Week 14 GDT: Sunday Night Football vs the Steelers!

[Trentwannabe]

More prime time baby!

The Last 5:
2019: Buffalo 17 @ Pittsburgh 10
2016: Pittsburgh 27 @ Buffalo 20
2013: Buffalo 10 @ Pittsburgh 23
2010: Pittsburgh 19 @ Buffalo 16 OT
2007: Buffalo 3 @ Pittsburgh 26

Pittsburgh has won 4 of the last 5. The Steelers lead the all time series 16-10.

Same faces, new places:
LB Tyler Matakevich - Current Bills LB was a 7th round pick of the Steelers in 2016.
WR Ray Ray Mcloud - Current Steeler was a 6th round pick of the Bills in 2018.

Fun Facts:
Bills LB Tremaine Edmunds is the younger brother of Steelers RB Trey Edmunds and S Terrell Edmunds
Bills HC Sean McDermott and Steelers HC Mike Tomlin were teammates at Williams and Mary. 
The Bills and Steelers met last year on Sunday Night Football in week 15.

Quick Analysis: 

The Bills are flying high right now especially on offense, having won 5 of their last 6 games. The Steelers had won 11 straight games before finally falling to the Washington football team last Monday evening. If the Bills want to keep their grip on the AFC East then an other strong performance from their offense will be needed Sunday. Josh Allen is continuing to prove doubters wrong at a high level and when he is playing like this, the Bills are extremely hard to beat. The Steelers are getting James Connor back this weekend which should improve their run game, an area where the Bills defense has really struggled.

A few injuries to monitor on both sides are Bills OG Jon Feliciano and Steelers CB Joe Haden.

Prediction: Buffalo is playing really strong right now and though the Steelers are a league best 11-1, they have not looked great as of late. Until proven otherwise, I am going to trust Josh Allen and this Bills offense to continue winning games. Bills 31-20.

[bigbadbuff]

Would be such a massive game with fans. Truly a shame. If we win this game this puts us only a game out of the 2 seed which guarantees two home playoff games (should you win the first), not that i buy into the whole home field advantage thing right now tbqh.

 

Oh well, will be a good test and if we win some will see this as our biggest win of the season.

Bills win. 24-21 last second fg by Bass

[soflbillsfan]

WIth Steelers having Dupree, Bush and now Spillane out they are only with one big weapon in the pass rush in Watt who is basically Bosa on steroids so the line needs to step up together and force to double team him at all times. I felt like the oline scheme vs niners has worked best. 

Eventhough the bills had a walk through practice Feliciano was a full participant and unless there are any setbacks then he is expected to play. Haden is still concussed and based on what level he is at by the end of today early tomorrow should expect to see whether or not he will be active but coming off a concussion in less than 1 week is going to be a tough task and I expect him out for this game. 

Minka Fitzpatrick and TJ Watt will be the center pieces of the defense the bills need to watch out for. If they can get Diggs with one on ones then this should be the place to go. Cole should also be someone who should be looked at often to avoid both Safeties. The bills also need to step up their run game and that includes more design runs with Allen. The beginning of the year was heavy allen run and then little to no running after that, if they can find a balance on him running and passing then the bills can get the steelers d out of position. And thats where Daboll can take advantage of. 

As for the defense with Connor coming back I expect a better run game then what they have had the past couple of weeks but the oline seems to struggle with the run like the bills do. They have great weapons on offense and I expect a ton of 5 wide with ebron juju Diontae Chase and Washington. Having our DBs healthy are going to be key and having Edmunds show up like he did against the niners.

It will either be the bills win by 10 or lose by 3 at this point for me. This game is big not only is it primetime but it has playoff implications and can be a way for the bills to get to the 2 seed if they falter then it is likely at best a 4 seed as the titans/chiefs/steelers have the tiebreaker. Steelers win they clinch a 1 or 2 spot in the playoffs as they will then have a 3 game lead over the titans and bills both of whom they have beaten and only have 3 games remaining in the playoffs. Bills win they are now with in 1 game from the #2 seed with the Steelers still having to face the Colts and Browns who are both fighting for a playoff spot. 

