By Lawrence Lang
With the preseason in the rearview mirror, we now look to week one for the Buffalo Bills. The Bills will be opening their season against the Pittsburgh Steelers, who they beat last season 26-15. Quarterback Josh Allen would go 24/43 for 238 passing yards with two touchdowns and one interception.
Heading into the season opener, the big question is how Josh Allen will perform this season after his six-year $258 million contract extension. Allen is definitely worth the money since he brought back life to the Bills. In the 2020 season, he brought them a ten-win season first time since 1999 when the Bills went 11-5 and also brought them their first division title first since 1995, a year before Allen was born, and even brought them to the AFC Championship for the first time since 1993.
Allen also brought it last season, finishing 2nd in the AP MVP, only to be beaten by Green Bay Packers Qb Aaron Rodger. Allen had a 69.1% completion percentage, 37-10 TD-INT ratio, a 107.2 Passer Rating, eight Rushing Touchdowns, and one Receiving touchdown. So all eyes are on Allen to see if he can have a repeat performance and be a candidate for MVP again with the likes of Rodgers, Patrick Mahomes, Tom Brady, to name a few.
The Bills are also now the top dog in the division since Tom Brady’s departure from the New England Patriots at the end of the 2019 season when he left for Tampa Bay and went on to win the Super Bowl this past year with them. The Patriots were the Thanos of that division, winning the division from 2003-2007 and again from 2009-2019 and collecting five Lombardi trophies (03,04,14,16,18). Then Like Ironman in Endgame, the Tennessee Titans snapped their fingers and killed the Patriots Brady era with a pick-six in the 2019 playoffs.
The Bills became the top dog because of their team and because the rest of the division is a little lackluster, and that every other team is in the midst of a rebuild. In the 2021 Season, The New York Jets and the Patriots are starting their season with rookie quarterbacks Zack Wison and Mac Jones. The Miami Dolphins have Tua Tagovailoa, who is in his second year of the league but also doesn’t mean that the division won’t be competitive because of all the young talent behind the center.
Looking at the Steelers, the Steelers are out for blood after their 2020 season saw them start 11-0 then end in disaster, losing their next four of five games losing to the Washington Football Team, Bills, Cincinnati Bengals then barely beat the Indianapolis Colts then losing again to the Cleveland Browns to end the season at 12-4. Okay, they won the division, but the kicker here was that they would have home-field advantage in the playoffs and see the Browns again. Their season would end right there as they would lose in Wild Card weekend 48-37 making this what could have been a run at a SuperBowl for the Steelers just to end in utter disaster for them. So the Steelers will be out for redemption this year with Ben Roethlisberger back for what could be his last season in the league. Big Ben will look to give everything that he can give in what is a tough AFC North.
Keys to the Game.
- How will the Bills stop the Steelers offensive game, especially Wide Receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster?
- Can Josh Allen start the season off with a win to start his campaign for his first MVP trophy?
- Can Big Ben show that he can still dish out at 39 years old and show that the Steelers can forget the 2020 season and that they are not a fluke of a team?
- How much attention will Cole Beasley get since his comments about the NFL vaccine policy?
- Will this play a factor in Sunday’s game with Bills Mafia back in Highmark Stadium at total capacity?
This game has a chance to be a high-scoring affair but at the same time can be a low-scoring affair if the defenses show up and perform. Look for Allen and Rothlisberger to throw the deep ball in this game, and if your fantasy football person, that will be great for you in your week one matchup. The Bills might just edge out the Steelers since this will be the first time they have a packed stadium of fans since 2019. Since 2020 saw a global pandemic with the coronavirus that limited fans threw out all of the sports. Bills Mafia, enjoy yourselves Sunday; you deserve this moment as it’s been a long time since all of you can come together and that your team has brought life back to your city.
The Sports Insanity Network 