The Pittsburgh Steelers drafted QB Mason Rudolph the same year the Buffalo Bills drafted Josh Allen. They started against one another last month in the Bills’ 31-17 Wild Card victory over the Steelers. Allen’s not easy to defend. He’s now played Pittsburgh in each of the past five seasons—and usually does well for himself when he does.
In four regular season games—last in 2022—he is 3-1 with eight touchdowns to three interceptions. He has thrown for 1,071 yards while taking only five sacks with 142 rushing yards and one touchdown.
During last season’s Wild Card game, Allen went 21-for-30, throwing for 201 yards. He threw three touchdowns and zero interceptions, rushing for 71 yards and another crushing score. It was his most dominant game yet against a team that Allen claims to like.
“I’ve always been a fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers”, he told Bryant McFadden at the Super Bowl for CBS Sports. “I think the best should get the best. I’ve been fortunate enough to play against the Pittsburgh Steelers the last four years now. They’ve gotten me a couple times, though”.
Actually, the Steelers have only beaten him once. That was in 2021, when Miles Killebrew blocked a punt that they recovered for a touchdown. Allen threw for 270 yards and a touchdown that day without an interception, but the Bills put up just 16 points.
“I have so much respect for Coach [Mike] Tomlin and what he’s been able to do there and how they’ve been able to sustain success since he’s been there”, he said. “It’s been fantastic to watch, and a lot of respect for the Pittsburgh Steelers organization”.
Tomlin got to know the 2018 quarterback class well because they were in the market for one at the time. Allen was out of their reach, but I imagine the Steelers liked him well enough. The only problem is he was a top-10 pick. The last time they picked in the single digits, they drafted WR Plaxico Burres. If you were born then, you may be graduating college now.
Unfortunately for Allen, his Bills didn’t make it much further beyond the Steelers. They fell to the Kansas City Chiefs in the next round as did the Baltimore Ravens a week later. Now Kansas City is competing for the Super Bowl title against the San Francisco 49ers.
But at least Allen’s won five playoff games in his career. The Steelers haven’t even won one since then. Still, they manage to retain the respect of players and coaches alike around the like. A lot of that is because of Tomlin, as in Allen’s case while discussing the Steelers.
He’s now one of the reasons they’ve lost a franchise-record five consecutive postseason games, though. Scoring four touchdowns on a top-10 scoring defense tends to have that effect. Of course, Tomlin’s defenses bottoming out in the postseason is yet another chapter in the book of failures he’s authoring.
