The Pittsburgh Steelers are playing on Sunday Night Football in about an hour against the Buffalo Bills and their high powered offense led by rising quarterback, Josh Allen. The Bills are atop the AFC East conference and thanks to a Miami Dolphins loss at the hands of the Kansas City Chiefs, their lead in the division has widened. That same Dolphins loss secured a playoff spot for the Steelers.
The Steelers’ offense is reportedly going to seek more of a balance and it should be easier to do so now that James Conner and Maurkice Pouncey have returned from the Reserve/COVID list. Meanwhile, on the defense Vince Williams found himself on the Reserve/COVID list. This comes at a time where Robert Spillane was sent to IR with a knee injury. Trade deadline acquisition, Avery Williamson, will be the guy at the position today along with whoever ends up playing opposite him. There will probably be a lot of dime defense with Marcus Allen playing as the other inside backer.
Steelers vs. Bills all time record: 16-10-0
Steelers at Bills: 6-7-0
Last match result: 17-10 Bills (2019)
Notable free agent additions: WR Stefon Diggs (trade), CB Josh Norman, OLB Mario Addison, S Jordan Poyer, ILB/ST Tyler Matakevich
Notable draft picks: DE A.J. Epenesa, RB Zack Moss, QB Jake Fromm
Steelers Inactive Players:
QB Joshua Dobbs
CB Joe Haden
TE Kevin Rader
DE Isaiah Buggs
OL Derwin Gray
RB Anthony McFarland Jr.
Bills Inactive Players:
QB Jake Fromm
RB T.J. Yeldon
TE Tyler Kroft
DE Trent Murphy
S Jaquan Johnson
It looks like some light rain is falling. Possibly could turn into light snow as it gets colder in the night. Snow is on the forecast tomorrow in Buffalo.
The Steelers offense will start with the ball.
Ray-Ray McClouds struggles continue as he decided to take the ball out from six yards deep in the end zone, only making it back to the 9 yard line.
Diontae Johnson with a drop on the first play of the game. Not a good way to start after the last couple games. It looks like the Steelers might try to get the pre-snap motion and jet sweeps back in play. Chase Claypool for 5 yards on 2nd.
Incomplete to Diontae Johnson on 3rd, so a quick three-and-out. The punt wasn’t great, so the Bills will start with good field position. The Bills were called for a hold on the punt return, so they backed up to their own 33.
Josh Allen, under pressure, incomplete on first down to the middle of the field. On 2nd, Allen scrambled up the middle after nothing was there down field. A Bills 3rd down and manageable turned into 3rd and long after a false start.
Allen had a ton of time on 3rd down, and threw deep down field. Stefon Diggs in double coverage and the ball fell incomplete. Terrell Edmunds was in on the deep coverage.
The Bills with a three and out to match. The Steelers will start with slightly better field position at the 14 yard line this time.
Back to Diontae Johnson on first down on the wide receiver screen. This time, he found a hole and took it for a Steelers first down.
The next play, to Juju Smith-Schuster on a quick five yard out. Steelers staying on schedule so far this series. A 2nd down run and James Conner was swallowed up in the backfield.
Diontae Johnson officially has the yips. Two drops on the day already as he dropped the 3rd down pass to force a punt. He might not see another snap this half.
I won’t bother posting any of the Diontae Johnson tweets. Just go on the twitter machine and you will see.
On first down for the Bills, Marcus Allen flew into the flats to take down the receiver quickly. On 2nd, Cole Beasley one on one against Avery Williamson and he didn’t stand a chance. First down for the Bills.
Alex Highsmith with an excellent dip around the corner to deflect the ball on first. Could have probably been intercepted. The next play, Mike Hilton with the interception! The Steelers get their best field position of the day off a turnover and must capitalize.
Lets see if Diontae Johnson takes the field.
Back to back runs for the Steelers, and they picked up about 6 yards. On third, the Ben Roethlisberger pass was deflected at the line of scrimmage after he scrambled around a bit. The Steelers failed to capitalize on the interception.
Jordan Berry punted to the 30 yard line. Could be a punter duel, much like last week.
Zack Moss on 1st and 2nd down to set up 3rd and 2. Josh Allen dropped back. TJ Watt was able to get around the edge to apply some pressure from behind, but the pass got off. Cameron Sutton in coverage and the ball fell incomplete. Yet another punt.
Everyone calling for Kevin Dotson to spark the run game got their wish. He is coming in as Matt Feiler heads to the locker room.
