1. Carrying a two-game win streak against Pittsburgh
The Bills will face the Steelers for the third time in three seasons on Sunday. Bills head coach Sean McDermott and his team have won the last two matchups against his former college teammate and current Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin.
McDermott explained just because the two know each other well doesn't mean it will take away from the level of competition this weekend.
"I think if you're in the league long enough, you have a pretty good feel for who people are," McDermott shared. "And I feel like 20 some years now for myself, it's amazing how fast it goes. I think people probably feel the same way about me and about us, that they feel like they know who we are. So that's what makes it special.
"That's what makes the competition levels so high, and we look forward to that. They're a good football team, and we expect to a very tough game."
Last season, Buffalo beat Pittsburgh by 11 points in Week 14. In 2019, the Bills won by seven points in Week 15, that win secured Buffalo's spot in the playoffs.
Let's take a look back at the last two matchups to see how the defense helped seal the victory in both games.
In 2020, Buffalo was down by four points when cornerback Taron Johnson had a pick six to take the lead right before half. Both teams needed a boost from their defense because Allen and Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger completed under 60 percent of their passes, and both offenses turned the ball over twice.
Pittsburgh only converted 10 percent of their third downs, while Buffalo converted 50 percent. Bills wide receiver Stefon Diggs had the best performance of both offenses by catching 10 passes for 130 yards and scoring one touchdown. Buffalo handed the Steelers their second loss of the season by beating them 26-15.
In 2019, Roethlisberger did not play because he was injured so Devlin Hodges got the start. Hodges ended up throwing four interceptions and the Steelers had five total turnovers. Both offenses didn't gain a ton of yards either, Buffalo had 261 total yards and Pittsburgh had 229.
Allen again completed under 60 percent of his passes, but the team found a way to get into the end zone in the fourth quarter when they needed it most. The game was tied 10-10 with about eight minutes remaining, Allen linked up with tight end Tyler Kroft for a 14-yard touchdown to put the Bills up 17-10. The Steelers had the ball with 15 seconds left on Buffalo's 34-yard-line when cornerback Levi Wallace intercepted Hodges to end the game.
After two matchups where the Bills had to rely heavily on their defense to come away with a victory, we will see if it will be Buffalo's offense that prevails in Allen's third time playing against the Steelers.
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September 07, 2021 at 05:01PM
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