Buffalo topped Pittsburgh to secure a spot in the postseason.
By Nick Wojton / Billswire.usatoday.com
The Bills topped the Pittsburgh Steelers, 17-10, in Week 15 to secure a spot in the postseason dance. Buffalo sits at the No. 5 seed, the AFC’s first Wild Card spot, with a 10-4 overall record.
To get there, the Bills beat the team right behind them at the No. 6 seed and in front of a national audience.
With that audience in mind, here’s Bills Wire’s weekly stock report following the Bills’ win over the Steelers on Sunday Night Football:
Stock up
QB Josh Allen
In no way did Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen have a great overall game. He rarely does. Allen finished the game 13-for-25 passing for only 139 yards in the air with a passing score and interception. His interception went off a receiver’s hands. On the ground, Allen added another 28 yards and a rushing score.
But when it mattered most, Allen was there to increase his stock. On Buffalo’s game-winning drive in the fourth quarter, Allen was 2-for-4 passing, which included a 40-yard strike to John Brown down the sideline and a 14-yard touchdown to tight end Tyler Kroft to put his team ahead. Allen is not a complete product, but he’s tied with Seattle’s Russell Wilson for the NFL lead in game-winning drives this year. They both have five. This is a good thing.
CB Tre’Davious White
There isn’t much more you could have asked from Tre’Davious White. On one play, he was stiff-armed pretty badly, but aside from that, maybe the best game of his career?
White had two interceptions in this one, one in the first quarter and then another late in the third quarter, which helped put the Bills in position to tie the game up at 10. In between those, White was also injured (shoulder) but returned to finish off strong. Without White, the Bills don’t lock up a playoff spot in Week 15.
CB Levi Wallace
White had two picks and took the headlines, but let’s give a little shout to Levi Wallace. Jordan Poyer also had an interception in this one, but it’s been a tough year for Wallace. After locking down the No. 2 spot across from White, he’s gradually lost playing time as Wallace now rotates with Kevin Johnson there. Having said that. Wallace’s pick iced and ended the game for the Bills, as Hodges tossed up a duck that Wallace found in the end zone. Also: It was the first interception of the undrafted rookie free agent’s career.
DT Jordan Phillips
The Bills saw elite Jordan Phillips show up against the Steelers. Buffalo had two tackles for loss and two sacks from Phillips in this one. His takedowns of Pittsburgh quarterback Duck Hodges helped the Bills defense put a stamp on this win late. Along with his sacks, Phillips had another two quarterback hurries and three total tackles. Perhaps strategically, Phillips, an unrestricted free agent following the season, gave huge praise to general manager Brandon Beane following the game. Those two sides, at some point, will get some negotiations going.
OL Cody Ford
As a unit, the Bills offensive line played much, much better against the Steelers as compared to their outing against the Ravens just a week earlier. Baltimore had six sacks on Josh Allen and 12 total quarterback hits. Scheme and playcalling had something to do with it, but Allen got the ball out quicker and the Steelers just simply didn’t get into the backfield all that often compared to the Ravens. So why Cody Ford?
This is a nod toward the whole unit, yes, but Ford drew TJ Watt in this one. Watt is having a hell of a season and had a good game against the Bills, he did force a fumble, but that wasn’t on Ford. On paper, it looked like Watt, Pro Football Focus’ top-rated edge defender who has 13 sacks this season, would cause havoc. He didn’t… thanks to Ford.
WR John Brown
After a few short weeks of doing little-to-nothing, John Brown came back to the stat sheet in a big way. Brown had seven catches for 99 yards, including his 40-yard catch which he fought through defensive pass interference to make.
In the three games combined prior to Week 15, Brown only had 91 total yards. Wideouts don’t put up numbers weekly, but at one point Brown was, and it went quiet. He’s back now and over 1,000-yards receiving, the first time a Buffalo receiver has done so since 2015.
DE Trent Murphy
Like Wallace, Trent Murphy isn’t having a productive season and due to the finances of things, he’s not exactly a feel good story and he could be a cut candidate this offseason. But only time will tell. Regardless of that, against the Steelers, Murphy had his best game of the season. Along with three total tackles, Murphy had a sack, 1.5 tackles for loss and he forced a fumble which about five Bills players jumped on. Jordan Poyer ended up being the one to grab it, but that was a game-changing play as the Steelers were driving and poised to score until Murphy decided otherwise.
Stock down
RB Devin Singletary
It’s been a heck of a run for rookie running back Devin Singletary and it wasn’t a completely bad game from him against the Steelers. On 21 carries, Singeltary had a profitable 87 yards rushing and boy did he have some nice cuts. But Singletary also had two very ugly fumbles, including one the Steelers recovered. Singletary’s fumbles have come in twos, too. In Week Week 11 against the Dolphins, he also had two fumbles, the only he had all season prior to facing the Steelers, but for the first time he lost one in Week 15.
WR Cole Beasley
While John Brown thrived… Cole Beasley did not. Good news, though. Over the past few weeks when Brown hasn’t done much, it’s been all Beasley. As the Bills enter the postseason, they’ll want both of these guys to be on the mark each and every game. But Beasley’s stock goes down, not because Brown did well. Beasley did bad. He should have caught a pass from Josh Allen and instead it went off his hands and turned into an interception. In addition, Beasley had six total targets in this one and only brought in one pass for six yards.
RB Frank Gore
For the second-straight week, Frank Gore appears in the bad part of this column and it hurts us as much as it hurts you. One has to question whether or not TJ Yeldon could be more productive than Gore on game days at this point. Gore took up 10 carries for Buffalo’s offense and only had 15 yards in the game. At one point, Gore attempted a pass, but ate the ball instead of potentially turning over, which is good. But at one point Gore also tried to get around the corner on a run to the outside and just didn’t seem to have the burst to get there at all.