Pittsburgh Steelers at Buffalo Bills: Steelers Should Not Look Past Bills
This time last season, the Steelers were just beginning a five game losing streak which effectively kept them from reaching the playoffs.
This season the Steelers stopped that very same thing from happening by stomping out the Raiders last week 35-3, after being embarrassed by the Patriots themselves the week before.
This week against the Bills the Steelers need to stay extra focused and cannot afford any let down.
Here are my reasons why the Steelers should not take the Bills lightly in week 12 and what they need to do to improve to 8-3.
Big Matchup Next Week
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The Pittsburgh Steelers will take on the Baltimore Ravens in week 13 in what could decide the winner of the AFC North.
The only problem with that is that the Steelers need to play the Buffalo Bills in week 12 first.
There has been a tendency in the NFL when a team is looking forward to a big time matchup, such as the Steelers have with the Ravens, they sometimes tend to forget they have to actually play the game before it.
It has happened this season to teams such as the Saints and Patriots and the Steelers need to make sure they do not let this happen to them.
Get the Ground Game Going Again
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The reason the Steelers were able to start off strong without Ben Roethlisberger was because they were able to run all over teams whenever they wanted.
Through the first five games of the season, Rashard Mendenhall amassed 495 rushing yards and five touchdowns.
In the last five games he only has 316 rushing yards, three touchdowns, and hasn’t had a 100 yard rushing game since week 2.
Injuries to the offensive line and the return of Ben Roethlisberger have contributed to the drop in productivity however the Steelers need to get Mendenhall back on track.
Get Hines Ward the Ball
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Hines Ward is having one of the worst statistical seasons of his career and Mike Wallace has been stepping up in his place big time for the Steelers.
Mike Wallace has been ripping up defenses and I see no reason to stop getting him the ball as much as possible.
I also believe however that the offense just runs smoother when Hines Ward is involved.
Hines Ward can still make a big contribution in the offense and his presence is most felt in the redzone.
If we can get Hines going, with Wallace having a breakout season, the Steelers passing game will get back to the form it was at last season where Ben threw for over 4000 yards.
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Keep Integrating the Young Guys
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Emmanuel Sanders seems to be getting some more opportunities to see the field as a receiver and he has been taking advantage of it.
Sanders has scored a touchdown in two straight games and both have been nice diving grabs.
The other rookie, Antonio Brown, hadn’t been active since week 4 and in his first punt return ever he returned it back for a touchdown.
Even though it was called back due to holding, Brown has shown the ability to make explosive plays whenever he gets his hands on the ball.
Brown also threw in a nice catch in traffic during the game and both receivers should be getting more and more chances to touch the ball in the upcoming weeks.
Blitz All Day!
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The Steelers defense sacked Raider quarterbacks six times and had an additional five quarterback hits.
All I can say is…. FINALLY!!
Steelers’ fans have been getting on the defense for not blitzing as much and for not putting any pressure on the quarterback, especially after not sacking Tom Brady once in week 9.
Dick LeBeau finally had enough watching his defense getting torched and sent anyone and everyone at Jason Campbell and Bruce Gradkowski.
It was nice to see the Steelers defense playing like we all know they can and I can only hope they don’t stop for the rest of the season.
Troy Shows Up
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In recent weeks Troy Polamalu has been taking some criticism from fans because of his propensity to get beat for big plays.
Troy has full range to do pretty much whatever he wants on the field and normally no one would question anything he does, however he has been pretty quiet since starting the season hot.
Against the Raiders Troy was everywhere and kept their receivers in check, including grabbing his first interception since week 2.
The Steelers need Troy to keep this up and to shut down the Bills Steve Johnson who ripped the Bengals for three touchdowns.
Keep Stuffing the Run
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The Steelers continue to be great against the run and are currently ranked number one in the league in rush defense.
The Bills have two running backs in Fred Jackson and C.J. Spiller however the Steelers should have no problems shutting them down.
Ziggy Hood and Nick Eason have done a great job so far filling in for the injured Aaron Smith and Brett Keisel.
If the Steelers can just do what they have done all season, which is shut down running games, they can pin their ears back and just come after Ryan Fitzpatrick all day.
No Letdown
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After being thoroughly embarrassed by the New England Patriots in week 9 by the tune of 39-26, the Steelers responded in a big way against the Oakland Raiders.
After a big win like that the Steelers need to avoid coming out against the Bills flat and starting the game off slow.
The Steelers have a bad habit of playing down to their competition and not putting teams they should easily beat away early.
The Bills are a team that they should beat and beat handily, however anything can happen as what was seen by the Bills against the Bengals and the Steelers need to be extra focused to prevent a letdown.
Bills Are Sneaky
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While the Buffalo Bills have not had a very good season so far in 2010, they could have very easily had three or four more wins.
The Bills stayed with the Patriots in a 38-30 loss and were completely robbed in my opinion in an overtime loss to the Ravens.
They got their first win of the season against the Detroit Lions in week 9 and had an improbable comeback against the Bengals in week 10 after trailing 28-7 at one point.
Although the Bills have only won two games this year so far, those two wins happen to have come in the last two weeks and the Steelers need to make sure they are not the third straight.
Keep Our Cool
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Let me just say the NFL is a joke and should be embarrassed for the display put on by the officials in the Steelers game against the Raiders on Sunday.
Roger Goodell can say all he wants is to protect players, however we all know that is a bunch of garbage and all he has done is make the game less enjoyable to watch.
That being said, the Steelers need to just be aware of the fact that the officials are terrible and need to maintain their composure.
The referees are horrible in every game, for every team, and the Steelers need to just keep playing their style and keep winning games.
Then James Harrison can get a new explanation about how to play football from Goodell as he hands the Steelers the Lombardi Trophy at the end of the year.
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