Six weeks ago, Bills Mafia was looking forward to the game against the Pittsburgh Steelers as a potential preview of the AFC Championship. The Buffalo Bills were off to a 4-0 start; the Steelers 4-1.
Now? Sunday's game at Acrisure Stadium has been downgraded to a battle of two struggling teams hoping to squeeze out a Wild Card berth.
After going 3-4 in their last seven games and falling almost out of sight from the AFC East division-leading New England Patriots, the Bills may just find the perfect medicine for their offensive illness against the porous Steelers' defense. Sure, newly signed receiver speedster could help. But for the Bills, gaining yards and putting up points on Sunday shouldn't be a problem.
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The days of Pittsburgh's "Steel Curtain" are long gone, replaced by one of the worst defenses in the NFL. In the past month, coach Mike Tomlin's unit has coughed up point totals of 33 to the Bengals, 35 to the Packers and, last week, 31 to the Bears.
ESPN NFL analyst Dan Orlovsky sees it as tthe perfect "get right" game for Josh Allen and a Bills' offense that was shut down in their last appearance against the Houston Texans. Why?
"This Steelers' secondary has played poorly," Orlovsky said this week on the One Bills Live podcast with Steve Tasker. "There are multiple times per game that I write down in my notes 'I don't know what this team is doing'. It's like four guys are doing one thing on the back end and two doing another."
Sean McDermott
Sean McDermott | Mark Konezny-Imagn Images
The Bills will welcome the drop in competition. While the Texans have the league's No. 1 defense, Pittsburgh is 28th. Worse, the Steelers are 31st against the pass, surrendering 258 yards per game. Only the Bengals are worse.
Yes, they have fierce pass-rushers in Cam Heyward and T.J. Watt, but with a secondary that features former All-Pro cornerback Jalen Ramsey now trying to play safety, the Steelers allow 24 points per game, 43-percent conversions on third down and 1,500 yards-after-catch in 11 games, third-highest in the NFL. Orlovsky said there's no reason for the Bills not to put up 4+ touchdowns.
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"There are gashes and vacated zones in their secondary," he said. "They play with improper leverage. You can run by them. If you can force this secondary to communicate and pass things off to one another ... you can rip them. Three-level concepts can rip them. Motion and then run, you can rip them. There's a lot schematically that the Bills can take advantage of."
James Cook
James Cook | Mark Konezny-Imagn Images
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