[Trentwannabe]

 

[Maxmw22]

I have had this game marked on the calendar for a while. I Was really hoping to make the trek to Buffalo as last years game in Pittsburgh was electric (My first game at Heniz Field).

 

This should be a nice litmus test, win or lose, to how we will play in the cold in the playoffs. I would love it if we could lean on the run game and to know that is an option down the road.

 

[BillsGuy82]

Allen keeps things rolling with another big game

Bills 27

Steelers 20

[Dcash4]

22 hours ago, soflbillsfan said:

only with one big weapon in the pass rush in Watt

Cam Heyward and Stephon Tuitt right now:

Kinda bummed about the timing of this game now as a Steelers fan. I think this would have been an incredibly fun game minus our injuries, just awful play recently, and covid. 

If Haden and Nelson are both full goes, I like our chances to frustrate your passing game. Between Minkah, Sutton, and Haden we have some really ball savvy guys. Big question for me is what our front can do in packages against your run game. With our top 3 ILB now out, we are going to see a lot of new guys and Safeties playing ILB. If I were the Bills, I would be trying to get us in base packages all night and then attacking outside the numbers underneath -- making our ILB's run and communicate like Washington did at the end of that game on Monday. Our best defensive grouping will be with 6 DB's on the field since they are all very capable. With the way Keith Butler can dial up a blitz and how we use guys like Hilton from the slot, the Dupree loss isnt felt in pass rush, but in run defense. If we can stop the run outta nickle, it would go a long way to us being able to keep our best talent on the field. 

I have very little faith in our offense at this moment. Not like last years offense with Duck at QB, but still fairly low expectations. The last two games were either just eye opening that changes needed to be made or just signs of the same issues that have reared their head all year leading to our doom. Randy Fichtner has to be a bottom 1 coordinator in the league in terms of game planning and situation football (you may remember his hits from last year like Wildcat with a running back handing to a wide receiver on a read option deep in the redzone with your 4th string QB and points being a premium in a huge playoff matchup). The Steelers do always have these games once a year where they play sooo terrible and it kicks them back into gear though. Usually happens by losing to a team we have no business losing to only to turn around and crush a team we have no business crushing. 

I can see this game going blow out in either direction. The Steelers offense wakes up and we put you in the position where our defense has destroyed QB's playing with a lead and able to turn it over. Or, our offense comes out with our normal 3 and out first couple possessions and we never click back into our early season gear allowing you to have a full playbook of run/pass and making the depth in the middle of the field an issue. 

But, I am always an optimist when it comes to Steelers games....so, Steelers by 100. 😎

 

[Trentwannabe]

 

[soflbillsfan]

1 hour ago, Dcash4 said:

Cam Heyward and Stephon Tuitt right now:

Kinda bummed about the timing of this game now as a Steelers fan. I think this would have been an incredibly fun game minus our injuries, just awful play recently, and covid. 

If Haden and Nelson are both full goes, I like our chances to frustrate your passing game. Between Minkah, Sutton, and Haden we have some really ball savvy guys. Big question for me is what our front can do in packages against your run game. With our top 3 ILB now out, we are going to see a lot of new guys and Safeties playing ILB. If I were the Bills, I would be trying to get us in base packages all night and then attacking outside the numbers underneath -- making our ILB's run and communicate like Washington did at the end of that game on Monday. Our best defensive grouping will be with 6 DB's on the field since they are all very capable. With the way Keith Butler can dial up a blitz and how we use guys like Hilton from the slot, the Dupree loss isnt felt in pass rush, but in run defense. If we can stop the run outta nickle, it would go a long way to us being able to keep our best talent on the field. 

I have very little faith in our offense at this moment. Not like last years offense with Duck at QB, but still fairly low expectations. The last two games were either just eye opening that changes needed to be made or just signs of the same issues that have reared their head all year leading to our doom. Randy Fichtner has to be a bottom 1 coordinator in the league in terms of game planning and situation football (you may remember his hits from last year like Wildcat with a running back handing to a wide receiver on a read option deep in the redzone with your 4th string QB and points being a premium in a huge playoff matchup). The Steelers do always have these games once a year where they play sooo terrible and it kicks them back into gear though. Usually happens by losing to a team we have no business losing to only to turn around and crush a team we have no business crushing. 

