On Sunday, the 9-4 Bills faced the 8-5 Steelers in a game that was moved from 1 p.m. to the 8:30 prime time slot due to how big of a game this was for both teams.  The Bills were the better team in the end, winning 17-10.

For the Bills, it was simple.  If they won, and they would clinch a playoff birth for only the second time (clinched in 2017 also) in the 21st century. The previous week, they lost to the dominant Ravens, but they kept it close and only lost 24-17.  There were questions if quarterback Josh Allen is good enough to start for the Bills.  However, the Bills would stick with him through the remainder of the season.

As far as the Steelers are, they were on fire.  They had won three games in a row, and with a win against the Bills, they would control their own destiny for the playoffs.  They wouldn’t have clinched a playoff spot yet, but they would have moved to the No. 5-seed and force the Bills to drop to the No. 6-seed.  Thanks to a Titans loss to the Texans (which made them 8-6), the Steelers had more breathing room even with a loss.

The game started out with the defense dominating the field.  There were three-and-outs of many, lots of sacks, and both quarterbacks felt panicked throughout the game.  However, finally in the second quarter, the Bills capitalized on a nine-play-drive, and Josh Allen took it in from the one-yard line to give the Bills a 7-0 lead.

The Steelers offense, lead by Duck Hodges, started to click with a couple of completions to wide receiver Dionte Johnson.  The Bills defense would not break, however, and the Steelers would cut the lead to 7-3.

The Steelers had another chance to score a touchdown, but on a wildcat formation; James Conner fumbled and the Bills got the score back.  7-3 would be the score at halftime.

To start the second half, the Steelers offense would immediately make an impact.  Hodges lead the offense with a couple of passes to wide receiver James Washington.  The drive would culminate with a Hodges’ short pass to Conner, who would break a tackle and take it in for a 11-yard-touchdown to give Pittsburgh a 10-7 advantage.

As the Bills looked like they were going to drive down the field, left end T.J. Watt came up from behind and forced a fumble on Devin Singletary and gave the Steelers the ball back.

The Steelers offense had a chance to truly put the game away with a touchdown, as they were driving to the Bills’ side of the field.  However, Hodges had a miscommunication with James Washington and threw a costly interception to cornerback T. White.  The Steelers were able to chase him down, and the Bills only got a field goal out of that, tying the game at 10.

As the Steelers went three-and-out, Buffalo got the ball back.  Allen would lead the Bills to the 10-yard-line of the Steelers and a huge third down would be coming up.  On a third-and-7, Allen threw it to the right side, and completed it to tight end Tyler Kroft for his first TD in three years, giving Buffalo the advantage.

Both teams would trade punts after, but the Steelers were starting to scare the Bills defense.  As they were getting closer and closer to the end zone, Hodges threw yet another INT in the end zone, and gave the Bills one first down away from victory.

However, the Bills didn’t get a first down, and a huge holding penalty would give the Steelers time to tie the game.

The Steelers were moving the ball well, including a big fourth-and-7 conversion to James Washington.  However, with no timeouts left, Hodges got sacked, wasting time.  The Steelers would hurry back to the line, and Hodges would throw up a prayer to Johnson in the end zone.  However, L. Wallace sealed the game with a game ending INT, clinching the Bills a playoff birth.

The Bills go to Foxborough to play the Patriots Saturday evening, while the Steelers go to New York on Sunday hoping to keep their season alive against former player Le’Veon Bell and the Jets.