Steelers vs. Bills: Buffalo Takes Pittsburgh To OT, but Drops Another Nail-Biter
The Buffalo Bills found out that they can play with anybody in the NFL, as they dropped another heartbreaking overtime game—this time losing to the Pittsburgh Steelers, 19-16.
The Bills had their chances, but the one that was replayed all night was when Steve Johnson dropped a wide-open pass in the end zone during the overtime period. This mistake will probably haunt Johnson for some time to come.
Johnson went from hero to goat in one short week. Welcome to fame Steve; it can be fleeting. Johnson was disconsolate in the post-game press conference and the magnitude of his drop was almost overwhelming to him. Hang in there Steve, the Bills will need you at your best going forward and this is just part of the maturation process.
The Bills, now 2-9, were coming off of consecutive wins and feeling good about themselves. The wins were against Detroit and Cincinnati, so the Steelers game was primed to serve as a benchmark for whether the team's progress was for real.
The Bills had multiple times that they could have won the game in regulation or in overtime, but it wasn't meant to be. The Steelers dominated the clock and the stats and ultimately won the game on the foot of Shaun Suisham, who just became their kicker in the past week. Timing is everything.
Steve Johnson and the Rest of Bills Learn Some Hard Lessons
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Steve Johnson was the toast of the town last week, following his three-touchdown performance against the Cincinnati Bengals. His humorous T-shirt that made fun of Terrell Owens and Chad Ochocinco gained him a bunch of headlines and interviews. What it didn't allow was extra time to practice his craft.
Johnson was credited with five drops in the game, one of which led to an interception down by the end zone. His biggest drop, however, came in overtime when he ran a pretty route and Ryan Fitzpatrick hit him in stride wide open in the end zone. The pass looked so perfect that center Geoff Hangartner jumped up in Fitzpatrick's arms thinking the game was over. But Johnson dropped the ball and sat down in the end zone staring at his hands. It appeared at that moment that he didn't know where he was any longer.
Johnson wasn't alone. Lee Evans dropped a pass in the end zone, and also had a Steelers secondary member holding his arm in the end zone, but his protests went unheard. Leodis McKelvin looked like he was taking the opening kickoff in overtime all the way to the house, only to run in to fellow special teams member Arthur Moats, losing his balance and falling down.
Even Chris Kelsay could have won the game for the Bills in overtime, but his sack of Ben Roethlisberger was ruled that Big Ben was downed at the one yard line, instead of a game-winning safety.
The Bills could have gambled on a 4th-and-1 to try to win it in regulation, but they played it safe and went for the tie. The team had a chance to win it, but it didn't happen. A number of guys could have made plays, but they didn't. They will learn to win as a team, but it isn't happening every week yet. They will continue to learn.
Pittsburgh Dominates Most Facets of the Game
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Over the span of the first 30 minutes, this game was thoroughly dominated by the Steelers. They held the ball for almost 24 full minutes, compared to the Bills' six. In fact, the 6:05 was the shortest amount of time any team has possessed the ball in the first half of any game this season.
The Steelers outgained the Bills, 225-51, had 18 first downs to 4 for the Bills, and led 13-0 at halftime. The Steelers probably should have scored more points, but couldn't convert their drives into touchdowns, with penalties not helping. Instead they were just starting to warm up Shaun Suisham.
This contest actually followed the script of last week's Bills game, as Buffalo stormed out in the second half to begin their big comeback. I would liked them to start having big first halves as well.
Fred Jackson Starts the Bills Comeback With a Big Play
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Lining up in the slot, Fred Jackson took a short pass from Ryan Fitzpatrick, who caught the Steelers in a blitz call, and raced the final 65 yards to put the Bills on the scoreboard at 13-7. That one play put the Bills back in the game, and showed Jackson's ability in the open field, as he bobbed and weaved his way down the field through the Steelers defense. Jackson broke a couple defenders would-be tackles down by the 5-yard line and went in for the score.
Fitzpatrick led the Bills on three straight scoring drives to tie the game at 16 on three field goals. He led the Bills again to another potential scoring drive, only to see the ball bounce off of Steve Johnson's hands in the red zone to the Steelers' all-everything safety, Troy Polamalu.
This game was a tale of two halves, with the Bills becoming a completely different team in the second half. This is just one way of how the Bills need to learn and grow from experiences like this one, as painful as it was.
