Pittsburgh Steelers Week 13 Preview: A Herd of Buffalo

Sports

add

The Pittsburgh Steelers 2025 season has six games remaining and three of those will be played in Pittsburgh while the other half of the games has Pittsburgh taking to the road. It begins in week 13 of the season with the Buffalo Bills coming to Acrisure Stadium. This game should take the form of a playoff matchup for both teams, as Pittsburgh and Buffalo are not just fighting for a shot at the postseason but possibly winning their respective divisions.

Which team is a victory more important for? Certainly, that question should be geared more towards the Steelers. Currently tied with the Baltimore Ravens for first place, Pittsburgh has an extremely crucial game in Baltimore following the Bills game. Buffalo finds themselves two full games behind the red hot first place New England Patriots and how New England has been playing, it’s unlikely the Bills can catch them or surpass them for a division title.

While the Bills have been much more consistent than Pittsburgh has, the Steelers have yet to find their true identity and the season is nearly over. Aaron Rodgers is questionable for this game still deciding if his wrist is healed enough to play and against a team like the Bills, I’m sure no Steelers fan is comfortable with Mason Rudolph leading the offense to be productive against a very proven defense.

While head coach Mike Tomlin is under fire for how this season has developed, he, General Manager Omar Khan, and Steelers President Art Rooney II are all guilty for going “all in” this season with new faces on defense and doing everything they could to get Aaron Rodgers under contract. All this was in the hope the Steelers would return to the playoffs and actually win a post-season game.

That hope by the front office and Tomlin seem to be dwindling and fading fast. One week the offense is the problem and the next week the defense. Through 11 games we have yet to see a truly complete 60-minute game on both sides of the ball. Last week in losing to the Bears, the offense and Rudolph did enough to keep the team in the game, but the secondary faltered when it was needed most. For me, this boils down to coaching.

Now the 7-4 Bills come to the ‘Burgh after having defeated the Steelers and the same Mason Rudolph in the wild card round of the 2023 season. This after Kenny Pickett was benched and Rudolph had won several regular season games getting Pittsburgh into the big dance. In the history between these two teams that began with a first game in 1970 in old Three Rivers Stadium that saw Pittsburgh win 23-10, there has been 30 games between these two teams four in the playoffs. In the postseason each team has won two games.

Of the 30 games played, Pittsburgh has won 17. I was at one of those games. While living in New York City, a friend of mine accompanied me to an eight-hour trip back to my hometown to attend the Bills/Steelers game on Monday Night Football, September 16, 1996. We were among 59,002 fans in attendance to watch the Steelers demolish the Bills 24-6. I will never forget that night in Three Rivers Stadium as the crowd made so much noise and were stomping their feet so hard the entire stadium was literally rocking. That is not a joke. I remember see some of the stands vibrating like they would fall apart.

Hall of fame quarterback Jim Kelly (also a Pittsburgh native) threw four interceptions that night and was sacked twice. Mike Tomczak was the starting quarterback for Pittsburgh with Kordell Stewart his backup. “Slash” as he was known threw several passes that night, ran with the ball a couple of times and caught three passes one of which was a 48 yarder as he was the leading receiver that night. “The Bus” Jerome Bettis rushed for 133 yards. Erric Pegram added another 84.

Defensively Levon Kirkland has two of those four interceptions, and Carnell Lake had another one of which was a pick six. Jerry Olsavsky had the fourth. It’s a shame the current Steelers could not have the players Bill Cowher had on defense back then: Levon Kirkland, Carnell Lake, Jerry Olsavsky, Chad Brown, Carlos Emmons, Rod Woodson, Darren Perry, Willie Williams, Joel Steed, Bill Johnson, Myron Bell, Deon Figures, and Chris Oldham. Just wow. They were awesome.

