch for another first down on his third grab of the drive. Singletary nearly gets taken down for a big loss but is able to fight and somehow get 2 yards against a gang of tacklers. Allen hits a wide-open Diggs who turns and dives between defenders into the end zone for his seventh catch of the game and his first score. Buffalo extends their lead 16-7 with 10:23 left in the third quarter.
Taron Johnson stays busy with a solid tackle on Conner to hold him to 1 on first down. The Bills bring the heat on second down and force an incompletion before they’re able to finally get to Roethlisberger and Hughes/Milano tag team the giant QB for a 10-yard loss on the sack. Pittsburgh punts Andre Roberts, who has some room and turns on the moves for a 21-yard return.
Allen keeps the trend going and hits Diggs on his first two pass attempts for completions of 22 and 19. Diggs displays his ability to put any defender on skates to get the Bills down to the Steelers’ red zone. Moss gets another carry that goes for 3 yards and on second-and-7, Gabriel (not Gabe) Davis brings in a perfect throw from Allen in the back corner of the end zone for another score. Buffalo has scores 23 unanswered and lead, 23-7 with 7:02 left in the third quarter. Stefon Diggs is incredible and Josh Allen is delivering the ball to his guys, this is the offense #BillsMafia has grown accustomed too.
Down 16 and without a score since early in the second, the Steelers take the field and for a way past the Bills’ defense. A.J. Klein stock continues to rise as he stuffs Conner for gain on the drive’s first play. Claypool brings in his third catch, this time for 6 yards, and the Steelers face a third -and-4. Roethlisberger throws a bad ball into coverage, under incoming pressure from Milano, a diving Tre White nearly picks off that, and they punt AGAIN. Thank God Buffalo is scoring, or I might have fallen asleep at my keyboard at the half.
Butter Josh Allen up because he’s on a roll, scoring 23 unanswered points, leading the Bills’ offense back onto the field. Singletary rushes for 3 yards, and Allen hits Beasley the next play for 8 yards and the first. They’d come to a quick halt, though, getting just another 3 yards from Singletary, 1 on a Diggs end around, and 4 to Knox on third-and-6. Bojo gets to punt again and boots it inside the Steelers’ 20-yard line.
Big Ben hits Diontae butterfingers Johnson for 5 yards on the opening play and then again a play later for 6 yards, showing sure hands now. Ebron gets open deep, and Roethlisberger finds him for 17 yards and into Bills’ territory. Roethlisberger starts HOT with four straight completions of 8, 9, 17, and 7 yards to a host of receivers to get down to the Bills’ 6-yard line. The Steelers get a short first and goal thanks to a Matt Milano penalty but misfires on first down for Ebron. However, it doesn’t matter as JuJu takes in the open pass on the out for the touchdown, and the Steelers cut the lead down to 23-15 after a successful two-point conversion. A needed, but impressive, response from the savvy vet Roethlisberger.
Up to eight points early in the fourth quarter, it’s a pressure-packed situation for Allen and the offense as he looked to stay hot. Beasley nearly gets a first down on his fifth catch of the night to set the wrecking ball Moss up the middle and convert for the first down. Allen’s completion streak is put to an end after an incompletion deep to Davis, and a pass caught out of bounds by Moss. On third-and-10, Allen stands tall to pressure again and dumps it off to Isaiah McKenzie, who is able to get enough for the first. If you’re a Bills fan and don’t appreciate McKenzie…watch closer, fool. Allen heaves one to the end zone for Dawson Knox on third-and-5 that goes incomplete, but a pass interference is called against the Steelers, and the Bills get a first-and-goal at the goal line. The first down snap is almost fumbled, but the handoff gets to Moss, and he’s dropped for a 4-yard loss. Better than a turnover. Allen faces heavy pressure on second-and-goal from the 5-yard line and, after a pump, throw the ball into the ground instead of forcing it. He rolls out of the pocket again and fires for Gabriel Davis in the end zone again, this time for an incompletion, and two Buffalo penalties are declined to bring Tyler Bass out for the Bills. The Bass Man hits it down the center from 23, and the Bills take a two-score lead, 26-15 in the middle of the final quarter.
Some scrappiness on the kick return after Ray-Ray McCloud tries to make something happen and leaps a Bill before being slammed down and throwing little hands after getting up, causing some guys to cluster up and talk that trash, but nothing more. Jaylen Samuel continues to get snaps and getting a 6-yard catch after an incompletion. On third-and-4, Roethlisberger goes down the field for Washington, but Levi Wallace makes another big play and intercepts the ball. Buffalo takes over after another mistake by the future HOF’er.
