2024-01-15 22:32:00
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Steelers de Pittsburgh (7) @ Bills de Buffalo (2)
The Buffalo Bills got off to a flying start in their playoff game against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday afternoon, giving themselves a two-touchdown lead in the first quarter.
It’s now 21-0, as a series of Steelers errors helped put them out of the game.
Star quarterback Josh Allen spotted tight end Dawson Knox in the end zone, after completing passes to Dalton Kincaid and Stefon Diggs to bring the Bills offense into Pittsburgh’s zone.
The Bills defense then stood out by forcing a fumble from receiver George Pickens at the visitors’ 29 line.
Mike Tomlin’s troop immediately paid dearly for Pickens’ blunder: on the Bills’ very first offensive play following the turnover, Allen fired a precise pass towards Kincaid for the second major.
A long aerial play from Mason Rudolph to Pat Freiermuth then gave some life to the Steelers, who made their first appearance in Bills territory in the opening moments of the second quarter.
Except that again, Pittsburgh shot itself in the foot, and this time inside the 5 line.
On second down and goals from the Bills’ 4, Rudolph tried to reach Diontae Johnson, but it was rather “in the numbers” of defensive back Kaiir Elam that the ball ended its trajectory.
After causing damage through the air, Allen stood out by running wild on Buffalo’s next offensive drive.
No. 17 raced 52 yards to score the major that made the score 21-0, with seven minutes remaining before the break.
Pre-match notes:
The Steelers’ feat of crossing the finish line with a playoff berth comes with a heavy consequence: the loss of TJ Watt.
His brother JJ, on American TV, joked that he could put on his brother’s jersey to help the Steelers. But faced with the impossibility of exchanging one Watt for another, Pittsburgh will have the difficult task of visiting Buffalo to slow down a team that has been operating at full capacity for several weeks.
With five consecutive victories to end the season and secure second place in the association, the Bills enter the playoffs through the front door. During this stretch, Allen and his offense shut out the Dolphins, Cowbows and Chiefs.
This is the best time to get your feet firmly in the stirrups before turning your attention to the Super Bowl.
This match was initially supposed to be played on Sunday, but New York State Governor Kathy Hochul announced at a press conference on Saturday that the match was postponed to Monday due to extreme weather conditions in the region.
“Travel will be extremely dangerous in Western New York this weekend. We are implementing a complete travel suspension in Erie County starting at 9 p.m.,” Hochul explained on the social network X.
“We don’t want 60,000 to 70,000 people moving around in conditions that are going to be terrible,” said Mark Poloncarz of the Erie County Board of Directors.
Between 30 and 90 cm of snow were expected Sunday in Buffalo, in addition to gusty winds and temperatures around -15 degrees Celsius.
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