The Pittsburgh Steelers did their part on Saturday with a win over the Baltimore Ravens and then had to watch the Sunday slate of games for their playoff fate to be determined. The playoff berth was secured when the Tennessee Titans defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars (retribution for the Terrible Towel incident earlier this season.) Then the Steelers found out their opponent in the Buffalo Bills, who won the AFC East with a victory over the Miami Dolphins on Sunday night.
At the center of that game was Bills QB Josh Allen. He struggled in the first three quarters with ball security, throwing two interceptions and losing a fumble. Then he rebounded with two fourth-quarter touchdowns, finishing the night 30-of-38 passing for 359 yards while also carrying the ball 15 times for 67 yards.
Steelers rookie CB Joey Porter Jr. was asked Monday about the unique nature of Allen, and the Steelers’ YouTube channel had his response.
“I don’t know how tall the dude is, but he is like 6-5 something, 2-something,” Porter said, the latter a reference to Allen weighing in at well over 200 pounds. “He definitely a big guy. He likes to hurdle, jump, truck people. Definitely a freak of nature. I feel like we prepared for that. We got guys that can handle that, so it means it’s football and the end of the day.”
The Steelers are used to dealing with a quarterback who has the ability to scramble in the Baltimore Ravens’ Lamar Jackson. The Steelers have faced Jackson six times in his career and held him to 262 yards and no rushing touchdowns on 53 carries. He averages 4.94 yards per carry and 43.7 yards per game against the Steelers. Contrast that against his career numbers where Jackson has averaged 6.01 yards per carry and 61.1 yards per game (and 29 career rushing touchdowns), and you can say that the Steelers do a phenomenal job on shutting Jackson down on the ground.
However, Allen is a different beast than Jackson. The Ravens list Jackson at 6-2, 215 pounds while the Bills list Allen at 6-5, 237 pounds. While Jackson is faster, Allen brings a physical edge to the running game that not many quarterbacks do. That doesn’t mean Allen lacks speed either; it just means that Allen is typically more physical when it comes to contact.
The Dolphins witnessed that first-hand last night when Allen picked up a first down running on 3rd and 13.
Defenders at all three levels will be called upon to disrupt Allen’s running ability, whether that be Cam Heyward on the defensive line, Alex Highsmith and even Nick Herbig rushing Allen, inside linebackers like Elandon Roberts, and safeties like Damontae Kazee as he returns to the playing field. The Steelers have also seen Allen in person, even if it was limited action during the 2023 preseason when Allen went 7-of-10 passing for 64 yards and carried the ball once for a loss of six yards.
Limited action in the preseason with little game planning is a bit different than the playoffs, but Porter has faith in the players around him.
The Steelers will need to play disciplined defense regardless of down and distance on Sunday because Allen will take off even on obvious passing downs as he did in the above play. Porter knows that the defense has to be aware at all times of Allen’s abilities as both a runner and a passer.
“Run support, even scramble rules just because he could leave the pocket and create something with his legs to get the guys open downfield,” Porter said. “It’s definitely a lot that goes in the game when you got a mobile quarterback like him with a strong arm that could get the ball anywhere at any time. So it’s definitely gonna be a fun matchup, and I’m ready for it.”
The Steelers will face one of their most unique defensive assignments this season when they travel to Buffalo for Wild Card weekend, but the defense has full faith in its personnel and abilities to deal with that.
