Steelers Escape Bills in OT, 19-16

The Steelers played a game in Buffalo that didn’t go quite as expected but ended as we all hoped. The black and gold went into Buffalo and got the win, that’s what counts. It wasn’t pretty, it wasn’t smoothe, but it was a win and they’ll take it and we’ll take it.

The Steelers took a quick 7-0 lead in the first quarter on a Rashard Mendenhall 1 yard run.  They went up 13-0 at the half and it looked like they were headed for an easy win. Then, the second half came and things went south. The defense gave up big plays, the offense couldn’t move the ball effectively and turned the ball over. Next thing the Steelers knew it was 13-13.  The black and gold rebounded and took a 16-13 lead. Big Ben had a huge 18 yard run on 3rd and 18 to help extend that drive.  After the 16-13 lead, the D held when Troy Polamalu made a great interception on the Steelers one yard line as it appeared Buffalo may take the lead for keeps.  All they boys needed to do now was run out the clock by making a couple of first downs. They were able to get one, and it appeared they got  a second one, which would have ended the game but a holding call on Chris K. overturned the call.  The Steelers were unable to pick up the first and had to punt, leaving the Bills with a little over 40 seconds to play and no timeouts.  They were able to get the necessary yardage, kick a field goal and send it into OT. 

OT led off with the Steelers kicking off. Buffalo had a prime opportunity as they ran the ball back to the 5o, then had a wide open receiver in the end zone who luckily dropped the ball. There was no reason for him to drop it other than he had hands of stone, he was open by 7 yards.  A little back and forth and finally the Steelers got the drive they needed, went down and hit the game winner with about 3 minutes to go. 

It wasn’t a pretty game by the Steelers but some notable stats include Big Ben throwing for 246 yards, Rashard Mendenhall running for 151 yards on 36 carries and Hines Ward catching 7 balls for 107 yards.  We’d also like to give special mention to Isaac Redman who ran for a big 25 yards, mostly in short yardage situations and a special mention of Sean Suisham making all his kicks, especially in the clutch!

A few negatives, the penalties were a factor again, as they team had 10 totaling 107 yards. We said in our game day section they couldn’t afford to do that against a decent team and Buffalo, who’s not even decent almost proved that.  Mendenhall can’t fumble like that, the pass defense can’t continue to give up big plays as they did and they team must keep double digit leads in the second half.

Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good, and if you win, that’s all that matters.

8-3, up next: Baltimore