On paper, the Wild Card round matchup Sunday at 1 p.m. between the No. 2-seeded Buffalo Bills and the No. 7-seeded Pittsburgh Steelers seems like a bit of a lopsided matchup in favor of the Bills.
That lines up with the initial betting line of 9.5 points in favor of the Bills. But that’s why they play the games on the field. Styles make fights, and the Bills’ issues defensively play into the strength of the Steelers at the moment, while the Bills’ offense is loaded with playmakers around quarterback Josh Allen that will take on a Steelers defense that is likely going to be without star pass rusher T.J. Watt.
For former NFL head coach and Hall of Famer Tony Dungy, the Bills cannot take the Steelers for granted in a matchup that might appear lopsided on paper. Speaking about the Wild Card Round matchup on NBC Sports Sunday night following the Bills’ thrilling comeback win over the Miami Dolphins to win the AFC East, Dungy cautioned the Bills.
“I would say to the Buffalo Bills, do not take this team for granted. This team has fought their way into it,” Dungy said regarding the Steelers, according to video via the NFL on NBC YouTube page. “They’ve got some things going. Mason Rudolph is making plays down the field and there there’s something with the Steeler team.”
In the last month, there is something going on with the Steelers, who have won three straight after making yet another change at the quarterback position. Since Rudolph was inserted into the lineup at quarterback, the Steelers have taken off, winning three straight games, scoring 30 or more points in two of them, while also finding great balance with a powerful run game.
They’ve done all that while dealing with significant injuries defensively, leaning on veteran linebacker Myles Jack and safety Eric Rowe coming off the practice squad to play big role for the Steelers.
Though the Steelers lost Watt to a knee injury in the season finale that could keep him out of the Wild Card matchup against the Bills, Pittsburgh is getting healthy on the back end with the return of star safety Minkah Fitzpatrick and veteran Damontae Kazee returning from suspension.
Pittsburgh won three straight down the stretch while the Bills won five straight to win the AFC East. The two teams are similar, as the Bills were once counted out for the season, too, after falling to 6-6 at one point. But in the end, the two teams have figured things out and are rolling into the playoffs on a hot streak.
“[Bills safey] Jordan Poyer told us, ‘Hey, we were counted out. ‘We were six and six.’ People were saying the same thing with Pittsburgh,” Dungy added regarding the Steelers. “Everybody was saying they’re down, they’re done. We were talking about maybe making coaching changes a couple weeks ago, and here they are and believe me, they’ve got that underdog attitude.”
That underdog attitude can go a long way. The Steelers have been counted out since losing three straight in early December to fall to 7-7 on the season. But they rallied to win the final three games of the season, and they’ve undoubtedly responded to the switch to Rudolph at quarterback, having a belief that they can score points offensively and hit on explosive plays.
That matters, and now they’ll have to carry it into the playoffs.