In those four playoff appearances between the Buffalo Bills and the Steelers, the first playoff game came in the 1974 season when O.J. Simpson was one of the best running backs in the NFL. The Steelers prevailed in Three Rivers Stadium winning 32-14 and shutting down “The Juice” O.J. Simpson. This video from a Steelers fan was made famous prior to that game:

The next playoff meeting was in Buffalo in 1993, and the Bills returned the favor, winning 24-3. Prior to that 2024 meeting, Pittsburgh trounced the Bills 40-21 in 1996. Over the 30 games played that 40-12 victory in the playoffs represents the most points ever scored by the Steelers against Buffalo. On four other occasions Pittsburgh has scored 30 points including the 32-14 “Juice” game.

Buffalo has shut out the Steelers just once in 1982 winning on their field 13-0. Two more games saw the Steelers score just a field goal in that 1993 playoff game and then again in 2022 losing 38-3. As for the Bills, they walloped the Steelers 52-34 on September 8, 1991, and went over 30 four times like Pittsburgh had. The Steelers shut out Buffalo 23-0 in 1993 and again 28-0 in 1979. The Bills were also held to just a three-pointer losing 20-3 and 26-3 in 2001 and 2007 respectively.

As for winning streaks in the series, the Steelers won the first three meetings. They would also win another four in a row from 1993 through the 1996 season. However, From November 9, 1986, to the playoff loss in 1993, Buffalo had won five straight. Pittsburgh began another long winning streak that started on September 30, 2001, and lasted until they lost on December 15, 2019, that had the Steelers winning six straight games. 
In the last five games the Steelers have lost four. Pittsburgh’s last victory came on September 12, 2001, that had them winning 23-16. Now comes a game that could have an impact on Pittsburgh’s fortunes for the rest of the season and possibly on the future of the coaching staff and even some players.

When the Bills have the ball

Pittsburgh’s defense will have their hands full with the Buffalo offense and Josh Allen. What they are up against is the NFL’s third most proficient offense averaging 381.8 yards of offense per game through 11 games. Allen is passing at a clip of about 235 yards per game and in running the ball another 147 yards per game. Buffalo’s offense is scoring 28.3 points per game. Josh Allen, while still one of the best quarterbacks in the league, has been sacked 28 times so that number is appealing to the Steelers’ defense.

For Allen he has thrown just nine interceptions and tossed 18 touchdowns. On the ground, James Cook is already over 1,000 yards with 1,084 and he has scored eight times. Josh Allen has also rushed for 371 yards. Both men are over five yards per carry. Allen spreads the ball around well in the air with 10 receivers all over 100 yards receiving for the season led by Khalil Shakir with 564 yards. Tight end Dalton Kincaid leads all receivers with four touchdowns.

Pittsburgh’s defense is now ranked 28th in the league and knowing they can be run on and passed on, Josh Allen is probably licking his chops at what lies ahead.

When the Steelers have the ball

This could be another game time decision as to whether Aaron Rodgers plays again or if it will be Mason Rudolph one more time. The Bills are first in pass defense only allowing 168.2 yards per game, so this will be a challenge for either Steelers quarterback but in my opinion, Aaron Rodgers would have more success attacking such a stout secondary given his experience and knowledge. Buffalo’s defense however is allowing 148.9 yards per game and how the Steelers running backs have been performing that should be Pittsburgh’s game plan going into this game.

Just to note, the Steelers have a handful of players listed as questionable for this game and they are: Alex Highsmith, Cameron Heyward, Joey Porter Jr., Ben Skowronek, DK Metcalf, and Aaron Rodgers. Broderick will be Broderick Jones and Derrick Harmon both with an injury.

Intangibles

The only advantage the Steelers might have here is that they are playing at home. Had this game been in Buffalo, their odds of winning would certainly have decreased. With that said, we will find out what the Steelers are made of when they have a very difficult opponent in front of them and that their backs are to the wall knowing their division hopes could be on the line and possibly any playoff chances. This is just one of several difficult games ahead including a trip to visit the Detroit Lions, two games against the Ravens, another game with the Browns, and a tricky Miami Dolphins team.

Prediction

This news was originally published on this post .

Share on

email

Previous

trending_flat

Sherrone Moore Takes Blame For Michigan’s Blowout Loss: ‘I’ll Put It On Me’

college-football

Next

trending_flat

TKV claims British heavyweight title with brutal points win over Clarke

News Story