ORCHARD PARK — As the snow totals grew over the weekend, so too did the idea that the Pittsburgh Steelers were built to thrive in the elements more than the Buffalo Bills.
That idea, though, was built more on myth than any facts to support such a claim. Some of it is an assumption that the Bills are a high-scoring offense centering on the quarterback, so they can’t run the ball, while the Steelers averaged 155.7 yards rushing — on just 4.1 yards per carry — in their three wins to end the regular season and some of it is simply the Steelers logo because of course, they must be a good running team.
Pittsburgh right tackle Broderick Jones even told reporters, “I could see us just dominating up front.” The Steelers had enough reason to believe that, considering they dominated the Bills during the preseason. But that was the preseason, not the playoffs.
When the game mattered most, it was the Bills who dominated up front. Buffalo ran for 179 yards on 34 attempts — their sixth game of more than 150 yards on the ground this season — while Pittsburgh managed 106 on 23 attempts. And with the Bills clinging to a seven-point lead in the fourth quarter, they went to the run and chewed the clock, eating 6 minutes, 58 seconds to seal a 34-17 win in the AFC wild-card round.
“Some guys were saying disrespectful things, talking about dominating and I don’t take lightly to that,” Bills defensive tackle Ed Oliver said. “I know (Jones) probably didn’t mean nothing by it, but when you go out to the media and say you think you can dominate, dominate is a very powerful word. You don’t use that word lightly.”
In the first half, the Bills appeared like they would only need to run the ball to eat up the clock in an easy win. But a defense that was missing three starters coming into the game lost four more during the game.
Cornerback Christian Benford went down with a knee injury and linebacker Baylon Spector left with a back injury in the first half, while standout linebacker Terrel Bernard was carted off with an ankle injury and All-Pro slot cornerback Taron Johnson left with a concussion in the second half.
When the game finished, the Bills were playing with their third and fourth cornerbacks and their fifth and sixth linebackers.
Veteran A.J. Klein has been signed and released four times this season and came back to the practice squad Thursday to provide depth in case Tyrel Dodson (shoulder) couldn’t play. Dodson didn’t play and Klein went from taking his family in their newly-purchased RV to Key West this weekend to calling the signals on defense for the Bills.
Klein led the Bills with 11 tackles, while rookie Dorian Williams, who fell behind Dodson and Spector — and eventually Klein — made seven tackles in the second half.
“I didn’t think necessarily that I’d be back, just how things were,” said Klein, who was released Dec. 9 when Dawson Knox returned from injured reserve. “Whatever you need me to do. If you want me, I’ll come back. If not, I understand. … Just kind of have to roll with the punches at this point in my career.”
The defense didn’t have a dominating performance, but it patched together just enough plays to win. A blocked field goal near the end of the first half set up Pittsburgh’s first touchdown — while injuring Bills punter Sam Martin’s hamstring — to make the score 21-7 and the momentum flipped.
After punting on four of their first six possessions, the Steelers never punted again, scoring on three consecutive possessions. Leading 24-17, the Bills had enough and brought in guard David Edwards to help grind down Pittsburgh.
The drive ended with a miraculous 17-yard catch-and-run by Khalil Shakir, but the running game picked up 27 yards on the drive, with 23 coming on passes and 20 on penalties. James Cook ran for 79 yards on 18 attempts, while Allen had 74 yards on eight carries, including a 52-yard touchdown, which was the longest touchdown run in franchise playoff history.
The Bills made it a point to run the ball all game, using Edwards as a sixth offensive lineman on a season-high 23 plays. It gave Buffalo a 12-minute advantage in time of possession.
“I noticed when we played them back in the preseason — I watched the film a lot — and they were more physical up front,” Bills rookie right guard O’Cyrus Torrence said. “And more speaking of myself than anybody else. I just noticed that if I went into this game and just played more physical than I did last week, I would do way better and that was the outcome today.”
Elam gets his pay-off
Kaiir Elam was easily the last player still wearing his jersey and shoulder pads after the game. It was almost like he was afraid that if he took them off, he wouldn’t put them on again.
Uneven would be a kind way to describe the cornerback’s second NFL season. Elam lost a three-way battle for a starting job in training camp and then tore a ligament in his foot.
The rest of the world thought Elam was a healthy scratch for the first four games and when he finally got a shot on the field, it didn’t go well and he was pulled. When the Bills traded for Rasul Douglas, Elam went on injured reserve.
Elam came off injured reserve leading up to Week 17, but was inactive for the final two regular season games. But with Douglas out with a knee injury and Benford going down early in the game, Elam was back in the lineup.
In a span of six plays, Elam was run over in the open field like a truck by Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth on a 12-yard gain on third and 9 and then whistled for pass interference two plays later.
But the sixth play erased the first two errors. Elam got matched with Steelers receiver Diontae Johnson in man-to-man coverage — his specialty — and when Johnson faked inside and turned back to the sideline, Elam was on his hip the entire way and undercut quarterback Mason Rudolph’s pass for an interception in the end zone.
“It was instinct, all instinct,” said Elam, who made his second career playoff interception. “I would love to say that I wrote that play down in my notebook and I dreamed about it, but that was all instinct.”