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This Overtime Loss Trend Is Starting to Get Old
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Leodis McKelvin took the kickoff to begin overtime and raced up the field. He found a seam and took off, hitting the midfield stripe at full speed. Arthur Moats was attempting to block one of the final Steelers between McKelvin and the end zone, but as McKelvin cut to his left, he ran squarely in to Moats and tumbled to the ground.
If he somehow was able to maintain his balance, it appeared that no one was left to stop him. At the very least, he would have taken it down close enough for the game-winning field goal.
Could of, should of, would of.
So that makes three overtime games for the year, three overtime losses, and all three by a field goal. In each game the Bills had their chances to win, so we could easily be looking at a 5-6 record.
We are storing up a tremendous amount of karma, so when we make the playoffs again, we will be cashing it in each step of the way toward a Super Bowl win. At least that is what I keep telling myself.
Bills Sack Ben Roethlisberger 5 Times
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The Bills had to be concerned about the Steelers pass rush, since they registered six sacks last Sunday against the Raiders. But it was the Bills pass rush that wound up having the bigger day, as it came up with a season-high five sacks today against Ben Roethlisberger. The sack masters were rookie Alex Carrington, Chris Kelsay, Marcus Stroud, and the Bills MVP on defense, Kyle Williams, who had two sacks.
The pressure on Roethlisberger left him rather gimpy as he was limping around for the duration of the second half. Despite the limp, Big Ben was able to scramble one time for 18 yards on 3rd-and-17.
On that scramble, he was tackled by Aaron Maybin, whom the Bills actually dressed today. Don't get too excited; it was Maybin's only tackle for the game.
As for the vaunted Steelers pass rush? They only managed two sacks against the Bills supposedly inferior offensive line. That bodes well for the line, which had Kraig Ubrick starting for Eric Wood at right guard and still being able to cope with the aggressive Steelers' blitz packages.
Jairus Byrd Strips Ball From Rashard Mendnhall to Create Big Turnover
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Rashard Mendenhall had a huge day for the Steelers, as he came up with a season high 151 yards on 36 carries. He averaged 4.2 yards per carry, and came up with some big runs in both regulation and overtime. But it was a carry by Mendenhall that Jairus Byrd was able to take the ball right away from the Steelers back that allowed the Bills to come back and tie the game on a Rian Lindell field goal. It was a clutch play by Byrd. He still does not own an interception yet, but Byrd has come up with some big fumble recoveries.
Mendenhall was able to take advantage of the depleted Bills defense. Dwan Edwards left in the first quarter with a hamstring injury and never returned. The Bills are already without Andra Davis and had to sit out starting cornerback Terrence McGee, who did not dress for the game. The Bills placed linebacker Keith Ellison on the injured reserve list yesterday, so they needed their rookies to step up and produce.
There were plays from Alex Carrington, Arthur Moats and Antonio Coleman today. That will have to continue, as the Bills are now up to a season high of 12 rookies on their 53-man active roster.
Leodis McKelvin Had Great Returns, But Almost Had Costly Fumble
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The Bills' Chris Kelsay sacked Ben Roethlisberger at the 1-yard line, almost ending the game in overtime with a safety. Leodis McKelvin fielded the subsequent punt and the Bills would have taken over the ball around midfield. Except we have learned to never take any McKelvin return for granted, as he fumbled the ball during his return.
The ball bounced around for about 20 yards, and Drayton Florence somehow managed to save McKelvin by finding a way to come up with the ball in the pile. That was a huge recovery, but it is still disconcerting to see that McKelvin hasn't learned his lessons from the infamous return fumble he had against the Patriots in the Monday night season opener in 2009.
That just shouldn't be happening and might be the ultimate answer as to anyone wondering why McKelvin didn't start out the year as the Bills' return man.
Other notes to pass on: Both teams punted five times. Both teams had one three-and-out drive in regulation and each team had one three-and-out drive in overtime.
The Steelers won the turnover battle, 2-1, which they usually do. The Bills, who had an amazing run in their first 10 games in coming up with touchdowns in the red zone, went 0-for-3 in the red zone today, while the Steelers went 1-for-1. That very well might have been the overall deciding factor in the game.
Just The Bills Luck, They Face a Red-Hot Free-Agent Kicker
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The way things are supposed to work is that if you are a free agent, there is a reason for it. You have some sort of deficiencies in your game that prevent you from already having a contract.
