Not many people are giving the Pittsburgh Steelers much of a shot on Sunday when they travel north to Buffalo to take on the Bills for Wild Card weekend. When strictly comparing offenses, it’s easy to understand why. The Bills have a quarterback in Josh Allen, who led the NFL in yardage and total touchdowns.
However, NFL Hall of Famer, Super Bowl champion, and former Steelers S Troy Polamalu still expects his former team to show up and give the Bills all they can handle. He appeared on Tuesday’s episode of the Jim Rome Show, and among other things, the two discussed the upcoming Wild Card round matchup.
“I’m excited to watch this game,” Polamalu said. “I do think that we’re gonna give it a good run and hopefully come out with a big victory.”
The Steelers have given their opponents in the vast majority of their games this season a good run, as Polamalu puts it. They even defeated the AFC’s number one seed, the Baltimore Ravens, in Week Five when they had all their starters playing. The Steelers relied on great defensive efforts to keep games close throughout the majority of the season, something that will aid them on Sunday versus the Bills.
Unfortunately for the Steelers, one of the players that they relied on so heavily this season defensively, LB T.J. Watt, was ruled out of Sunday’s game by head coach Mike Tomlin during his Tuesday press conference. The Steelers historically have not fared well with Watt out of the lineup, going 1-10 in games with the superstar pass rusher on the sideline.
That’s not to say that the Steelers lack other pass rushers who could step up and make an impact on Sunday. Alex Highsmith may not have equaled his incredible 2022 sack total this season, but seven sacks is still a respectable total. He also has hurried quarterbacks seven times, knocked them down 11 times, and pressured them 26 times.
Then there’s the rookie, Nick Herbig. Even in limited action this season behind Watt, Highsmith, and Markus Golden, Herbig has found ways to make an impact. He has three sacks and three pressures, including the incredible strip-sack and fumble recovery in Week 17 against the Seattle Seahawks. It was also his second forced fumble of the season.
Plays like that will certainly help the Steelers give the Bills a run for their money and even potentially win on Sunday. They’ll need to force Allen into making mistakes like he is prone to do and then take advantage of those. Factor in the weather and the run game with RBs Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren, and that’s a recipe for success.