Allen scrambles on the first down on the ground with a 28-yard rush, but Mitch Morse gets a holding call, and Buffalo starts over with a first-and-20. Diggs gets his tenth catch of the night, for 9 yards this time, and then can’t bring it in deep on second-and-11 to bring up the third. Knox gets his seventh look of the night and makes his fourth catch to convert the third down with a beautiful catch and run for 16 yards. Zack Moss gets his time to shine with four straight carries of 4, 16, 6, and 3 yards before Allen takes it himself with a sneak on third-and-1 for the conversion. Another first down or two from the Bills will put an end to this game. On a second and 12, Allen takes it to the open field with an 11-yard scramble, and Moss converts the third-and-1 with another scrappy rush. That’ll set the Bills into victory formation, and Josh Allen takes the knee to end this game with another huge victory.
An impressive home performance from the Buffalo Bills moves them to 10-3 after taking down the Pittsburgh Steelers and 26-15.
Fulltime Grades:
Bills – B+
You know how people like to talk about playing a “complete team win” well, you saw that last night from Buffalo in this one. The defense delivered one of the season’s best performances, held the Steelers in check for most of the game, and forced a few key turnovers. Josh Allen came out of the half a revived version of his first-half self and strung together some impressive drives to put the necessary points on the board and win this. ANOTHER statement win from the Bills, this time over an elite AFC contender on national TV. Enjoy this one #BillsMafia
Steelers – C
An 11-0 start with hopes of an undefeated season are completely washed away for the Steelers after they laid an absolute egg against the Bills for their second straight loss. Ben Roethlisberger is 100% showing signs of his age, having trouble moving around the backfield and consistently settling for short passes. James Conner was held to 10 rushes for 18 yards, and Snell Jr./Samuels couldn’t do much more in relief. Their defense looked great the first half and kept Allen under constant pressure until the second half adjustments from the Bills started to hold them up a bit. Is this team actually a contender?
A declarative win over the cream of the AFC crop should have the Bills finally cemented as legitimate contenders should have them itching for round 2 against the Chiefs.
Kat’s Takeaway:
- Josh Allen’s absurd ability to adjust. Allen came out of halftime a new QB after a dismal first half that the Steelers’ defense kept him in complete check. He came out in the second half, adjusted to the Steelers’ pass rush and their coverage. He went on a stretch of 11 completed passes in a row and drove his team to 23 unanswered points in a game he had to deliver. His adjustments to get the ball out quicker, and pretty much throw to Diggs every play, paid off big time. I love him.
- Stefon Diggs has been a blessing for Buffalo. Diggs absolutely went off in the second half. After the first half with just three catches, he ended up with 10 catches for 130 yards and a score to help guide Allen’s success in the second half. He has an unparalleled ability to get open in space and deliver a window for Allen to get him the ball with room to run. Diggs also tied a Bills’ franchise record with his 100th reception of the season yesterday, putting him in a position to shatter Eric Moulds’ mark from 18 years ago.
- Tyler Bass has shaken off a rocky start and is becoming a legit NFL kicker. After a shaky start to the season, Bass missed two field goals in Week 1, and fans immediately put the rookie on blast. Since then, he’s had games with 6 FGs, three over 50 yards in a single game, and started to get that rocket leg under control; yeah, he missed a PAT last night but had no issue with his field goals and is even getting better with kickoffs. I think Bass can be a franchise kicker the more he shows his development.
- No dunkaroos for you, Big Ben. The Bills’ came into this matchup knowing they’d have to do a good job preventing yards after the catch against the Steelers’ receivers. Roethlisberger is getting old and starting to show it, favoring the “dink and dunk” mantra of dumping the ball off just a few yards upfield and letting his talented pass catchers make something happen. Buffalo’s defense did a great job of limiting those big plays and keeping the middle of the field locked down.
- Zack Moss RB1…??? Singletary and Moss have seen a pretty decent split in snaps this season, but recently it’s seemed like they’re trying to give Moss a chance to take over as the lead guy. They kept true to that trend last night, with Moss getting 13 carries to Singletary’s 7 carries. A few other factors play into this, like Moss’ ability as a short-yardage back and his use late in games. He only averaged 3.3 yards a carry but grinded out much-needed yards at the end of the game to end it. He has a lot to prove and is being given a chance to show what he can contribute.
Oh, and Josh Allen signing off SNF with the “Go Bills” was the perfect bow on top of an early Christmas gift for #BillsMafia. Oh…and he passed Jim Kelly for the most touchdowns in a season by a Buffalo Bill, with 3 games to go.
The Sports Desk can be reached at editorialtrainwrecksports@gmail.com