COIN TOSS: Bills call heads. It's tails. Steelers win the toss and defer. Buffalo gets the football first.
8:27 p.m. – What Went Right: The Bills took the opening possession, and starting at their own 10-yard line they came out throwing and made a couple of first downs and got the ball out to their 32-yard line. Then T.J. Watt batted a pass at the line of scrimmage, Josh Allen threw incomplete, and following an encroachment penalty on Watt, Mark Barron stuffed an attempted swing pass to RB Devin Singletary for a 1-yard gain. After the punt, the Steelers started at their 17-yard line with 12:13 left in the first quarter.
8:37 p.m. – What Went Wrong: On their opening possession, the Steelers found themselves in too many third-and-long situations. After converting one with an 11-yard pass to Diontae Johnson, Devlin Hodges' attempt down the right sideline to James Washington was intercepted by Tre'Davious White, and the Bills took over at their 25-yard line.
8:50 p.m. – What Went Wrong: The Steelers offense did nothing through three possessions, and the third of those was especially non-productive. Starting at their 18-yard line, the Steelers gained 2 yards on a run by Benny Snell, lost 2 yards on a pass to Johnny Holton, and then gained nothing on a completed pass to Nick Vannett. Jordan Berry followed with a 22-yard punt, and the Bills started at the Pittsburgh 40-yard line.
9 p.m. – What Went Wrong: The Bills took advantage of that field position and took a 7-0 lead two plays into the second quarter on a 1-yard run by Josh Allen. The nine-play drive was highlighted by a conversion on fourth-and-6 when Allen completed a 10-yard pass to John Brown, and then on first-and-10 from the 15-yard line, Devin Singletary had a nice run to the 1-yard line, and Allen scored on the next play.
9:08 p.m. – What Went Right: The Steelers closed to 7-3 when Chris Boswell's 49-yard field goal capped a six-play, 41-yard drive, but when Devlin Hodges hit James Washington for a 34-yard gain on the first play of the possession, it seemed as though there was the potential for so much more. After the field goal, there was 11:26 left in the first half.
9:17 p.m. – What Went Right: The Steelers defense allowed one first down on Buffalo's possession following Chris Boswell's field goal, but then Cam Heyward batted down a third down pass at the line of scrimmage, and following the punt the Steelers started at their 26-yard line with 7:57 left in the first half.
9:30 p.m. – What Went Right: The Steelers came out with their first takeaway when a second-and-10 pass intended for Cole Beasley bounced off his hands and was intercepted by Steven Nelson. His 33-yard return gave the Steelers the ball at the Buffalo 20-yard line with a little more than two minutes remaining in the first half.
9:35 p.m. – What Went Wrong: Too cute. On the first play after the two minute warning, with the Steelers having a first down at the Bills 10-yard line, the Steelers went to the Wildcat. The snap went to James Conner, who handed off to Diontae Johnson, who fumbled the ball at the 12-yard line, and it was recovered by safety Jordan Poyer at the 9-yard line.
9:58 – What Went Right: The Steelers scored their first touchdown on the opening possession of the second half, a seven-play 69-yard drive capped by an 11-yard catch-and-run by James Conner. In addition to the touchdown, Conner also had a 17-yard run that gave the Steelers a first down at the 10-yard line. On his way into the end zone after catching the short pass out of the backfield, Conner broke a tackle by Levi Wallace. With 11:18 left in the third quarter, the Steelers had a 10-7 lead.
10:08 p.m. – What Went Right: The Bills were marching down the field on the possession following the Steelers touchdown, with a big play being a 21-yard completion to John Brown on a third-and-10. But on the next play, Devin Singletary broke through the line only to have T.J. Watt strip the ball loose, and Mike Hilton recovered at the Steelers 31-yard line.
10:13 p.m. – What Went Wrong: The Steelers offense just cannot seem to find a way to take advantage of big plays by the defense. The possession following the fumble recovery started with a 5-yard completion to Jaylen Samuels, then a sack-strip by Shaq Lawson that was recovered by Al Villanueva, and then a third-down sack by Trent Murphy for a loss of 7 more yards. After a 39-yard punt, the Bills took over at their 36-yard line.
10:26 p.m. – What Went Wrong: Another turnover, which came on a second interception by Devlin Hodges, put the Bills in the red zone as the third quarter ended. Hodges' pass was intended for Diontae Johnson at the right sideline, but the ball was slightly behind him and hung in the air, and it was intercepted by Tre'Davious White. He returned the ball 49 yards, with Matt Feiler saving the touchdown by pushing him out of bounds at the Steelers. 18-yard line.
10:36 p.m. – What Went Right: The defense came up big after Buffalo's interception and made the Bills settle for a red zone field goal that tied the game, 10-10, with 12:23 remaining in the fourth quarter. After getting one first down that set up a first-and-goal at the 8-yard line, Frank Gore lost 7 yards on two carries, with the tackles made by Joe Haden and then Devin Bush, and then on third down, T.J. Watt dumped Devin Singletary for a 3-yard loss. The 36-yard field goal by Stephen Hauschka tied the game.
10:50 p.m. – What Went Wrong: The Bills took a 17-10 lead with 7:55 remaining in the fourth quarter on a 14-yard touchdown pass to tight end Tyler Kroft on a third-and-9 from the 14-yard line. The big play on the seven-play, 70-yard drive came on the first snap when Josh Allen connected with John Brown for a 40-yard gain to the Steelers 30-yard line.
11:23 p.m. – What Went Wrong: In the final two minutes, the Steelers offense had two separate chances to tie the game, but both of those possessions ended with interceptions in the end zone. The first of those came at the two minute warning, and it was a fourth-and-7 at the Buffalo 23-yard line. Devlin Hodges put up a rainbow down the middle of the field intended for Deon Cain, but the ball was intercepted by Jordan Poyer for a touchback. The Steelers defense authored a quick three-and-out, and then following the punt, the offense got another chance at their 43-yard line with 91 seconds left. The critical play here was a sack by Jordan Phillips on first-and-10 from the Bills 26-yard line. That play not only lost 8 yards, but it also cost the Steelers a lot of time, because on the next play Hodges again threw into the end zone, this one intended for James Washington, and it was intercepted by Levi Wallace.
FINAL SCORE: Bills 17, Steelers 10
