3 keys for the Steelers to bounce back and beat the Bills

After suffering a stunning loss to the Washington Football Team, the Steelers need to take down the Bills to keep their No. 1 seed in the AFC hopes alive. 

Who would have thought it’d be the Washington Football Team to ruin the perfect season for the Pittsburgh Steelers? On Monday night, Washington indeed took down Pittsburgh 23-17, leaving so many out there speechless.

Now 11-1 on the year, Pittsburgh will need to flush this loss and quickly start preparing for a huge showdown with the 9-3 Buffalo Bills this weekend. In order for the Steelers to come out on top, there’s three things in particular they need to get done.

The Pittsburgh Steelers can’t afford to lose to Buffalo in Week 14

At the top of the list, the Steelers need to get the ground game going. In the loss to Washington, Anthony McFarland Jr. led the way with 15 yards on four carries. Benny Snell Jr. rushed the ball eight times for five yards.

In total, the team finished with those 20 rushing yards. That’s simply not going to get the job done. Mike Tomlin is hopeful James Conner will be able to return against Buffalo. He’s missed the last two weeks after testing positive for COVID-19.

Secondly, the Pittsburgh defense must apply pressure early and often on Josh Allen. If Allen has all the time in the world to make plays and find open receivers, it will be trouble for Pittsburgh. With that being said, Allen isn’t the most accurate signal-caller out there. Get in his face and he could be off target more than usual. This will be crucial for Pittsburgh on Sunday.

Last but not least, Pittsburgh has to finish the job at the goal line. Against Washington, the Steelers ran five plays from the one-yard line in the second quarter and couldn’t score. On 4th down of that drive, Snell got stopped short after a brilliant play by Chase Young.

While things will be different if Conner is able to suit up, Pittsburgh can’t afford to mess things up in the red zone like that again, especially against a talented team like Buffalo.