Steelers @ Bills: Official Game Thread

In week 13, the Steelers lost to the FTs at Heinz Field. Now the Steelers travel to Bills Stadium to play the Bills.

For the Steelers to win:
The Steelers need to play a complete game (Offense, Defense, Special Teams for 60 min.).
The Steelers need to realize that a loss to the Bills puts the Steelers 1 game ahead of Buffalo and the Bills would hold the tie-breaker.
The Steelers defense needs to pressure Josh Allen.
The Steelers defense needs to (even down top 3 starting ILBs) contain Bills rushing.
The Steelers need to run the ball effectively. Pouncey coming off of COVID-19 list helps.
Ben Roethlisberger needs to play well - getting the ball out quickly.
The Steelers need to score TDs when in the red zone (and when not).
Chris Boswell needs to play well - like he did in 2019.
The Steelers need to protect the ball. They need to win the turnover battle.
Alejandro Villanueva, Matt Feiler, Maurkice Pouncey, David DeCastro, and Chukwuma Okorafor need to play well as a unit.

From Steelers Depot:
Steelers Versus Bills Week 14 Projected Inactive List

QB Joshua Dobbs – Dobbs remains the third-string backup quarterback to starter Ben Roethlisberger and Mason Rudolph going into the team’s Week 14 game and that’s not a bit surprising. Barring any injuries, Dobbs is likely to remain the Steelers third quarterback the remainder of the season so that means he will likely remain a mainstay on the team’s game-day inactive list in 2020. Dobbs has already been inactive twelve times this season and his thirteenth time should happen on Sunday night against the Bills in Buffalo.

CB Joe Haden – Haden suffered a concussion against the Washington Football Team in Week 13 and that Monday night injury resulted in the team’s starting cornerback being placed in concussion protocol. Haden proceeded to not practice all week and on Friday he was listed as out on the team’s injury report. Haden will not play Sunday night and this will mark the first game this season he’s missed. Cornerback Cameron Sutton will start in Haden’s place against the Bills in Buffalo.

T Derwin Gray – The Steelers will get center Maurkice Pouncey back in Week 14 following him missing the team’s last two games while on the Reserve/COVID-19 list. The Steelers will likely only dress eight offensive linemen again on Monday night against the bills and indeed the case, Gray, who was also inactive in Week 13, will likely be the odd man out again against the Bills in Buffalo

TE Kevin Rader – The Steelers have yet to dress three tight ends for a game this season and that practice doesn’t figure to change Sunday night in Buffalo. There are just not enough hats to go around for Rader to get one Sunday night against the Bills and so with fellow tight ends Vance McDonald and Eric Ebron both healthy, he should show up on the inactive list once again.

DT Carlos Davis – In Week 13, defensive end Isaiah Buggs dressed over the rookie Davis and because of that, it’s hard to imagine that not happening again on Sunday night against the Bills in Buffalo. It’s likely to be one of the two for sure so Davis would be the logical choice based on what transpired on Monday night with the inactive list.

S Antoine Brooks Jr. – Assuming the roster exemption sticks on new outside linebacker Cassius Marsh through the weekend, the Steelers should only need to list six inactive players Sunday night. Brooks is likely to be one of those six based on the current roster construction. The Steelers need inside linebackers Sunday night so that should result in the two Saturday roster additions, Ulysees Gilbert III and Tegray Scales both being active. Deductive reasoning results in Brooks likely being an inactive health scratch Sunday night against Buffalo.

 

Keys to the game:

Bob Labriola: The stars have to be stars; (or as Mike Tomlin has said) the "A" players have to play "A".
Merril Hoge: O-Line and TEs establish the line of scrimmage.
Arthur Moats: Minkah Fitzpatrick needs to take advantage of Josh Allen when he makes a mistake.

 

This game will show us what kind of coaching staff this team has and how much heart the players have. Tomlin is going to get heavily blamed if they lose but I think this game is on the OC & DC. Fichtner has all his weapons on offense, the only starter out is Banner. Will he continue to neglect the running game and stick with the “dink & stink” candy @$$ style of offense. Butler has his hands full having a JV LB group and Haden out. What will he scheme up to control Buffalo’s offense?

Buffalo would be on a 6 game winning streak if it wasn’t for the Murray Hail Mary.

Buffalo has less rushing attempts than the Steelers this season.

Mark Madden has labeled this game as the credibility bowl - winner goes on to be talked about by the media talking heads as a team that “could” beat KC in the playoffs, the loser falls back to the pack

Over the last 2 seasons the Steelers are 2-3 in December which caused them to miss the playoffs. So far they’re 1-1 this season. Will this be another December to remember?

If our beloveds lose, will Colin Cowherd post another video on Twitter mocking Steeler nation while smoking a cigar and enjoying a splash of bourbon//whiskey?

 

Our biggest problem in this game is that our top ILB this week was playing for the Jets up until around the trade deadline. This guy has been with us five weeks and now he will get his first start and wear the green dot. Our offense is at full strength with a HOF QB at the helm. We have to take the ball and get TDs.

 

a change up in the renegade this week

 

I like the terrible towel waving by Styx at the beginning of the song and that they say SB champions for the Steelers.

 

My asshole also spits shit but it doesn't look like a fat douchebag with acne and a greasy goatee. Madden is a hack that only shows up to thump his chest when the team struggles.

Nobody is going to look at it realistically. Everyone is going to treat this like some kind of measuring stick when the team isn't as healthy on defense as it was to start the year. The defense is what made this team undefeated so no one should be surprised that we are going to struggle some without key starters and we are going to see a lot of playing time from guys that don't have the reps to be nearly as competent.

The sky is falling group is already starting to form. Some of our fans our morons.

 

Williamson is a good ILB, he just hasn’t really played much for us. He lead us with nine tackles last week even though he only played about a half of football. The bigger problem is who is going to play next to him? Gilbert was just activated from the IR and hasn’t played a meaningful defensive snap for the Steelers ever in his two seasons. He looked good in the 2019 preseason, but that doesn’t mean squat right now.

 

lol

 

Gidion I heard it could be Allen playing along side Williamson but who really knows, I’m just hoping that they can scheme something up to at least control that Buffalo offense. That’s a tough offense to completely shut down even if the D is at full strength.

 

I'm done with any Twitter, YouTube, or anything else. So much negative garbage about a stinking game. Tired of the hate and the Cowherds of this world whose whole shtick is to be rude and controversial for views. No one knows who a Super Bowl team is because we aren't there yet. I'll watch for myself, come here for talk and that's it.

Too much other stuff in the world to focus on rather than immerse my time in Mike Madden and his ilk.

See ya later

 

Looks like I'll be missing this game just as I missed the Steelers/Ravens game. NBC and DirectV are still mired in their pissing contest.

Sometimes I miss rabbit ears.

 

I haven’t listened to anybody this week because we had a couple of bad games in a row and won most of them. Good teams win ugly games.

 

Watch it on the nfl app

 

Don't have the NFL app. Does it work on a flip phone?

 

You have to have a smart phone. Really, you don’t have a smart phone? The NFL plays all games on your local channels on the app too.

 

I watch games while I’m driving.

 

I have quite a few things I would rather do with my money than spend 900 fucking dollars on a fucking phone!

 

Why doesn't that surprise me?

 

I bought a nice iPhone for 99 bucks. The only thing I miss from my 900 buck iPhone is the bigger screen.