2016 Recall: Bell breaks the Bills
The Steelers were on a three-game winning streak and hard seemingly turned their 2016 around. Yet there were still questions on everyone’s minds: could this team win on the road?
Sure, they picked up some road wins during the streak. Two of them in fact. But those were dismissed as “cheap” victories against subpar talent, including a winless Cleveland Browns squad and an Indianapolis Colts team playing on a short week with a backup quarterback.
The question on everyone’s mind this week: how would the Steelers do against the number one rushing offense AND defense?
On the road.
Well, the question would be firmly answered as the Steelers dominated both sides of the football against the Bills despite Ben Roethlisberger posting his worst quarterback rating since 2008. While Big Ben could only muster 17 completions while throwing three picks and no touchdowns, Le’Veon Bell carried the ball to a career day.
In fact, it was a historic day only matched by one other player ever (Jim Brown) as Bell amassed 298 all-purpose yards while breaking Willie Parker‘s previous franchise single-game rushing record. Bell would pile on three touchdowns as the Steelers coasted to a win that was much closer than the score indicated, 27-20.
Bell was the highest rated Steelers offensive player by Pro Football Focus, but four of the top five were his linemen, including fill-in B.J. Finney (who subbed for an injured Ramon Foster). The boys up front provided a push for the run while keeping Ben upright the entire game, surrendering not even a single sack to the Bills D.
But Bell wasn’t the only big news coming out of snowy Buffalo. After breaking the top rushing defense, Pittsburgh’s own defensive continued to provide pressure against the opposition. They held the Bills premiere running game to 67 rushing yards while sacking Tyrod Taylor five times. Bud Dupree led the charge with 2.5 sacks, while first-year players in the secondary stacked up stats as well. Artie Burns made his third interception of the season (breaking a rookie record) while Sean Davis added 1.5 sacks and seven tackles of his own.
The win would add another team milestone, this time for Mike Tomlin. The win gave the Steelers head coach his 100th victory; within 10 seasons. He joins a select group of coaches to have accomplished the feat; not only 100 wins but within a decade.
More importantly, the triumph propelled the Steelers back into the playoff hunt with an 8-5 record and only a slate of three games (all against AFC North opponents) remaining in the season. Their momentum would carry them into Cincinnati the following week, which we’ll cover in the same amount of time.
Play of the Game
Bud Dupree returned in a big way against Buffalo, notching 2.5 sacks: his first since returning from Injured Reserve which cost him the half of his 2016 season.
The outside linebacker’s first sack of the season came on this play, where Bills QB Tyrod Taylor attempted to avoid Pittsburgh’s pass rush but couldn’t slip out of Bud’s grasp.
