With January football comes poor weather and sloppy conditions — usually.
The Pittsburgh Steelers experienced that in their season finale on the road again the Baltimore Ravens one week ago, playing in a downpour that really made things difficult. Pittsburgh took care of business though and is now preparing for a Wild Card Round matchup against the Buffalo Bills on the road Sunday at 1 p.m.
That matchup will likely be played in wet, snowy conditions, thanks to a Lake Effect snowstorm that is expected to roll through Buffalo this weekend. Those conditions will make things difficult for both teams, but for Steelers standout Cameron Heyward, the weather isn’t going to faze the Steelers.
On the latest episode of his podcast “Not Just Football w/ Cam Heyward” the longtime defensive lineman states that the Steelers “love crappy weather” and that this current team is built to play and thrive in poor conditions.
“We have the running game to do it,” Heyward said regarding the potential poor weather on tap, according to video via the NFL on ESPN YouTube page. “And I think our team really thrives on playing in those ugly weather games. It’s just, if we go to Kansas City, we go to Kansas City. If we go to Buffalo, we go to Buffalo.
“We knew we were packing a light bag and we get to play whoever.”
Looking at the Steelers, it’s hard to argue that they aren’t built to play in crappy weather.
The Steelers are built through the trenches defensively, aiming to stop the run and get after the passer. Offensively, the Steelers’ strength in the last month or so has been running the football, attacking downhill and wearing teams out.
That style of play featuring a run-heavy attack plays anywhere in January, whether there’s rain, sleet, snow, wind, whatever it may be. Running the football and stopping the run is a proven style that works in the postseason. The Steelers are hoping that style they are currently all in on works for them, starting Sunday in Buffalo.
According to weather.com, the forecast says it will be a high of 25 degrees and a low of 18 degrees in Buffalo on Sunday and will also feature 22 MPH winds with a 24% chance of precipitation. Not exactly ideal conditions, but ones that will play right into the hands of the Steelers’ style of play, especially if Buffalo gets the amount of snow the area is expecting Friday and Saturday leading up to the game.
Leaning on running backs Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren will be key for the Steelers, as will the offensive line really getting after it in the run game, winning at the line of scrimmage and really mucking things up. The Steelers played quite well in the downpour in Week 18 on the road against Buffalo. They appear battle-tested when it comes to awful conditions.
Hopefully that is the case on Sunday in the Wild Card Round.
