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 the ball 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 nine 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 pass rusher 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 from there.
Benford then intercepted Mason Rudolph on the very next possession to set the Bills up for another touchdown.
Benford also shadowed wide receiver D.K. Metcalf the entire game, limiting him to just three catches on five targets and 32 yards.
No sacks allowed and only one quarterback hurry allowed
After giving up eight sacks, 12 quarterback hurries and Josh Allen getting pummeled in Houston last week against the Texans, the Bills did not give up a single sack in this game.
The Steelers were also credited with just 1 quarterback hurry.
Ryan Van Demark and Alec Anderson
The two backup offensive tackles were thrown into a really tough situation. Other than Anderson’s two early false start penalties, both did an incredible job 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 nine 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 and forced a fumble, resulting in Benford picking it up and scoring 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.
Buffalo was 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, while 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, Allen took a hit from Steelers linebacker 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 then 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 seven minutes, another over eight minutes, and one over nine 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 fourth down from the Steelers' 1-yard line and scored a touchdown. They went for it again on 4th-and-2 from the Steelers' 23-yard line and converted a first down.
They did line up to go for it on a 4th-and-3 from the Steelers' 4-yard line, but had a false start penalty.
Overall, McDermott was aggressive and it paid off for the Bills.
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
Allen completed 15 passes for 123 yards, but only five 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
Shakir was targeted four times on Sunday and only had one reception for five 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 near the end of the second quarter.
A.J. Epenesa’s penalty
Up three points, the Bills had forced the Steelers into a 3rd-and-long situation from their own 17-yard line. However, after the second-down play, Epenesa punched the ball out of D.K. Matcalf’s hands and was called for an unsportsmanlike conduct penally.
It was totally unnecessary, and it 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.
It was an Allen interception on the very first drive, and then a Cook fumble in the second quarter that luckily didn't end up costing the Bills in the end.
The Cook fumble did lead, though, to the only touchdown drive of the game for the Steelers.
Related