I can see this game going blow out in either direction. The Steelers offense wakes up and we put you in the position where our defense has destroyed QB's playing with a lead and able to turn it over. Or, our offense comes out with our normal 3 and out first couple possessions and we never click back into our early season gear allowing you to have a full playbook of run/pass and making the depth in the middle of the field an issue. 

But, I am always an optimist when it comes to Steelers games....so, Steelers by 100. 😎

 

Hahaha my bad I meant pass rushers via LB you are right about Heyward and Tuitt. 

I dont know how you can bounce back from a concussion so quickly, I know there are several different types but to go through the 4 stages with in 6 days is asking a lot but I am sure they may play him. Nelson will definitely play unless a set back as he has shown in practice he is good to go. The thing about Bills particularly OC Daboll he has been on top of his game exploiting the weaknesses. We saw it first hand on Seattle and Niners with the passing game and then Pats with the run game. So I do expect heavy running on both sides of the ball as that has been lacking on the defense however both have shown to struggle to run the ball. Beasley will also be a key as he has been working the field underneath and diggs has shown time and time again he is able to get off the line fast for short passes. 

As for blow out I dont know if it happens the bills lost to Titans which ended up being a blow out after consecutive turnovers towards the end of the game but bills were also with a ton of key players out while they are healthy now and 2 only out on offense where the defense looks fully healthy but that has been the only time the bills have been out of a game with a few minutes remaining every other game they had it in hand or were a 1 possession away from having it including the KC game where they kicked a fg to put us out of it with 2 min left. Unless something sideways goes with the steelers where Ben is just off, I just dont see this game being won by a lot for either side I just dont know if it will be a low or high scoring game depending on the offensive game plan for both sides. If run game is involved and both struggle that means a ton of passing for both Ben and Allen and that can lead to either quick scores or quick 3 and outs. 

[Dcash4]

58 minutes ago, soflbillsfan said:

Hahaha my bad I meant pass rushers via LB you are right about Heyward and Tuitt.

I assumed you did, but the GIF worked out too well

1 hour ago, soflbillsfan said:

I know there are several different types but to go through the 4 stages with in 6 days is asking a lot but I am sure they may play him.

Man, with these two straight weeks of weekday games I keep forgetting today is Friday. So yeah the chances of Haden playing are slim since we dont have much update to this point. 

1 hour ago, soflbillsfan said:

Beasley will also be a key as he has been working the field underneath and diggs has shown time and time again he is able to get off the line fast for short passes. 

And this is where Hadens absence will hurt the most, IMO. Without Haden, Sutton will slide into his role on the outside in most occurrences where he is very capable, but kills our flexibility. It forces Hilton in the slot, and while I love him as a player, he isnt the better cover man. Being able to move Sutton inside on key downs/situations against Beasley would have been a good matchup for us. 

[Trentwannabe]

 

[Trentwannabe]

Steelers will be missing their tip CB and are very thin at LB.

[soflbillsfan]

1 hour ago, Trentwannabe said:

 

McDermott spoke to the media today and said that Johnson will be out but everyone is trending to the right direction and expects all to play. Outside of Brown this team is looking healthy which the defense will need with so many weapons that have been receiving threats, diontae, chase, ebron, washington, and juju.

[Billsfaninptown]

Who do you guys think Tre is going to guard primarily? I have Diontae Johnson in my fantasy league, but I am worried Tre is going to shadow him.

[Trentwannabe]

16 hours ago, Billsfaninptown said:

Who do you guys think Tre is going to guard primarily? I have Diontae Johnson in my fantasy league, but I am worried Tre is going to shadow him.

Hard to say. I haven’t watched enough Steelers games to know who they line up in the slot more than others or outside. I would think we have him on JuJu or Claypool to limit the big plays and use his physicality. 
 

I think you’re safe to play Johnson this week. This strikes me as a game with a lot of receptions but not a whole lot of yards. I could see his stat line being 8-65-1