Ben Roethlisberger threw for 202 yards and a touchdown, and Pittsburgh out rushed Buffalo 136 yards to 95 to win 23-10, raising their record to 3-6.
The Steelers defense that had seemed to lose its luster from past seasons showed up today, as they limited the Bills offense to 227 yards, 80 of which came on a scoring drive in the final minute when the game had already been decided. After allowing over 600 yards of offense and 55 points to the New England Patriots last week, the Pittsburgh defensive unit confused and punished E.J. Manuel, who played in his game since injuring his right knee Oct. 3 against the Cleveland Browns.
Manuel completed 22 of 39 for 155 yards, a 2 yard touchdown to rookie tight Chris Gragg with 5 seconds left, and a fourth quarter interception to Ryan Clark. The Bills had only four plays that gained more than 10 yards in the entire game, two of them on the game’s final possession.
“Obviously this isn’t the way I wanted to come back,” said Manuel. “It’s a tough one right now.”
Coach Doug Marrone said that all the blame should not go to Manuel, and also said that the offense missed “opportunities” and “holes” in the run game, with C.J. Spiller and Fred Jackson rushing for a combined 78 yards on 20 carries.
“We can’t put it all on him (Manuel),” said Marrone. “Someone has to make plays on offense. It’s very difficult to win with the way we’re playing right now.”
However, the game started off well for Buffalo. With the Steelers at the 36 of the Bills, Rothelisberger looked deep down the field to rookie Markus Wheaton, but safety Jairus Byrd intercepted it, and returned it 57 to the Pittsburgh 29 yard line.
The Bills then drove it to the one-yard line. However, the red zone offense that was ranked second-to-last in the NFL again couldn’t close the deal, as Manuel overthrew a fade route pass for Steve Johnson.
“When you’re getting 3 points, and the other team is getting 3 or 7, it catches up with you quick,” said Manuel.
The score remained 3-0 until 8:47 left in the second quarter, when the Steelers offense capped off a 13 play, 58 yard drive with a 36 yard FG by Shawn Suisham to tie the game. Pittsburgh’s offense then extended the lead with an 86 yard drive that ended with a 5 yard touchdown pass from Roethlisberger to Jerricho Cotchery with just under two minutes to go in the half to give the Steelers a 10-3 lead at halftime.
On its second possession in the third quarter, a 40 yard pass from Roethlisberger to Antonio Brown helped set up a 4 yard touchdown run by rookie Le’Veon Bell with just over 3 minutes left in the quarter to give Pittsburgh a 17-3 lead. Brown caught 6 passes for 104 yards, while Bell had 22 carries for 57 yards and also caught 3 passes for 39 yards.
From there, the Steelers defense dominated, intercepting Manuel on one possession and sacking him back-to-back times on another. Pittsburgh’s offense took advantage, getting field goals after both defensive stops to put their lead at 23-3.
Manuel’s touchdown pass may look like window dressing on the box score, but he sees it as something more.
“It was about having some pride for yourself,” said Manuel. “We still wanted to finish the game strong.”
Manuel also said that he wouldn’t let today’s performance take him down, sentiments that Marrone echoed regarding the entire team that has now lost its last three games and remains last in the AFC East at 3-7.
“We’re a young team that needs to continue to get better,” said Marrone. “In order to be the team we want to be .. we have to come back and get hungry, get after those challenges”
With no Robert Woods in this game, the Bills continued to suffer injuries at the skill positions, with receivers Stevie Johnson and Chris Hogan leaving the game in the fourth quarter with a groin injury and concussion-like symptoms, respectively. Versatile safety Da’Norris Searcy also left the game with a hamstring injury.
Before today’s game, a report by NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport said that Roethlisberger was “incredibly frustrated” with where the Steelers franchise was going and might ask for a trade in the offseason. Roethlisberger’s agent, Ryan Tollner called the speculation “completely wrong,” and said that the Steelers quarterback “100% committed to winning a championship with the Steelers,” according to the Associated Press (via USA Today Sports).
With the AFC North division-leading Cincinnati Bengals losing to the Baltimore Ravens, the Steelers remain only two and a half games back of the 6-4 Bengals. Pittsburgh will play Sunday at home again against the NFC-North leading Detroit Lions, and will then have two road games against divisional rivals Cleveland and Baltimore.
The Bills postseason hopes are on thin ice, if alive at all, and they will return home after two games on the road to play division rival New York Jets before going on a bye week.
