Pittsburgh, Pa. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - The Buffalo Bills utilized a strong second half to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, 26-7, at Acrisure Stadium.
Here are my Arrows Up and Down from the contest, starting Up once again after a win and the Bills improving to 8-4 on the season:
ARROW UP:
The running game
The Bills ran for 249 yards, the most any team has ever run for against the Steelers at Acrisure Stadium.
RB - James Cook
Cook was the catalyst to that great rushing performance, totaling 144 yards on 32 carries, averaging 4.5 yards per run. He also added 33 yards receiving for a total of 177 yards of total offense on the day.
RB - Ray Davis
Davis did a nice job to spell Cook when needed, totaling 62 yards on 9 carries, averaging a whopping 6.9 yards a run.
CB - Christian Benford
Benford had the momentum-shifting play when he scooped up a fumble caused by Joey Bosa and scored a touchdown on the very first play of the third-quarter to put the Bills up 10-7. They never lost the lead. Benford intercepted Mason Rudolph on the very next possession to set the Bills up for another touchdown. He also shadowed wide receiver DK Metcalf the entire game. Metcalf had just 3 catches (on 5 targets) for just 32 yards.
No sacks allowed sacks, only one quarterback hurry allowed
After giving up 8 sacks, 12 QB hurries, and Josh Allen getting pummeled in Houston last week, the Bills did not give up a single sack in this game, and the Steelers were credited with just 1 QB hurry.
Ryan Van Demark and Alec Anderson
The two backup offensive tackles were thrown into a really tough situation. But, other than Anderson’s two early false start penalties, did an incredible job both in the run game and in pass protection.
T.J. Watt a non-factor
The Steelers edge rusher finished the game with just four total tackles, none for loss, and zero quarterback hurries.
Offensive line coach Aaron Kromer
Give Kromer a lot of credit for having Van Demark and Anderson ready, prepared, and a solid plan to give them the best chance to succeed.
LB - Shaq Thompson
Thompson was the Bills leading tackler with 9 total stops. He was physical and effective all game.
Joey Bosa’s strip sack
On the very first play of the second half, Bosa sacked Aaron Rodgers, forced him to fumble, and Benford picked it up and scored a touchdown. It was the biggest play of the game to that point and swung everything the Bills way.
Tackling
For much of this year, tackling has been a big issue for the Bills defense. It wasn’t on Sunday. They were very good at getting ball carriers down, especially considering the Steelers lead the NFL in yards after catch.
Wide receiver run blocking
Bills wide receivers were asked to do quite a bit of blocking in this game, and they did an excellent job of that. Tyrell Shavers was particularly very strong helping in the run game.
Sean McDermott and Bobby Babich
The Bills defense had an outstanding plan against the Steelers, and executed it almost flawlessly most of the game. Pittsburgh totaled just 58 yards rushing, averaged only 3.2 yards a carry, had just 108 net yards passing, totaled 160 yards of offense, just 3.9 yards per play, and their only points came after the Bills gave them a short field.
Third-down offense and defense
The Bills were 8-for-15 (53.3%) on third down. The Steelers were just 3-for-9 (33%).
Fourth-down offense
The Bills went for it on two fourth downs. They converted both of them, including one for a first down and the other for a touchdown.
Change in attitude after hit on Allen
The Bills didn’t seem to have enough energy on the sidelines most of the first half. But just before the two-minute warning Josh Allen took a hit from Patrick Queen after he had already slid to the ground. There was no flag thrown, but several Bills players took exception and a skirmish broke out. After that play, it seemed the whole Bills attitude and demeanor changed. They took it to the Steelers in a much more physical way after that.
Long drives in second half/time of possession
The Bills had second half offensive drives of 14, 15, and 16 plays. One lasted over 7 minutes, another over 8 minutes, and one over 9-minutes. They held the ball for over 21-minutes of the second half and a total of 41:59 for the game
Sean McDermott’s fourth-down aggressiveness
The Bills went for it on 4th down from the Steelers 1-yard line and scored a touchdown. They went for it again on 4th down and 2 from the Steelers 23 and converted a first down. They did line up to go for it on 4th and 3 from the Steelers 4, but had a false start, but overall, Sean McDermott was aggressive, and it paid off.
Out of bounds kickoff on purpose
After the Bills scored a touchdown, the Steelers were called for a 15-yard penalty. The Bills had Matt Prater intentionally get a penalty for kicking it out of bounds, forcing the Steelers too start at their own 25-yard line. The rule is the receiving team gets the ball 25 yards from the spot of the kickoff.
ARROW DOWN:
Alec Anderson's false starts
Anderson played well (see above), but he had two very costly false start penalties in the first half. Both completely changed the way the Bills called the series. One tuned into an interception two plays later. The Bills punted it away on the other.
Lack of wide receivers in passing game
Josh Allen completed 15 passes for 123 yards. But only 5 of those for 32 yards went to wideouts, which was a big reason for the next Arrow.....
Downfield passing game
The Bills didn’t really have to try it much, but they also didn’t have much available down the field in the passing game. Their two longest completions through the air (not counting run after catch) were 13 and 16 yards.
Josh Allen to Khalil Shakir connection
Khalil Shakir was targeted 4 times. He had only one reception for 5 yards. What used to be an excellent connection between the two has stalled lately.
First half offense
The first half offense overall wasn’t good for the Bills. Despite moving the ball fairly well, they turned it over twice, punted twice, and came away with just three points.
A.J. Epenesa’s penalty
Up three points, the Bills had forced the Steelers into a 3rd down and long from their own 17-yard line. But after the second down play, AJ Epenesa punched the ball out of DK Matcalf’s hands and was called for an unsportsmanlike conduct penally. It was totally unnecessary and gave the Steelers a first down at the 32-yard line.
Matt Prater’s missed extra point
Prater missed an extra point that would have given the Bills a 10-point lead, but only put them ahead by nine.
Two turnovers
Once again the Bills committed multiple turnovers in a game on the road. It's been a troubling themes this season. In this one, it was a Josh Allen interception on the very first drive, and then a James Cook fumble in the second quarter, setting up the Steelers lone touchdown.
Related
