Steelers Playoff Comeback Falls Short Against Bills
ORCHARD PARK -- Days of anticipation stretched past the weekend for the Pittsburgh Steelers as they waited out a blizzard in western New York before finally taking the field for a delayed Wild Card Weekend matchup against the Buffalo Bills.
But the excitement of a surprise playoff berth died even quicker than it had been created. The Bills jumped out to a 21-0 lead that the Steelers couldn't recover from, as they bowed out of the playoffs with a 31-17 loss in Buffalo. Pittsburgh has now gone seven years since last winning a postseason game.
The Bills won the toss but deferred their choice to the second half, bringing Mason Rudolph and the Steelers offense onto the field to open the game.
The Steelers just breached Buffalo territory with a 15-yard reception on a screen pass, but that was all they could manage before punting.
After a 30-yard punt from Pressley Harvin, the Bills moved with ease down the field, 80 yards in 10 plays for their first score of the afternoon. Josh Allen completed all five of his passes for 56 yards, including an easy nine-yard pitch and catch to Dawson Knox in the endzone to make it 7-0 in a hurry.
The Steelers couldn't mount a response and went three-and-out while taking just 101 seconds off the clock. And even after the defense finally forced a stop against the Buffalo offense, the Steelers gave possession right back, when George Pickens fumbled on the first play of the ensuing possession.
Allen and rookie Dalton Kincaid wasted no time building the Bills' lead to 14. They connected for a 29-yard touchdown pass over the head of Steelers linebacker Myles Jack on the first play of their next possession.
Trailing 14-0 with four minutes still left in the first quarter, the Steelers went back to work on offense and they earned their first big play of the game on a 33-yard pass from Rudolph to Pat Freiermuth down the left sideline. Another fumble was fortunately called back and the Steelers kept moving with gains of 13 yards to Allen Robinson and nine yards from Harris.
But the Steelers' most promising drive of the day came to an abrupt end when Rudolph was picked off in the endzone by Kair Elam. Pittsburgh has the ball on second down with four yards standing in between them and the endzone when Rudolph committed their second turnover of the game.
The Bills cashed in that turnover in short order as well. Allen delivered the bulk of Buffalo's ensuing 80-yard touchdown drive when he scrambled 52 yards straight through the Steelers' defense for a touchdown, burying Pittsburgh down 21-0 with seven minutes remaining before halftime.
Another three-and-out gave the Bills the ball back just before intermission, but the Steelers came up with a rare third down stop and even blocked the ensuing field goal attempt. Montravius Adams rejected the kick and Nick Herbig recovered the loose ball at the Bills' 33-yard line.
The Steelers finally put points on the board with a five-play drive that ended in a 10-yard touchdown pass from Rudolph to Diontae Johnson. The Bills tried to mount a scoring drive with less than two minutes remaining but as it stalled, they opted to take a knee and carry a 14-point lead into halftime.
Buffalo's first possession coming out of intermission ended quickly and without points. The Steelers defense got off the field with a three-and-out, then drove for nine plays up to the Buffalo 22-yard line before stalling and adding three points on a 40-yard field goal from Chris Boswell.
Nursing a 21-10 lead at the 8:50 mark of the third quarter, Allen and company went back to work. They pushed the lead back to 14 points with a 45-yard field goal from Tyler Bass and ate up 7:18 of game time in the process.
Rudolph took the next drive into his own hands, accounting for 51 of the Steelers' 75 yards with his arm and his legs during a touchdown-scoring drive. Calvin Austin capped the march with a nine-yard touchdown reception to make it 24-17 with 10:37 to play in regulation.
But the Bills delivered a dagger 4:05 later, when Khalil Shakir bounced off a tackle attempt from Minkah Fitzpatrick and spun in for a 17-yard touchdown reception that made it a two-score lead for the home team again. Two costly penalties on Myles Jack - a holding in coverage and late hit when Allen scrambled and slid - set up the back-breaking touchdown.
The Steelers turned the ball over on downs and all but sealed their 2023-24 season with another fruitless drive.
The Bills ate up the dwindling time with a drive that consisted solely of runs but missed a 27-yard field to keep it at a 31-17 game just before the two-minute warning. The Steelers killed the last of the clock with the ball in their hands and ended their season in the freezing cold with a bitter loss on Wild Card Weekend.
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