The Pittsburgh Steelers and the Buffalo Bills will play in exhibition for week two of the 2023 preseason slate in Pittsburgh at Acrisure Stadium. The game starts at 6:30 PM ET, but welcome to those of you that came an hour early.
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Spencer Anderson is taking some center reps in warmups. It will be interesting to see the division of labor at center today beyond Mason Cole after Kendrick Green struggled last week.
Kwon Alexander was fined $43,709 for a highly questionable unnecessary roughness penalty for helmet to helmet contact last week. It might be our first time seeing an angry Kwon Alexander out on the field which I am looking forward to seeing.
One of the many exciting things to watch today will be the debut of Joey Porter Jr. who was held out due to a minor ankle injury last week. It will be interesting to see how they deploy Porter, Peterson, and Wallace.
Larry Ogunjobi, Nate Herbig, and Tre Norwood are inactive for tonight’s game. Each of them have been sidelines with injuries for a week or two now.
It sounds like the Buffalo Bills are playing many of their starters for a quarter or two tonight. This should be the tune up game for the regular season for both teams.
Pittsburgh will receive and Kenny Pickett and the offense will start the game out.
Kenny Pickett, Cameron Heyward, and TJ Watt were the captains tonight for the Steelers. It’s worth noting that Damar Hamlin was a captain on the Bills side as he played college ball in this stadium.
START OF GAME
Anthony McFarland Jr. took the kickoff out of the end zone and ran right into a tackle at the 14 yard line.
Najee Harris got the ball on first down for a short gain. Pickett had to roll out to escape pressure and threw an accurate pass to Allen Robinson II, but it was dropped. He went right back to Robinson on third down to convert. The next play, Jaylen Warren went 63 yards on a run racing past multiple defenders for the touchdown! 7-0 Steelers.
It looks like Isaac Seumalo made the key seal block to propel that long scoring run.
Elandon Roberts tackled the catch on first down short of the first down marker. On 2nd, Levi Wallace was able to chase down the runner from behind. On third down Josh Allen was forced to throw the pass away. Calvin Austin III returned the punt 54 yards up the sideline to set up excellent field position.
The first play of the drive, a beautiful pass from Kenny Pickett to Pat Freiermuth up the seam for a touchdown! 14-0 Steelers.
Kenny Pickett and the starting offense are reportedly done for the night per Missi Matthews.
The starting defense remains on the field for now and Josh Allen had his team down near the red zone before an illegal block in the back and a false start backed them up to the mid field mark. A 35 yard pass from Josh Allen to Gabe Davis was complete, but a holding at the line of scrimmage brought them back again. 2nd and 34 and Latavius Murray up the middle for a few. 3rd and 29, and a screen pass was well short of the line to gain. Both the offense and defense off to great starts against the Bills’ starting units.
The punt went just 28 yards, so Mitch Trubisky and the offense will take over with good starting position. Miles Killebrew was in on the punt with a slight deflection.
Trubisky to Cody White on 3rd and 8. It was good enough to convert, but a pass interference tacked on some extra yardage. The Steelers are now near the midfield mark.
Trubisky dialed up a deep pass to Calvin Austin III on first down, but Austin couldn’t track the ball and it fell incomplete. McFarland rushed for just two on 2nd. On 3rd, Trubisky dumped the pass off to McFarland Jr. who made the first defender miss, but was tackled short of the first down.
Pressley Harvin III’s punt went 36 yards and was fair caught at the 11 yard line. Harvin must be getting the full game this week after Braden Mann got last week.
A false start backed the Bills up even further. Joey Porter Jr. got his first opportunity with a pass his way to Stefon Diggs. He was in tight coverage, but the pass was caught for a short gain. Alex Highsmith in coverage on 2nd down to deny the pass. 3rd and 7, Josh Allen avoided multiple sacks before Alex Highsmith finally chased him down. The Steelers should have excellent field position again after the punt.
END OF 1ST QUARTER: 14-0 STEELERS.
That was really phenomenal play for Alex Highsmith that entire drive. Pressure, pass coverage, tackling. He may have leveled up again which bodes well for the Steelers recent long term investment.
Mitch Trubisky was under immediate pressure on the play action fake and got sacked for a loss of 17. 2nd and 27 for the Steelers and Trubisky scrambled for a few yards. On 3rd, a pass to Conner Heyward for 9, but well short of the line to gain. The punt went 38 yards with no return downed at the 15 yard line, but an illegal formation tacked on 5.
Matt Barkley has checked into the game, so the Steelers’ starters won the day 14-0 over the Bills’ starters.
The Bills put together a nice drive with an explosive pass, but Cole Holcomb tipped the pass up and Elijah Riley intercepted it in the end zone for a touchback.
Calvin Austin III is continuing to get some burn with a nice third down conversion on an in breaking route from Mitch Trubisky. Spencer Anderson was penalized for illegal use of hands which effectively killed the drive. Harvin’s punt went 35 yards, but was downed around the five yard line. Special teams have been on point tonight – Danny Smith has got to be happy.
Joey Porter Jr. picked off the pass. There was a penalty on the Bills, but declined, so the penalty stands. The Steelers’ sideline erupted. The team loves him, he has been around the team for a long time. Porter worked hard to show that he has hands with a lot of extra time on the JUGS machine. Great payoff early in his career.
Pass interference on the Bills in the end zone on the pass from Trubisky to Darnell Washington. No gain on the first two attempts from the 1 yard line. Pass interference gave them another fresh set of downs.
The offense is having some issues punching this one in with plenty of opportunities. With just 00:11 left in the half the Steelers call a timeout. 2nd and goal from the 1, McFarland lost 2. Another timeout called. 3rd and goal from the 3, Trubisky to Conner Heyward for the touchdown! 21-0 Steelers.
END OF HALF: 21-0 STEELERS.
The half started off with a bang with another interception this time by Chandon Sullivan. Mason Rudolph checked into the game and the drive stalled out in field goal range. Boswell’s field goal was good. 24-0 Steelers.
Nick Herbig forced a fumble which was recovered by Tanner Muse. Herbig continues to make plays after a 1.5 sack performance last week. He very well could step in as the first edge rusher off the bench over veteran edge Markus Golden. This preseason game has gone about as perfect as you could hope.o
Mason Rudolph complete to Xazavian Valladay on 1st down for 22 yards. He was just added to the team earlier this week, so the Steelers are looking to see what they have in the newcomer. Darnell Washington caught a pass from Rudolph for 8 yards and Rudolph scrambled the next play to convert a fresh set of downs.
Now in the red zone, Valladay rushed for a short gain and then Rudolph was sacked for a loss of 10. A 39 yard field goal attempt for Chris Boswell and it was good. 27-0 Steelers.
Special teams strikes again with a nice swarm to the ball after a botched kick return. The Bills will start from deep in their own end.
END OF 3RD QUARTER: 27-0 STEELERS.
Elijah Riley deflected the 3rd down pass to force the punt. The lone major Steelers’ mistake of the night happened with an aborted snap from Mason Rudolph, recovered by the Bills. The next play, the Bills got their first score of the night up the middle for two yards. 27-7 Steelers.
The Steelers drive stalled out again, but Pressley Harvin pinned the Bills at the 10 yard line. Special teams continues to have a great night. Boswell nailed his field goals, Harvin has been pinning the Bills deep frequently and the coverage units have held up their end of the deal too.
Too many men on the field for the Steelers and still the Bills were able to score. The two point conversion attempt was good as well.
FINAL SCORE: 27-15 STEELERS.
