Orchard Park, N.Y. (WGR 550) - The Buffalo Bills defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday, 31-17, and advance to the AFC Divisional Round this coming Sunday for the fourth-straight year.
Here are my Arrows Up and Down from the game, starting with those pointing Up after the win:
ARROW UP:
Josh Allen and his touchdown run
The Bills quarterback accounted for 282 yards and four touchdowns on Monday - three passing and one rushing. This included an electrifying 52-yard dash for the end zone.
Allen started the game 4-of-4 on the first drive, ending with a touchdown pass to Dawson Knox, and finished 21-of-30 (70%), and did not turn the ball over at all.
Dalton Kincaid
The rookie tight end led all Bills pass-catchers with 59 yards, including a 29-yard touchdown grab.
Stefon Diggs
For the second week in-a-row, Diggs caught seven passes, this time for 52 yards. He had several key grabs to keep drives moving.
Khalil Shakir's touchdown
Shakir had three catches for 31 yards, but his 17-yard touchdown was a highlight reel when he spun out of a tackle, reversed field, and scored to put the Bills up 14 points in the fourth quarter.
Kaiir Elam
Elam was pressed into duty at cornerback when Christian Benford went out with a knee injury.
He had a huge interception in the end zone to stop a Steelers drive, and finished with five total tackles and a pass breakup.
A.J. Klein
Klein had to play virtually the entire second half after Terrel Bernard was lost with an injury. He finished as the game's leading tackler with 11 total stops.
Dorian Williams
Williams also had to come in for an injured Baylon Spector, and came up big with seven total tackles, including one for loss.
Greg Rousseau
The Bills' defensive end may have been the best defender on the field overall, collecting four total tackles, a sack, and a quarterback hurry.
Cam Lewis
Lewis already had to play safety in dime defense, then was moved to slot cornerback after Taron Johnson was injured. He did a solid job at both, finishing with three total tackles.
Containing Pickens and Johnson
The Bills held the Steelers' top-two wideouts, George Pickens and Diontae Johnson, to a combined nine catches for 98 yards.
Sam Martin
Martin hurt his hamstring chasing down a blocked field goal. He was in a lot of pain, but still came on the field to punt the ball 45 yards.
Prior to that, he booted one 47 yards to the Steelers' 18-yard line and another 52 yards that was fair caught at the Pittsburgh 8-yard line.
Penalties
The Bills had only two penalties marched off against them the entire game.
No turnovers
No interceptions. No fumbles. No turnovers for the Bills offense.
Sean McDermott's challenge
On the Steelers' third drive of the game, George Pickens was ruled to have not completed a catch, but Bills head coach Sean McDermott challenged the play. It was overturned to a fumble, and Bills recovered at the Pittsburgh 29-yard line.
The Bills scored the very next play to take a 14-0 lead.
It's the second week in-a-row McDermott challenged a play that was overturned, and led to a huge swing in the game.
The shovelers, the stadium staff, and the crowd
We all know how the weekend unfolded with the weather and game.
For the stadium staff to get the field as ready as they did, the people who showed up to help shovel the way they did, and the crowd to still be there and as loud as they were was pretty amazing.
ARROW DOWN:
Tyler Bass
The Bills kicker missed a short 27-yard field goal that would have put Buffalo up three scores late.
He also had a 49-yarder blocked, and mishit the game's opening kickoff, causing a squib-kick to the Steelers' nine-yard line.
Dawson Knox's drop
On the first play of the second half, the Bills had a great play-call and Knox was set up perfectly for a nice gain. However, he dropped the ball, causing a 2nd-and-10.
Allen was sacked on the very next play, and the Bills eventually went three-and-out.
Kaiir Elam before the interception
Prior to Elam's interception, he had a chance to bring down tight end Pat Freiermuth, but didn't, which led to a 12-yard gain on 3rd-and-9.
Then he was called for defensive pass interference at the Bills' three-yard line, setting up 1st-and-goal for Pittsburgh.
He then had the pick.
Not putting the game away earlier
The Bills led 21-0 and had the ball at the Steelers' 31-yard line. They also led 24-10 heading into the fourth quarter.
Of course, injuries were a part of it on the defensive side, but they didn't put the Steelers away when they had a couple chances, and let the game get way too close for comfort. This included allowing Pittsburgh within a touchdown (24-17) in the fourth quarter.
Injuries
This win unfortunately came with a cost, especially on defense.
The Bills were already without linebacker Tyrel Dodson, cornerback Rasul Douglas, and safety Taylor Rapp. Then during the game, they lost both their starting linebackers for the contest - Terrel Bernard and Baylon Spector - as well as two starting cornerbacks - Christian Benford and Taron Johnson.
Not an ideal situation with the Kansas City Chiefs coming to Orchard Park next Sunday.
Related
