The Pittsburgh Steelers faced the Buffalo Bills on Jan. 15, 2024, in the Wild Card round of the 2023 NFL season. Here are takeaways and highlights from the game.
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Final Score: Bills 31, Steelers 17
Despite the remnant snow throughout much of the morning, stadium workers and volunteers assisted in getting the field ready for the teams to finally get underway. And once they did, Buffalo raced out to a 21-0 lead en route to a 31-17 victory.
On a cold afternoon, the Steelers and Bills got underway, one day and three hours after the game was originally supposed to start. Halfway through the opening frame, Allen connected with Dawson Knox to get the Bills on the board first. After one of the multiple Steeler fumbles throughout the opening half, Allen connected with rookie standout Dalton Kincaid to bring the Bills to the second quarter up 14.
The teams went scoreless through the midway point of the second quarter when Josh Allen (again) managed to dazzle with his legs and force his way through defenders. On third down, unable to see much past the pressure, Allen slipped through and past several Steelers defenders for a 52-yard touchdown to put Buffalo up 21. A late blocked field goal got the Steelers back in the game, as Pittsburgh would drive down for a Mason Rudolph touchdown to Diontae Johnson.
Coming out of the break with the game 21-7, the Steelers and Bills would only trade field goals in the third to make the game 24-10 ahead of the final frame. To commence the fourth, Calvin Austin caught Rudolph’s second touchdown pass of the game and made it a one-score game at 24-17. However, Khalil Shakir entered some theatrics of his own to help seal the game for Buffalo by adding a touchdown later in the fourth. Pittsburgh tried to drive down one last time, but they ran out of time and Buffalo walked away winners on Wild Card weekend.
Highlights
JOSH ******* ALLEN!!!!
📺: @NFLonCBS pic.twitter.com/PdKuDqemFI
— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) January 15, 2024
HOW IS THIS REAL?!?!
📺: @NFLonCBS pic.twitter.com/C3iUd0VyW0
— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) January 16, 2024
.@Rudolph2Mason ➡️ @CalvinAustinIII for the TD 🎯
📲: Stream on NFL+ https://t.co/T87FSnfvVk pic.twitter.com/vnEMSDBSDU
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) January 16, 2024
Looking Forward
Pittsburgh heads home to begin their offseason while Buffalo rolls on to the divisional round.
With that being said, it will be an interesting postseason for the Steelers in regard to head coach Mike Tomlin’s status. When asked about his contract status in a postgame presser, Tomlin exited the room without giving any answer on the situation. And considering we have just completed a week in which two equally long-tenured coaches stepped away, some wonder if the Steelers may want to move on from Tomlin after 17 seasons together.
“Mike, you have a year left on your contract…”
Mike Tomlin: 💨 ✌🏽 pic.twitter.com/ouAncRXTzy
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 16, 2024
The matchup Buffalo has long awaited will finally come to fruition. Kansas City and Patrick Mahomes will come to Highmark Stadium on Sunday at 6:30 p.m. for the first time since Week 6 of the 2020 season. It’s also the Chiefs’ first postseason game in Buffalo since 1993. That playoff contest sent the Bills to their fourth consecutive Super Bowl in the early stages of the decade.
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