Well, you couldn’t have asked for a better start. The middle and end weren’t as fun in today’s 38-3 road loss to the Buffalo Bills.
Buffalo muffed the opening kickoff at the goal line and started the gam at their 2 yard line. Leal batted down the first down pass, DE Cam Heyward and MLB Myles Jack stuffed a 2nd down run, but the 3rd down play went 98 yards when Gabe Davis got on top of CB Levi Wallace and S Miles Killebrew. 7-0 BUFF
WR Steven Sims was supposed to be the return man today but he suffered some sort of eye injury before the game and CB James Pierre was called to pinch hit in 20ish MPH winds. Predictably, the kick short hopped off his knee and Buffalo had the ball back on the cusp of the red zone.
A holding penalty and a couple Bills being spun backwards but refusing to go down pushed them back to the 30. The special teams shenanigans continued with a blocked FG from CB Cam Sutton.
QB Kenny Pickett finally got the ball in his hands and he was not interested in giving it up. He converted consecutive third downs with passes to WR George Pickens and TE Zach Gentry. It looked like he had a third down inside the 5 but after review WR Diontae Johnson’s one-handed catch was wasted when his second foot came down on the white part of the turf. K Chris Boswell converted the 29-yard FG (barely). 7-3 BUFF
Heyward made a couple strong stops – one he shared with CB Arthur Maulet, the other he emphatically slammed Josh Allen to the ground – and the Steelers defense once again dug in their heels. With the wind out there, forcing a FG attempt of over 35 yards is a significant win. 10-3 BUFF
Kenny came back out making more big-time throws but one was called back for holding (Gentry) and another was dropped by Diontae. Both would have been first downs but it was Kenny’s first three-and-out as a Steeler. P Presley Harvin’s kick bounced around the 20 and trickled down to the goal line where Pierre redeemed himself by pinning the Bills at their 2 again.
The Steelers defense had a 3rd and 4 inside the Buffalo 10 but Wallace and S Tre Norwood both took the under route leaving the honey hole wide open. Leal batted down another pass, Sutton and MLB Myles Jack made strong plays in run defense but Allen seemed to be marching downfield at will…until Wallace pulled in his first INT of the season in the end zone.
Two runs and a pass to HB Najee Harris later and Harvin was punting the ball back. Allen’s first pass went deep to Gabe Davis again; FS Minkah Fitzpatrick was there and simultaneously caught the ball, but he lost the wrestling match. It was a 62-yard TD bomb. 17-3 BUFF
The best thing you can say about the Steelers’ next drive was HB Jaylen Warren was good in pass pro on 3rd down. We got from Kenny’s first three-and-out to his third pretty quickly.
Fortunately he didn’t have to wait long to get another chance. A 1st down run went for 20+, tack on an extra 15 for a Myles Jack late hit. The next play Allen found Diggs on a slant in front of Sutton for his 3rd TD of the afternoon. 24-3 BUFF
Kenny started clicking again when consecutive completions to Pickens and Gentry earned 1st downs. On 3rd&5 he found another highlight play on Pickens back shoulder, 30 yards down the left sideline. They got in range for a 33-yard FG but Boz couldn’t negotiate the elements kicking into the windy end of the stadium.
A minute and a half later Allen had thrown his fourth TD. On 3rd&5 he dropped a deep corner in just out of the diving reach of just-signed CB Josh Jackson. 31-3 BUFF
How is it not even halftime yet? Kenny gave the ball back (4th INT in his first 2 NFL halves) and Allen took a couple more shots before mercifully taking a knee and taking a four-score lead into the locker room.
The Steelers offense got the first bite at the second half apple. Kenny got the boys rolling down to Buffalo’s 20 but they came up empty (again) after Diontae had a 4th down pass knocked from his mitts.
Sutton and DT Larry Ogunjobi were ruled out coming out of half time. Leal and Wallace went down on the first defensive possession. Pierre also missed time in this game; the secondary cupboard was absolutely threadbare. Allen and the Bills drove all the way down to the Steelers’ 1 yard line when Heyward dislodged a ball; Jackson – one play after committing DPI in the end zone – recovered the fumble for a touchback.
Pickett went 6/6 for 69 yards on the ensuing drive but the defining moment came when he took a hit while sliding on a 10-yard scramble. OG James Daniels showed up to defend his QB and THAT action was flagged, but the action on the QB was deemed legal. Boswell missed another 40-something yard FG.
The Bills – having been held scoreless the entire 3rd quarter – indignantly took the opportunity to score their first rushing TD of the season. 38-3 BUFF
I thought we might see Mitch come back in to mop up but Kenny went down with the ship. The first four plays all went to Warren, totaling 33 yards. Four straight incompletions (one was another fantastic effort from Pickens) later and the Steelers were 0-2 on 4th down with two missed FG’s in the red zone. So the final score looked, well, a bit better than it was.
After that Case Keenum relieved Josh Allen. That revelation led to the Bills’ first punt of the day, and only their eighth of the year.
FINAL: 38-3 BUFF
CamBlackburnWrites 