Bills pull off last-second comeback, beat Steelers in preseason finale

Orchard Park, N.Y. (WGR) - In the final tune-up before the regular season kicks off on Sept. 13, the Buffalo Bills clawed their way back from a late 10-point deficit on Thursday night to defeat the Pittsburgh Steelers, 28-27, at Highmark Stadium.

Josh Allen and the presumed starting offense got the chance to watch, cheer and celebrate from the sidelines, as the Bills backups fought for the few jobs remaining on the roster before Sunday's cut-down day.

It was Bills' third-string quarterback Shane Buechele that played the entirety of the final preseason game for Buffalo, finishing 26-of-38 for 196 yards passing, while also accounting for two rushes for 13 yards.

Buffalo started the game with the ball once again, and drove down the field to get into scoring position. After stalling out inside the red zone, kicker Tyler Bass got the Bills on the board with a 33-yard field goal.

The Steelers ended up going three-and-out on their first possession, but on the ensuing punt, Bills returner Ray Davis lost sight of the ball and muffed it, resulting in a Steelers recovery at the Buffalo 13-yard-line.

On the very next play, Steelers quarterback Will Howard found wide receiver Germie Bernard on a screen pass, and the rookie did the rest to find the end zone and give Pittsburgh the lead.

The next drive for the Bills did not go well, as the team was backed up 23 yards due to a pair of penalties, a pass for negative yardage and a sack. In the end, veteran punter Mitch Wishnowsky got off just a 19-yard punt that put Pittsburgh in prime field position at the Buffalo 28-yard-line.

It took the Steelers just five plays to extend the lead to 14-3, as Howard found tight end Lake McRee for a five-yard touchdown pass with 2:20 remaining in the opening quarter of play.

Following another Buffalo punt, the Bills finally found some life thanks to a big defensive play from a grizzled veteran.

With Howard trying to find McRee once again over the middle of the field, his pass attempt sailed and ended up in the hands of Bills safety Damar Hamlin.

The Bills then went to work and capitalized on the interception, as after six plays and 49 yards of work, running back Frank Gore Jr. got Buffalo back in the contest with a 1-yard touchdown run.

The rest of the first half became a punt fest with four combined punts between the Bills and Steelers. Pittsburgh ended up taking the ball into halftime with a 14-10 lead

Now with rookie quarterback Drew Allar under center for Pittsburgh, the Steelers wasted no time stretching the field and extending their lead to 11 points. It was running back Eli Heidenreich cashing in for the Steelers with a 9-yard touchdown run to cap off an 11-play drive that chewed the opening 6:08 off the game clock in the third quarter.

The Bills drew an immediate response to the Steelers' touchdown with a score of their own.

A couple of big chunk passes got the Bills just outside the red zone, leading to rookie wide receiver Skyler Bell taking a 28-yard run to the house, bringing Buffalo back to within a score, 21-17.

In his preseason debut, Bell added seven receptions for 49 yards, along with his 28-yard rushing score.

Both teams traded punts to end the third quarter, and then proceeded to exchange punts again to open the final quarter of play.

But on Buffalo's punt with just over 11 minutes remaining in the game, a 44-yard punt from Bills rookie Tommy Doman deep in his own end zone landed in the hands of Steelers returner Kaden Wetjen, who returned it for a touchdown and put Pittsburgh back up by two scores, 27-17.

After a penalty on the Bills during the extra point attempt, the Steelers elected to go for two points, but failed to convert. That opened a tiny window for the Bills to mount a late comeback.

The Bills responded appropriately, tracking down the field again and getting into field goal range once more for Bass. His 42-yard field goal with 6:17 left in the game cut Buffalo's deficit to seven points.

The Steelers tried to close out the game on their following drive, but came up empty with a turnover on downs. With Pittsburgh just past midfield, Allar attempted to extend the drive with a fourth-down pass that fell incomplete after rolling away from pressure.

With 3:20 to work with on the game clock, Buechele drove the Bills 59 yards down the field, using a huge 40-yard pass interference call on Steelers cornerback Tamon Lynum to set Buffalo up for the potential game-tying or go-ahead score.

It ended up being running back Ian Wheeler getting the Bills to within one with a 2-yard scamper into the end zone to make it 27-26, Pittsburgh.

Rather than going for the extra point and making it a 27-27 game with 1:06 left, the Bills ended up going for the win with a two-point conversion and succeeded, as Buechele was able to find wide receiver Dante Pettis with a quick pass just past the front pylon of the end zone.

From there, the Bills defense came up big with another turnover on downs, limiting the Steelers to just three yards on their final attempt to extend the field and steal a last-minute win from Buffalo.

----------

SCORING RECAP

First Quarter:

- 3-0 BUFFALO: Bills Field Goal (9:33) - Tyler Bass' 33-yard field goal attempt is good.
Drive info: 13 plays, 59 yards, 5:27

- 7-3 PITTSBURGH: Steelers Touchdown (7:10) - Will Howard tosses a short pass to Germie Bernard, who then takes off for a 13-yard touchdown. (Chris Boswell's extra point attempt is good)
Drive info: 1 play, 13 yards, 0:06

- 14-3 PITTSBURGH: Steelers Touchdown (2:20) - Will Howard fires a strike to Lake McRee for a 5-yard touchdown pass. (Chris Boswell's extra point attempt is good)
Drive info: 5 plays, 28 yards, 1:53

Second Quarter:

- 14-10 PITTSBURGH: Bills Touchdown (9:19) - Frank Gore Jr. rushes up the middle for a 1-yard touchdown. (Tyler Bass' extra point attempt is good)
Drive info: 6 plays, 49 yards, 2:40

Third Quarter:

- 21-10 PITTSBURGH: Steelers Touchdown (8:55) - Eli Heidenreich rushes to the right and finds the end zone for a 9-yard touchdown. (Chris Boswell's extra point attempt is good)
Drive info: 11 plays, 68 yards, 6:05

- 21-17 PITTSBURGH: Bills Touchdown (4:49) - Skyler Bell takes off to the right for 28-yard touchdown run. (Tyler Bass' extra point attempt is good)
Drive info: 7 plays, 79 yards, 4:06

Fourth Quarter:

- 27-17 PITTSBURGH: Steelers Touchdown (11:11) - Kayden Wetjen returns a 45-yard punt for a touchdown. (Pittsburgh's two-point conversion attempt is unsuccessful)
Drive info: 4 plays, -8 yards, 1:39

- 27-20 PITTSBURGH: Bills Field Goal (6:17) - Tyler Bass' 42-yard field goal attempt is good.
Drive info: 9 plays, 41 yards, 4:54

- 28-27 BUFFALO: Bills Touchdown (1:06) - Ian Wheeler rushes up the middle for a 2-yard touchdown. (Buffalo's two-point conversion attempt is successful)
Drive info: 6 plays, 59 yards, 2:14

-----------

STATS OF THE GAME:

----------

What's next:

The Bills have until 6 p.m. on Sunday to narrow their roster down to 53 players. The team can then add 17 more players to the practice squad once those cut from the roster clear waivers.

Then it's on to the regular season, where the Bills open their 2026 campaign in Houston against the Texans on Sunday, Sept. 13.