The Buffalo Bills’ celebration could only be postponed due to the severe winter weather.
Kicking off 27-plus hours later than originally planned at Highmark Stadium, the Bills made up for lost time by defeating the Pittsburgh Steelers 31-17 in an AFC wild-card showdown that extended Buffalo’s victory run to six games.
Josh Allen, the quarterback for Buffalo, found tight ends Dawson Knox and Dalton Kincaid for touchdown throws in the first quarter. In the second quarter, Allen scored a 52-yard touchdown run that set a personal record, giving the Bills a 21-0 lead that they would not give up.
And in the midst of Allen’s huge plays and their own mistakes, the Steelers watched their improbable late-season surge come to an end. Pittsburgh had a 4% chance of reaching the playoffs on December 22, yet they made it to the postseason despite playing without All-Pro pass-rusher T.J. Watt.
The main narratives for both sides in Monday’s game are as follows:
The Buffalo Bills
Josh Allen, the quarterback for the Steelers, had the ball to put together a drive and take the lead early in the fourth quarter as the team dealt with a number of defensive injuries.
With 6:27 left in the game, the Bills surged downfield and, on second-and-9 from the Steelers’ 16-yard line, Allen found wide receiver Khalil Shakir. Shakir somehow sidestepped a tackle attempt made by safety Minkah Fitzpatrick and ran past several Steelers defenders into the end zone.
The score capped up a 31-17 victory for the Bills, who capitalized on errors made by the Steelers to find offensive coherence. Allen completed 21 of 30 throws for 203 yards and three touchdowns. In addition, on eight carries, he gained 74 yards and one touchdown.
With three throwing touchdowns in his fourth career playoff game, Allen surpassed Jim Kelly to become the all-time leader in Bills playoffs touchdowns. Allen did not throw the ball over for only the second time since Week 4.
The Kansas City Chiefs, captained by quarterback Patrick Mahomes, will host the Bills in his first-ever road playoff game.
Two words that sum up the game: Step one. Winning in the wild-card round is a step in the right way for a club with the highest of ambitions, and although it wasn’t a flawless performance — the pattern of the Bills’ season — a solid start led to Buffalo progressing to the next round.
Breakdown of QB: Although Allen put up a strong all-around performance, he should be recognized separately for his record-breaking 52-yard touchdown run. On a third-and-eight play, safety Damontae Kazee attempted to tackle Allen, but Allen sprinted through and past defenders to score the Bills’ third touchdown of the game. The run was the longest rushing touchdown in Bills playoff history as well as the second-longest rushing touchdown by a quarterback in postseason history.
Kaiir Elam’s interception in the second quarter was a crucial play. Pittsburgh’s fifth possession of the game put the Steelers in position to score. Elam, the backup cornerback, replaced Christian Benford (knee) during the drive. Two plays after Benford was ran over on a 12-yard ball to tight end Pat Freiermuth, Elam was flagged for defensive pass interference. Elam made amends two plays later when he intercepted a Mason Rudolph ball in the end zone to keep the Bills up by two points and the Steelers without a point.
Alarming pattern: Protective wounds The Bills’ defensive line seemed to be in better shape when defensive lineman DaQuan Jones returned towards the end of the season. Then, in Week 18, injuries sidelined outside linebacker Tyrel Dodson, starting cornerback Rasul Douglas, and safety Taylor Rapp, preventing them from playing in the postseason. Additionally, linebacker Baylon Spector (back) and cornerback Christian Benford (knee) left the game on Monday, while starting middle linebacker Terrel Bernard (ankle) was carried off. Taron Johnson, a nickel corner, also departed to have evaluation for a head injury. The amount of defensive injuries might be particularly high given the short week.
The Pittsburgh Steelers
The Steelers, who were without NFL Defensive Player of the Year candidate T.J. Watt, fought back from a 21-0 deficit, but they were unable to overcome the deficit and their season was ended in the wild-card round. The Steelers last triumphed against the Chiefs in the divisional round of the 2016 playoffs, and they have now lost their previous four postseason games.
Due to a winter blizzard in the region, the Steelers’ game was postponed and they were down 14-0 after one quarter. The Bills’ outstanding playmaking exacerbated their blunders. However, the Steelers persevered and battled to cut the deficit to one point early in the fourth quarter before Josh Allen and the Bills’ offense tore apart Pittsburgh’s exhausted defense. This game served as a microcosm of their season.
The Steelers are at a crossroads now that they have lost and have a ton of decisions to make in the summer that might change the future of the team. In 2024, will they commit to having Kenny Pickett start as quarterback? Will head coach Mike Tomlin—who is signed until the 2024 season—return? The timer for those choices is now in effect.
Crucial play: With a 14-0 deficit, the Steelers’ greatest chance to score came early in the second quarter when they were able to cross the 4-yard line. Rather, they were held scoreless as Mason Rudolph was picked off by Kaiir Elam, who jumped in front of Diontae Johnson in the end zone to grab the ball. The next drive ended with a 52-yard touchdown run by Josh Allen to put the Bills up 21-0. It was impressive that the Steelers managed to go as close as they did to the end zone considering they only gained 34 yards on their first four possessions. Before Rudolph made an error in the end zone on their fifth possession, they had gone 88 yards.
QB breakdown: Rudolph outperformed his stat line despite starting for the fourth week in a row and his first playoff game of his career. The thing that impressed me the most about Rudolph was his composure under pressure. He completed 22 of 39 throws for 229 yards and two touchdowns with one interception.
Multiple times, Rudolph held firm in the face of pressure, throwing strikes from the pocket as the Bills pass rush closed in. Rudolph ascended the pocket in the third quarter, dodging pressure, and struck George Pickens over the middle for a 19-yard gain on a third-and-long pass across his body. Late in the fourth quarter, he finished the drive with a seven-yard touchdown pass to Calvin Austin, bringing the score to one.
Rudolph plays with assurance and consistency, which puts the Steelers in a difficult situation. The Steelers’ first priority in the summer is to get a new offensive coordinator, but did Rudolph do enough to compete with Pickett for the starting job? With no contract until 2024, does Rudolph want to stay in Pittsburgh or move someplace else where he could have a greater chance of becoming a starter?
Positive: Nick Herbig, a rookie outside linebacker, has the potential to become the next defensive standout for the Steelers. Herbig played a larger than normal role on defense with Watt out, but his standout performance came on special teams when he raced down the field to recover a field goal that Montravius Adams had blocked. The Steelers scored their first points of the game on a short-field drive that was finished by a 10-yard touchdown run thanks to Herbig’s heads-up play. Rudolph-to-Johnson touchdown right before halftime.
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