by Bo Marchionte
Twitter @BoMarchionte
Covid-19 ruined the atmosphere of absolute insanity at Bills Stadium.
The jubilation of Bill Mafia underneath the night sky of Orchard Park would live vicariously through radio and television with no fans allowed in or around the premises.
In the absence of the Bills Mafia supporting their beloved football team, Buffalo fed off one another to give Pittsburgh back-to-back losses with a 26-15 win over the Steelers. The win improved Buffalo to 10-3 and dropped Pittsburgh to 11-2 and tightening the playoff race in the AFC for the top spots.
Underdog MVP candidate Josh Allen got hot and began picking apart a Steelers secondary that could not cover a baby with a blanket.
“In the beginning of the second half I thought they heated up,” Mike Tomlin said postgame. “We weren’t able to keep pace with them.”
Tomlin referenced to Allen extending plays as one of the many culprits that eluded Pittsburgh from their 12th win of the season.
Initially, Pittsburgh’s defense was causing problems for Allen and company with several turnovers. Cam Heyward to was making plays and they looked in control. They were flying to the ball and forcing turnovers.
Mike Hilton intercepted a pass in midair from the bobbling hands of Buffalo tight end Dawson Knox that led to the first points of the game. Ben Roethlisberger wasted little time after the second forced Steelers turnover of the game to find James Washington for 19-yard touchdown.
Pittsburgh looked in control, until Allen took over the game with long scoring drives.
Buffalo closed the gap before the half, going 58-yards on nine plays for the longest drive by any team in the first half, that ended with rookie Tyler Bass connecting from 34 yards out.
Roethlisberger continued his statistical struggles against Buffalo when he misfired to JuJu Smith-Schuster and Bills Taron Johnson returned it for a pick six. Bass missed the extra-point, giving Buffalo a 9-7 lead before the half.
Then 23 unanswered points would be surrendered to Buffalo and Pittsburgh found themselves searching for the answers.
Despite his 4-1 overall record against Buffalo, Roethlisberger has struggled statistically facing the Bills. A lifetime quarterback rating of 94.2 dips to immensely low to 67.9 against the Bills.
“Offensively where not very good,” Roethlisberger said. “It starts with me and we all need understand we need to be better.”
The offense never found a groove from the opening drive to the final whistle, the Steelers had no rhythm offensively.
A frenzy would have ensued if the stadium were at capacity making the second half a difficult place to play, but luckily for Pittsburgh the rows of empty blues seat kept the momentum at a minimum.
Allen orchestrated a 68-yard opening third-quarter drive to put the Bills ahead 16-7, when he connected with Stefon Diggs for 19-yards and the score.
Allen was not finished.
Gabriel Davis was the recipient of Allen’s second touchdown pass of the game. The third straight drive 50-plus yards (57) left Pittsburgh giving up 23 unanswered points and now one game behind the Kansas City Chiefs for rights to the top seed in the AFC playoff hunt.
Three straight scoring drives was too much for Pittsburgh to handle with the offense in a funk.
“We lost two (games) in the face of adversity,” Roethlisberger said. “We’re not hitting the panic button. I think this team has a lot of resilience and understands what it takes to win football games.”
Winning football games is a must as the season is nearing a close and the playoff race is heating up. Still within striking distance of the top seeded Kansas City Chiefs, Roethlisberger and crew must arrive in Cincinnati on Monday night with a vengeance.
Photo Credit Frank Hyatt