It was a very rough afternoon in Orchard Park, NY for the Pittsburgh Steelers. That was the sight of their worst loss under Mike Tomlin and largest defeat since 1989 when they lost to the Cleveland Browns by the final of 51-0. The Buffalo Bills had their way, taking down Pittsburgh by the final of 38-3.
Buffalo dominated in every aspect of the game and it started early. Just 51 seconds into the game Josh Allen connected with Gabe Davis for a 98yd touchdown pass. This was definitely foreshadowing on how the rest of the game would go. The Steelers scored their lone points of the day later in the first quarter on a 29yd field goal by Chris Boswell. Buffalo answered three minutes later with a 35yd field goal by Tyler Bass.
The Bills put the game away in the second quarter by scoring 21 points on three touchdowns. Allen and Davis would connect again, this time from 62yds out, for the first score of the quarter. Allen then found Stefon Diggs two minutes later on a 15yd touchdown pass. The final score of the quarter occurred at the 1:09 mark and this time it was Allen throwing a 24yd touchdown pass to Khalil Shakir.
The scoring may have slowed in the second half, but it didn’t matter much as Buffalo had this game put away. The Bills tacked on one last touchdown in the fourth quarter when James Cook rushed from 24yds out to find pay dirt.
Did anything good happen for Pittsburgh today? Not much. Their biggest signs of life were coming to the aid of Kenny Pickett on two separate occasions. The first was a late hit on slide by the quarterback. The second was after a questionable low hit on Pickett when he was on the run. Other than that, it didn’t look like the Steelers wanted to be there for the majority of the afternoon.
Pickett did throw for 327 yds, but when you lose by 35 points does it really matter? The run game was once again nonexistent, as Jaylen Warren led the way for 24yds on five carries. George Pickens had the best day of his career with six receptions for 83yds.
If the Steelers don’t win another game this year it may be for the best. Years of mediocrity have led them to this, and a terrible season may lead the way to actual change. Even with that possibility on the horizon, there are still 12 more games to go in the 2022 season. Up next will be a home game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. So just when you think things can’t possibly get any worse, Tom Brady will be coming to town to drudge up memories of heartbreaking losses to his former team the New England Patriots.
Overall Record: 1-4
