The Bills are moving on.
No. 2-seeded Buffalo on Monday beat the No. 7 Pittsburgh Steelers 31-17 at Highmark Stadium in their AFC wild-card matchup.
After the game was postponed from early Saturday to Monday due to weather conditions, Josh Allen and Co. stormed to a 21-0 lead early and could've added more. But a blocked field goal by Pittsburgh flipped the momentum in the second half, with Mason Rudolph making impressive plays.
But the Steelers couldn't contain Allen for long, and the Bills went on to seal the game in the final minutes of the fourth quarter.
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With the result, the Bills will host the No. 3 Kansas City Chiefs in the divisional round. The Steelers will go home after a 10-7 regular season.
Let's analyze the game further with five winners and losers:
WINNER: Josh Allen, Bills
NFL
The Bills ride or die with Allen under center. This game was the perfect example of them riding Allen's unique dual-threat ability. The 27-year-old completed 21 of 30 passes for 203 yards, three touchdowns and no picks.
His best play, though, came on the ground. On a third-and-eight from the Buffalo 48, Allen ran to the house himself for a 52-yard scamper.
Allen finished the game with 74 rushing yards on eight carries and the aforementioned score. The biggest plus, though? He didn't turn the ball over. That's been a big negative of his throughout his career in key games, but he didn't make it a talking point in this one.
LOSER: Steelers' tackling woes
Did the cold weather make tackling more difficult? The Steelers struggled bringing down players all throughout, with Minkah Fitzpatrick and Patrick Peterson among those spotlighted by the mistakes.
Khalil Shakir's remarkable move to evade Fitzpatrick and shift into the end zone was the perfect example.
Fitzpatrick led the team with nine tackles (five solo), including a tackle for loss, but box-score stats don't always tell the full picture.
WINNER: Kaiir Elam, Bills
The Kaiir Elam experience in Buffalo has been a rollercoaster. This time, it was the thrilling part of the ride as the 2022 first-round pick delivered a crucial interception off Rudolph in the end zone.
Given how Pittsburgh rallied in the second half and the pick coming with Buffalo up 14-0, things could've been completely different had Elam not made the play. Big plays determine outcomes -- this was one of them.
LOSER: One-and-done exits
Even though Mike Tomlin has never had a losing season with Pittsburgh (17 seasons), it doesn't matter too much when the Steelers are eliminated in their first playoff game. The loss to Buffalo means they will have four straight one-and-done exits in the playoffs dating back to 2017. Here are those results:
- 2017: 45-42 divisional home loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars
- 2020: 48-37 wild-card home loss to the Cleveland Browns
- 2021: 42-21 wild-card road loss to the Kansas City Chiefs
- 2023: 31-17 wild-card road loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers
To call for a replacement for Tomlin might be a stretch given how difficult it is to find quality head coaches in the league, especially one of Tomlin's longevity. But the team really needs to figure out how to get past the first playoff game.
WINNER: Bills-Chiefs matchups
For lovers of Bills-Chiefs playoff matchups, congratulations. The Chiefs will be at the Bills in the divisional round, which will mark Patrick Mahomes' first non-Super Bowl road playoff game.
The Chiefs hosted Buffalo in the AFC Championship Game in 2021 and won 38-24, then won at home again 42-36 in the divisional round the following season. But now it's Allen's turn to host Kansas City, so Highmark Stadium will definitely be rocking.
The two teams already met once in the regular season this year, with Buffalo winning 20-17 at Kansas City. The divisional contest should also be a close thriller.