But not for Shaun Suisham. He went 4-for-4 on the day, and every one of his kicks was at least 40 yards.
To his credit, Bills kicker Rian Lindell had a clutch day, going 3-for[-3. It seemed like deja vu when the Steelers decided to ice Lindell just before he kicked the 49-yard field goal with two seconds left in regulation. Lindell kicked the "warm up" kick through the goal posts then, after the time out, calmly made the kick the second time. That was the strategy that Kansas City used on Lindell to thwart a potential overtime winning kick, but Lindell came through in the clutch today.
Little did the Bills know that the true clutch kicker of the day was Suisham.
Bills Rush Defense Couldn't Stop Mendenhall
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Giving the Steelers 206 yards on the ground will not help the NFL's worst rushing defense's stats. As much as anything else, it was the inability to stopping the run that cost the Bills the game today.
The Steelers converted 12 of 19 third-down opportunities. The Bills were only able to convert 4 of 13 third-down attempts today. That was a reflection on not being able to run the ball effectively in the first half and some receivers making key drops on Fitzpatrick throws. It is also a credit to the Steelers' talented defense. They aren't one of the most feared defenses in the NFL for nothing.
The fact that the Bills were still in this game and able to mount several comebacks in the second half to force the game into overtime is a testament to how far the team has come since the dreadful start to the season. Going forward, the Bills are probably going to make it a game from here on out, unless they decide to pack it in and mail in the rest of the season. I don't see that happening though.
First It Was Ed Reed, Now It's Troy Polamalu
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The Bills have now lost overtime games to the two best teams of the AFC North: the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens.
In the Ravens game, veteran All-Pro safety Ed Reed was activated before the Bills contest and came up with several turnovers.
Not to be outdone by his fellow All-Pro secondary member, Steelers safety Troy Polamalu was too hurt to practice all week. He was listed as questionable and was a game-time decision. All Polamalu did was create two turnovers and almost came up with a third when he tried to strip David Nelson after a catch.
Great players make great plays. That Polamalu came up with the plays that he did shows how great a player he is. He saved the Steelers in the fourth quarter with his interception. He is a prime example of the kind of playmaker that the Bills do desperately need on defense, but don't have.
Ryan Fitzpatrick Took His Licks But Hung in There Again
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After Ryan Fitzpatrick released a pass, James Harrison came in with his helmet up high and blasted Fitzpatrick to the ground. It was clearly a big hit, and the referee threw the flag and gave Harrison a roughing-the-passer penalty that extended a Bills drive.
Fitzpatrick spread the ball around in this game, hitting six different receivers. He came up with some fairly strange completion percentages depending on who the receiver in question was, so let's take a closer look.
Steve Johnson was the understandable main target. Fitz threw the ball to him 15 times, completing seven.
Fitz threw the ball 15 times combined to Lee Evans and Donald Jones, but only completed three.
Fitz threw the ball 12 times combined to David Nelson and Fred Jackson, completing 11. He was very accurate to those two but not to anyone else...rather interesting. Two of Nelson's catches came in the final clutch drive that tied up the game in the final minute of regulation.
For the game, Fitz threw for 265 yards, completing 23 of 45 passes for an average of 5.9 yards per attempt and a QB passer rating of only 67.4 If the Bills receivers had held on to the ball, that rating would be much higher.
The Bills Take Their Show on the Road to Face Brett Favre and the Vikings
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If the Bills were able to get to Ben Roethlisberger for five sacks today, how many can they come up with when they travel to Minnesota next Sunday to face Brett Favre and the Vikings?
If defensive lineman Dwan Edwards is not able to play due to his hamstring injury, then maybe Spencer Johnson will be able to come back from his hamstring injury. There is still John McCargo, who, like Aaron Maybin, has not dressed for games very often, so he is probably itching to get a chance to show what he can do.
The Bills are facing a team that is probably going to be playing spirited ball again, as they won this week in the debut of interim coach Leslie Frazier. There seemed to be a number of similarities between the Vikings' current situation and where the Bills were last year at this time after they promoted their defensive coordinator, Perry Fewell, to interim head coach. The Bills seemed to play much more spirited ball under Fewell, and the same can be said for what the Vikings did today under Frazier.
The Vikings should provide the Bills with another strong test. Now if they can only show that they are learning from all of these valuable lessons.
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