A recap of Buffalo’s Week 14 game against Pittsburgh.
Buffalo Bills Insider Chris Brown provides the details. Here is his report:
In a nutshell:
In a do or die situation the Buffalo Bills were unable to put together the kind of performance needed to remain a part of the AFC playoff race. Despite two first half interceptions of Ben Roethlisberger, the Bills trailed 14-0 early and never recovered in a 27-20 loss to the Steelers.
Pittsburgh RB Le’Veon Bell rushed for 236 yards, the most ever by a back against Buffalo in team history as Bell had 298 all-purpose yards.
The loss dropped the Bills to 6-7 on the season and effectively ends Buffalo’s playoff hopes.
The Bills offense got off to a slow start with their first two possessions going for a combined minus-six yards. They punted on four of their five first half drives, with their only touchdown coming off an interception by Stephon Gilmore that set the Bills up at the Pittsburgh seven-yard line. Sammy Watkins caught a seven-yard pass from Tyrod Taylor.
That touchdown cut the Steelers lead to 14-7 by halftime, but it’s as close as the Bills would get.
Buffalo’s offense was unable to string together positive plays as they punted on their first two second half possessions and Tyrod Taylor threw an interception just one play after the defense thwarted a touchdown drive by the Steelers when Zach Brown intercepted a Roethlisberger pass in the end zone.
Taylor’s passing woes continued as his protection was spotty and he was sacked five times. He completed less than 50 percent of his passes and had less than 75 yards passing with 10 minutes left in the game.
The Steelers used a pair of field goal drives late to keep it a two-score game late. Buffalo got a late touchdown from LeSean McCoy with just over a minute remaining, but their onsides kick attempt was unsuccessful.
How it went down:
-The Steelers got on the board first when Le’Veon Bell with some help from his linemen pushed the pile into the end zone for a three-yard touchdown run. It wrapped up an eight-play, 71-yard drive to make it 7-0 with six minutes left in the opening quarter.
-Le’Veon Bell tacked on another touchdown from seven yards out to make it 14-0 Pittsburgh with 12 minutes left in the second quarter finishing off a 60-yard drive.
-Buffalo was able to climb back into the game when Stephon Gilmore intercepted a Ben Roethlisberger pass and returned it to the Steelers seven-yard line. Tyrod Taylor hit Sammy Watkins on a post pattern three plays later to cut the Pittsburgh lead in half (14-7) with seven minutes left in the half.
-The Steelers exerted their will on Buffalo’s defensive front early in the third quarter. Pittsburgh ran the ball on nine of 10 plays including a five-yard waltz into the end zone by Bell for his third rushing touchdown of the game midway through the third quarter (21-7).
-Pittsburgh added a 37-yard field goal from Chris Boswell early in the fourth quarter to make it a 24-7 game with 10 minutes remaining in the game.
-Buffalo was able to stage a five-play 82-yard touchdown drive with Taylor finding Charles Clay for a 40-yard catch and run for a score with seven minutes remaining, but Dan Carpenter’s extra point went off the left upright (24-13).
-Pittsburgh added a second Chris Boswell field goal with 3:43 remaining from 39 yards out to push the Steelers lead back to 14 (27-13).
-LeSean McCoy scored from three yards out in the waning moments of the game to close it to 27-20 after Carpenter’s extra point. But the clock ran out on Buffalo after an onsides kick attempt failed.
Subplots:
-LeSean McCoy had more yards receiving than rushing, with six catches for 81 yards. He had 108 all-purpose yards in the game.
–Tyrod Taylor was 15 of 25 passing for 228 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. He had a passer rating of 100.1.
–With his eight-yard touchdown reception, Sammy Watkins now has 16 career touchdown receptions. He is the fifth Bill with 16 touchdown receptions in his first three seasons joining Lee Evans (24), Elbert Dubenion (18), Jerry Butler (18), and Andre Reed (16).
–Cordy Glenn left the game in the first quarter with a back injury, but was able to return in the second half. Cyrus Kouandjio stepped in for Glenn at left tackle while he was out.
-The Bills were outgained in the first quarter 151 to -1 by the Steelers.
-After just two takeaways in their previous six games, Buffalo got two in the first half on interceptions by Lorenzo Alexander and Stephon Gilmore.
-The Bills have eclipsed the 2,000-yard rushing mark for the season Sunday. This season marks the sixth time the Bills have produced 2,000 rushing yards and 20 rushing touchdowns and the first time since 1990.
-With his extra point, Dan Carpenter extended his scoring streak to 61 games and now sits in sole possession of second place on the team’s most consecutive games scoring list. Scott Norwood has the longest streak at 92 games.
Inactives:
QB Cardale Jones, WR Dez Lewis, RB Jonathan Williams, LB Lerentee McCray, TE Logan Thomas, TE Gerald Christian and DT Kyle Williams.
Up next:
The Bills host the Cleveland Browns next Sunday for a 1 pm kickoff at New Era Field.