The Pittsburgh Steelers learned not only that they will have a game to play next week but also who, when, and where they will play. The answers to those questions are the Bills in Buffalo on Sunday at 1 PM EST. The two teams in the AFC with the longest winning streaks.
While the Steelers come into the playoffs hot after winning their final three games, the Bills have run the table in the past five games to claim the AFC East and with it, the second seed. That used to mean a bye week, but now it means they play the seventh seed, which didn’t exist until 2020.
Buffalo Bills football hasn’t always been pretty this season, but they still ended the year 11-6. Their five-game winning streak includes victories over the Kansas City Chiefs, the Dallas Cowboys, and the Miami Dolphins, the latter their division rival, who would have been the second seed if Buffalo didn’t beat them yesterday.
The Bills enter the game nearly 10-point favorites to beat the Steelers, but Pittsburgh has faced long odds before. After all, they became the first team to win the Super Bowl from the sixth seed, beating the top three seeds in their conference and the top seed in the NFC, back in 2005.
But did the Bills look unbeatable? Of their wins in the final five games, only one came by multiple scores, a shocking 31-10 blowout of the Dallas Cowboys. They beat the Chiefs with a field goal in the final two minutes and were only spared giving up a late go-ahead touchdown because Kadarius Toney lacks spatial awareness. They only beat the Chargers by two thanks to a field goal in the final minute, as well. They entered the fourth quarter against the Dolphins last night trailing 14-7, getting a 95-yard punt return touchdown.
So this is an 11-6 team entering the playoffs on a five-game winning streak, but not one that looks to be a juggernaut. Indeed, outside of the first-seed Baltimore Ravens, whom the Steelers have beaten twice, there doesn’t look to be any team in the conference that is playing complete football.
Not to overlook the Bills at all, but I don’t want people to dismiss out of hand the possibility of the Steelers being able to win, either. If they can run on Buffalo, they can control the game, and the Bills’ run defense is nothing special, even if improved from the first half of the season. They struggled against Miami last night, allowing 108 yards on the ground on just 20 attempts.
Pittsburgh comes into the game with its own reason for optimism given the recent success. If they can play the way they have been playing for the past few weeks, then they have a legitimate chance to get through to the next round. And one can hope they may have T.J. Watt back by then, even if in a limited capacity.
