The Steelers need to be the kryptonite to Bills QB Josh Allen’s Superman, captain Cameron Heyward said earlier this week. Identifying the reigning NFL MVP as a unique talent, he stressed how much work the defense has cut out for itself in preparation for defending Buffalo’s multifaceted threat. The good news is the Steelers have played him before—the bad news being that they keep losing to him.
“Josh doesn’t want to play superhero ball, but he’s the closest thing to a superhero in our game”, Heyward said, via the Steelers’ website. “He can make a lot of things happen. It’s athletic ability, it’s arm talent. You name it, he’s got it. And when he extends plays, usually he’s finding [Khalil] Shakir or others open. We have to use that against him. It’s usually a lot of guys running to the ball, because he will make two to three guys miss per play. It all goes hand in hand, but it’s really gonna stress our defense”.
Asked if the Steelers have to be the supervillains to counter Josh Allen’s superhero abilities, Heyward smiled. “Yes. Yes, we do”, he said. And he’s not wrong to feel that way, given the way they have performed against him in the past.
In the regular season, Allen is 87-of-150 against the Steelers for 1,071 yards with 8 touchdowns against 3 interceptions. He also has 142 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown. In one postseason matchup, it’s even worse, as you might recall. In the 2023 Wild Card Round, he went 21-of-30 for 203 yards with 3 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. And he rushed for 74 yards with another touchdown. So yeah, superhero abilities. And he plays with extra juice when he plays the Steelers, too.
This season, Josh Allen is completing a career-high 69.7 percent of his passes. He is 228-of-317 for 2,709 yards with 18 touchdowns to 9 interceptions. His turnovers are elevated this year, though, and he has his lowest QBR since 2019. The Bills have already lost as many games this year as they did all of last season. In fact, they are 1-2 in their past three games, with losses to the Dolphins and Texans.
Can the Steelers continue the Bills’ downward spiral? Both teams are heading in the wrong direction and need this game to right the ship. While Josh Allen’s Bills have one up in record, they are further behind than Heyward’s Steelers in their respective divisions. Buffalo is two games behind the Patriots with a loss to New England. The Steelers are tied with the Ravens, who have yet to play one another. So one can argue that this game means even more to them than it does to Pittsburgh.
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