Ben Roethlisberger nearly got sacked for the first time in several weeks, but was able to get the ball off. Almost a nice completion to Chase Claypool, but it bounced off the ground.
Ben went back to Chase Claypool on 2nd for a pickup of four.
3rd and 6. Ben Roethlisberger with the pump fake before delivering a 1st down strike to Juju Smith-Schuster.
Another first down pickup for Juju on a tight window slant. After a couple short pickups for Jaylen Samuels, Ben Roethlisberger attempted to go deep on 3rd down to James Washington. It fell incomplete. The Steelers punted and pinned the Bills inside their own 10 yard line.
The Steelers defense is making every 1st down difficult for the Bills. Stefon Diggs got way up in the air to catch the ball just beyond the sticks. The Steelers had too many men on the field anyhow.
On first, Josh Allen under pressure from Cameron Heward threw the ball away. The next play, Mike Hilton was able to bring down the receiver on the screen pass for a loss of one. 3rd and long for the Bills after the break for the end of the first quarter.
Cameron Sutton raced into the backfield for the pressure and hit Josh Allen as he threw the pass which caused it to fly out incomplete. It looks like it could have been a fumble, but the referees called it an incomplete pass. The Steelers sure fought to recover it, so the players sure thought it was a fumble.
On first down, Ben Roethlisberger went deep to Chase Claypool. It would have been a tough catch, but it was technically catchable. It fell incomplete. A neutral zone infraction by the Bills kept the Steelers offense on schedule, and a seven yard run for Benny Snell gained a Steelers’ first down.
The next play, Juju Smith-Schuster for the Steelers biggest offensive play of the game. A 20 yard catch and run as he found the soft spot of the zone and was wide open.
Benny Snell with another couple of rushes, but Eric Ebron dropped a low pass for what would have been a first down conversion. The third, possibly fourth, drop of the day for the Steelers and another punt. The Bills get the ball inside their own 10 yard line again.
Terrell Edmunds was playing up in the box on first and made the tackle to limit the run to a gain of three. Avery Williamson tackled the catch on 2nd to set up 3rd and 3. Gabriel Davis caught the pass to convert the first down with Steven Nelson in tight coverage.
On first, Josh Allen rolled out to his right and delivered a beautiful pass on target down field, but it was incomplete with tight coverage by Cameron Sutton. Sutton is playing extremely well in place of Joe Haden.
The next play, Mike Hilton forced the ball loose on the pass and Cameron Sutton recovered. It was either a fumble or an interception. Its hard to tell and depends if the play was ruled a catch. Regardless, Steelers ball!
On the Steelers first offensive play after the turnover, Jordan Poyer punched out the ball from James Conner on the run. Fortunately, Juju Smith-Schuster was able to recover.
Ben Roethlisberger with a touchdown pass to James Washington. Washington faked the corner route and came back inside to the post for plenty of separation. 7-0 Steelers.
Tyson Alualu came in on 1st down and knocked the ball loose. That counts as a sack and sets the record for most consecutive games with a sack for any team since sacks were officially tracked.
A deep shot by Josh Allen on 2nd and 18 was almost caught for a large explosive play, but the receiver couldn’t get both feet in bounds. They couldn’t convert on 3rd, so another punt. The Bills high flying offense has been completely shut down in the first half.
James Conner ran for a whopping 1 yard on the first two plays of the drive. On third, James Washington couldn’t get off the corner and the pass fell incomplete. There was a flag on the play, but the referees conferred and decided no flag. They let Tre’Davious White successfully plead his case. The Steelers punt once again.
The Bills got their biggest offensive play of the night as Stefon Diggs caught the ball, was not wrapped up by two tacklers and continued to run up field.
The Bills are marching up the field. Henry Mondeaux called for roughing the passer. He hit him near the waist and was not very late. A rough call in favor of the Bills.
In the red zone, Josh Allen was forced to get rid of the ball quickly and threw slightly off target to fall incomplete near the left sideline and the end zone. The same play was basically ran again, but this time it was nearly caught. Tight coverage by the Steelers secondary prevented the touchdown. The Bills kick the field goal and it was good.
7-3 Steelers.
Jaylen Samuls on a first down screen behind David DeCastro for four yards. The next play, Eric Ebron for 13 yards up the seam.
A neutral zone infraction against the Bills and it should have been a free play, but it was blown dead early by the officials. The next play, Taron Johnson undercut the route and intercepted the ball for a touchdown. The extra point was missed. 9-7 Bills.
END OF HALF – 9-7 Bills
Join us for the second half here.
