By Lawrence Lang
Sunday saw the first time since 2019 the return of Bills fans, aka Bills Mafia, return to Buffalo in Highmark Stadium. The Buffalo Bills would start hot when they received the ball on the opening kick-off, and Isah McKenize would return for a 75-yard kick-off return. After the return, the Bills would settle for a field goal, going up 3-0 over the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Bills would extend their lead in the second quarter when Quarterback Josh Allen threw a three-yard pass to Gabriel Davis to take a 10-0 lead. Allen would finish the day going 30 of 51 270 yards passing and one touchdown.
The turning point in this game came in the fourth quarter after a pair of field goals by the Steelers to make the score 10-6. The Steelers would take control of the game with a touchdown from Ben Roethlisberger to Diante Johnson would give the Steeler the lead 13-10 Then with the Bills punting to the Steelers. Steelers would block the punt, and Ulysses Grant III would return it for another touchdown giving the Steeler an even more commanding lead at 20-10. The game would end with the Steelers taking the win with a 23-16 win. Roethlisberger ended the day going 18 of 32, 188 yards passing, and one touchdown.
The game was very interesting for the Bills because things looked like they would pick up where they left off last season, especially what happened in the kick-off return. But it seems the Bills got caught up in the moment you can’t bring the ball back 75 yards just to get three points. It would be best to get six out of that, and that comes down to play calling. Granted, going up 10-0 going into halftime looked good for the Bills, but it seemed they let up a bit going into the second half, and instead of keeping the foot on the gas, they let up on the gas and let the Steelers take control. But this is the first week of the season, and you can’t make assumptions yet that this is not good for the Bills. If anything, this will get them to look at what they did right and what went wrong for them and get them ready for the week two matchup against their division rival, The Miami Dolphins, in Miami.
The Dolphins come in as the only team to get a win in week one in the AFC East, beating division opponent The New England Patriots 17-16. Stay tuned for further analysis later this week for the Bills Dolphins game on Sunday at 1 PM.
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