Pittsburgh Lost the 1st Seed, Falling to Buffalo 26-15

    Orchard Park, NY – If there was ever a doubt about Buffalo’s legitimacy in the AFC playoff race, consider them put to rest. The Bills, looking to take advantage of a rare power vacuum in the AFC East, have officially stamped themselves as a conference powerhouse to behold, as they all but suffocated the formerly undefeated Pittsburgh Steeler and their chance at a first-round bye with a 26-15 win on a slushy night in Orchard Park.  

Thank you, Minnesota! 

            When Bills GM Brandon Beane traded away his team’s 2020 first-round pick (No. 22 overall), a 2020 fifth-round pick, a 2020 sixth-round pick and a 2021 fourth-round pick for then-Vikings receiver Stefon Diggs and a 2020 seventh-round pick, critics in the football cognoscente were split on what to think. On the one hand, Buffalo would get a sure-fire playmaker at wide receiver in Diggs; a refined route runner who was also coming off a career-high 1,130 receiving yard year with Kirk Cousins as his quarterback. On the other, many were quick to label Diggs as a diva for demanding a trade of Minneapolis several times on social media, believing he was an afterthought in Mike Zimmer’s run-focused offense. After nearly a full season in Orchard Park, it might be too early to call, but it seems like both sides one the trade here. On Minnesota’s side, they might have lost one dynamic route-runner in Diggs, but were quickly able to replace him with another in rookie phenom Justin Jefferson, who could be challenging Justin Herbert for rookie of the year honors. On Buffalo’s side, Diggs has been nothing but stellar for the Bills. He’s quickly established great chemistry with Josh Allen (56%/238/2/1), contributing to a severely underrated receiving corps, alongside with Cole Beasley (5-41) and John Brown (DNP), that each brings something different to the table. Against Pittsburgh, Diggs (10/130/1) recorded his 100thcatch of the season, becoming the first player to reach the milestone in 2020, as well as surpassing his career-high in receiving yards with 1,167.  

Steelers lose, Chiefs Win 

            After that suffering their first loss of the season to the Washington team that has no name last Monday, Pittsburgh came into week 14 looking for a chance to bounce back and resolidify their hold on the AFC playoff seeding. Unfortunately, they were met with a Bills team that didn’t care. Pittsburgh lost two more linemen to injury against Buffalo, leaving them with just the five on the field to work with. Add that with the fact that the Steelers came in with 12 total drops in their last two games, adding on four more to the pile, and that “Big Ben” Roethlisberger (57%/187/2/2) was either overthrowing or placing the ball behind his receivers, and you’re looking at some immense ineptitude on display by the Steelers offense. As for that vaunted Steelers defense, it may not look like it in the box score, but they put up a good fight. In the secondary, the safety duo of Mike Hilton and Cameron Sutton made life a living hell for Buffalo in the first half. Hilton picked off Allen in the first quarter after Cameron Heyward smacked Allen on his arm, forcing the ball to float up there and land in the safety’s hand. Sutton was on the receiving end of an unfortunate Dawson Knox fumble, where Hilton forced the ball out of the tight end’s hands, where it then bounced off Knox’s forearm, and fell right into Sutton’s hand. That fumble then led to Pittsburgh’s first TD of the night. Overall, this loss not only helps solidify the notion that Pittsburgh is the worst 11-0 team in NFL history, but it knocks them out of the one seed, elevating Kansas City to that spot. The good news for Pittsburgh is their schedule looks lighter, looking like they could win out with games against Cincinnati, Indianapolis, & Cleveland. The bad news: so could the Chiefs, with games against New Orleans, Atlanta, and Los Angeles (Chargers) lined up. 

What’s next? 

            Buffalo has their last out-of-division game to look forward to, flying a mile high up to take on Denver. As for Pittsburgh, they might finally get their bounce-back game on Monday night, as they delve into the jungle that is Cincinnati.  

Writer

-By: Juan Guarin-Camargo