Bills knock Steelers out of playoffs, show Pittsburgh how much it needs to improve this offseason
At some point, when the Pittsburgh Steelers were mostly watching Josh Allen run through half-hearted tackle attempts on his way to a 52-yard touchdown, they had to know the level they're at isn't good enough.
It's great to make the playoffs. There are some franchises in which a playoff berth wouldn't be that bad of a season. The Steelers shouldn't be one of those franchises. They should expect more.
The Buffalo Bills showed the Steelers exactly how far they are from truly being in the championship conversation, beating Pittsburgh 31-17 in an AFC wild-card game on Monday. The Steelers cut Buffalo's lead, which was 21-0 in the second quarter, to seven points in the fourth quarter but there was never much doubt over the final outcome. And any doubt disappeared on a Khalil Shakir touchdown catch in which he showed remarkable balance to keep his feet and score. There were 14 teams in the NFL's postseason bracket and the Steelers were probably the 14th best. And yes, we hear your Dallas Cowboys jokes.
The Bills move on to face the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday night. The other AFC divisional round matchup was set, too. The Houston Texans will play at the Baltimore Ravens on Saturday afternoon.
Allen's run summed up the gap between the teams. Buffalo has dynamic, blue-chip playmakers, including a star do-it-all quarterback. The Steelers have some star players, too, but when it comes to comparing them to a team like the Bills, Buffalo cruises by them without much problem.
Steelers fall behind quickly
The Steelers had a nice rally late in the season to make the playoffs. They moved to their third starting quarterback, Mason Rudolph, and won three in a row to finish the regular season. With some help, they got in.
Plenty of Steelers fans, particularly the ones old enough to remember the franchise's Super Bowl glory, won't be impressed. They're the ones who reply to the fact that head coach Mike Tomlin has never had a losing season by reciting that this was the seventh straight season without a postseason win. The Steelers are 0-4 in the playoffs in that stretch.
It's a strange place to be. The Steelers aren't bad, but the Bills game showed they aren't close to being on that top tier.
It started poorly for Pittsburgh. The Bills forced a punt and then had an easy drive for a touchdown. George Pickens fumbled a catch, the Bills recovered and later cashed that in for another touchdown. Allen's run, after Rudolph had thrown an interception into the end zone, put Buffalo ahead, 21-0.
This Steelers loss wasn't like the Cowboys falling to the Packers on Sunday, in which Dallas had the talent to make a Super Bowl and went utterly flat when it mattered. The Steelers just aren't good enough to compete with teams like the Bills in the playoffs. That has been a problem for a few years.
Bills maintain their lead
Maybe the difference between the teams was that the Bills have Allen and the Steelers have nothing close. That's certainly a factor the Steelers have to consider as they head to the offseason. Kenny Pickett hasn't worked out yet, Mitchell Trubisky was poor when he had to play and while Rudolph got hot, you're going only so far with him. But it's not easy to upgrade at quarterback.
The Steelers might also have to wonder about Tomlin's future. There has been some speculation that he could step down after the season, and his reaction to a postgame question about his future only adds to the mystery. As much as Steelers fans complain about Tomlin, it would be very hard to replace him.
The Steelers rallied a bit after a horrible start. A blocked field goal led to the Steelers' first touchdown. They had a drive that ended with a field goal, cutting Buffalo's lead to 21-10. The Steelers scored on a pass from Rudolph to Calvin Austin with 10:32 left and that cut Buffalo's lead to 24-17. Tomlin's teams will always fight hard. But Shakir had a fine play, staying off the ground and then scoring on a 17-yard touchdown to practically put the game away.
On the other side, the Bills are clearly one of the few teams that can win a Super Bowl, though their tendency to play down to the competition is bothersome. They should have never been sweating Monday's game after taking a 21-0 lead, but didn't do much after the blocked field goal. The Bills also took a potentially huge injury when linebacker Terrel Bernard was carted off with an ankle injury, and that won't help on a short week before playing the Chiefs.
The Bills are moving on, and despite some lapses it's not outrageous to believe they can win a Super Bowl. Pittsburgh remembers having that type of team, even if the Steelers haven't been at that level in a while and might need a lot of work to get there again.
