by TYLER HATHAWAY
The Buffalo Bills and Pittsburgh Steelers each enter this weekend’s contest coming off of tight losses. The Bills had a chance to take the lead in the final seconds in a Thursday night game in Houston but fell short in a 23-19 loss. The Steelers were able to score four touchdowns and built a halftime lead the Chicago Bears, but ended up losing 31-28. The two teams will look to get back on track on Sunday. Here’s the breakdown:
BUFFALO BILLS (7-4/AFC East)
vs.
PITTSBURGH STEELERS (6-5/AFC North)
Sunday, Acrisure Stadium, 4:25 pm
Story of the game #1: Bills offense on a rollercoaster ride
The past few weeks have proven you don’t really know what to get from the Bills offense on any given day.
Looking at the games since Buffalo’s Week 7 bye week, the Bills have scored 40 points in a win against Carolina, 28 points in a win against Kansas City, and 44 points in a win against Tampa Bay. However, they’ve also scored 13 points against Miami and 19 points against Houston, both resulting in losses.
Turnovers have been a big issue for Buffalo, and they once again reared their had in last week’s loss to the Texans. The Bills turned the ball over three times against Houston. and quarterback Josh Allen‘s second interception of the game ended Buffalo’s final drive. Allen was also sacked eight times, and hit a dozen.
“When they hit our quarterback 12 times, I don’t like that,” Bills coach Sean McDermott said after the game. “I don’t like that stat at all. It’s just not a healthy way to play and it’s not a good way to keep our quarterback healthy for the rest of the season. We’ve got to play better.”
Story of the game #2: Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers battling through injury
Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers’ status for Sunday’s game is up in the air.
The four-time NFL MVP missed last week’s game against the Chicago Bears with a wrist injury. He is currently questionable, but Pittsburgh head coach Mike Tomlin is hopeful that Rodgers will be able to go against Buffalo.
“Aaron obviously worked his tail off to get to us last week,” said Tomlin. “We’ll start this week with great optimism, although we certainly will limit him in the early portions in the week and provide opportunities for the other quarterbacks.”
Rodgers has played in 10 games for the Steelers this season. The 41-year old has a 66.4% completion rate, has thrown for 1,969 yards, and has 19 touchdown passes this season. If Rodgers can’t go, it’ll be backup Mason Rudolph.
Story of the game #3: Buffalo slips to seventh in AFC playoff race
Buffalo has lost four of its past seven games to find themselves teetering the edge of the playoff picture. If the season ended today, the Bills would be the seven seed in the AFC.
Buffalo currently sits three and a half games back of the 10-2 New England Patriots for the AFC East lead. The Los Angeles Chargers and Jacksonville Jaguars are also both 7-4 and due to tiebreakers hold the fifth and sixth seeds respectively.
On their tail is Houston (6-5), Pittsburgh (6-5), and the Kansas City Chiefs (6-5). The Bills hold the tiebreaker against the Chiefs, and don’t have it against Houston.
Key to the game #1: Win the turnover battle
In games that the Bills win the turnover battle this season, they are 6-0. Buffalo has turned the ball over three times in each of its past three games, and is facing a Pittsburgh defense that is tied for second in the NFL with 20 takeaways.
On the other side of the ball, the Pittsburgh offense have done a great job at taking care of the football. The Steelers are in the top 10 in terms of least total turnovers, having only given the ball to the defense a dozen times through 11 games.
If the Bills are to get back in the win column, they will need to win the turnover battle, something they haven’t done in four games. Pittsburgh has had arguably their two best defensive games this season against two of the best teams in the NFL, forcing five turnovers in both a game against New England and a game against the Indianapolis Colts.
Key to the game #2: Protect the MVP
The other thing the Steelers defense does well is sack the quarterback. Pittsburgh is currently fifth in the NFL in sacks, having brought down the opposing quarterback 34 times this season.
Where as last season the Bills gave up the least amount of sacks in the NFL, this year has been the opposite. The Bills are in the upper half of the league in terms of sacks allowed, and gave up eight against a Houston defense that ranks just behind Pittsburgh.
If that wasn’t bad enough, the Bills will likely have to contain the Pittsburgh pass rush without either of their starting offensive tackles. The Bills listed both left tackle Dion Dawkins and right tackle Spencer Brown on the injury report Wednesday, and are both questionable for Sunday. The Bills must keep Josh Allen off the ground as much as possible if they want to win against Pittsburgh.
X-Factor: Steelers defensive end T.J Watt
T.J Watt is a complete game-wrecker and one of the best defensive players in the NFL. Especially in a case where Dawkins and Brown can’t go for Buffalo, the Bills will be all-hands on deck to stop the four-time All-Pro and former defensive player of the year.
Watt has seven sacks this season and has forced three fumbles. Watt has led the league in sacks three times since 2020, and tied the NFL record with 22.5 sacks in the 2021 season. Expect Watt to pounce against a battered Bills offensive line that has been struggling as of late.
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