The Pittsburgh Steelers (3-6) improved to 3-6 on the season with a 23-10 win over the Buffalo Bills (3-7). The Steelers gashed the Bills on the ground, rushing for 136 yards and a week after giving up 55 points, the defense surrendered just 10 points.
On surface it looks like a step in the right direction for the defense and other areas of this football team but it really wasn’t. There’s little to take out of this game against just a bad Buffalo Bills team. Win next week at home against a dangerous Detroit (6-3) team and it’s a different story.
Why we shouldn’t over analyze today’s performance on defense? E.J. Manuel was so bad, couldn’t even throw a five yard out and because of how bad Manuel was, it’s truly hard to evaluate the Steelers performance on defense. In fact Manuel was so bad, it was impossible for the Steelers to lose that game.
Offensively the Steelers ran into some of the same problems they always have. Slow start, just 10 points in the first half and the Steelers offense scored just two touchdowns in five red zone trips.
Some personal performances of note vs the Bills included Cameron Heyward who is starting to breakout in his third season. Heyward had six tackles, including one for loss and a sack in the win. Lawrence Timmons dominated the middle of the field with 8 tackles.
The game ball offensively goes to Antonio Brown who hauled in 6 catches for 104 yards and had 178 all-purpose yards in the game. Brown nearing the 1,000 yard receiving mark, has 67 receptions for 805 yards on the season.