Buffalo Rumblings
The Buffalo Bills (7-4) travel to face the Pittsburgh Steelers (6-5) Sunday afternoon in a 4:25 p.m. EST battle of teams fighting for positioning in a crowded AFC playoff race.
Before this Week 13 clash, let’s revisit the series history, relive some of the more memorable matchups, break down those common connections, and go through the list of players who played for both teams. Hint: there are 45 players who saw action for both the Bills and Steelers.
The Bills and Steelers have clashed 30 previous times, with Pittsburgh holding a 17-13 edge in the all-time series. Buffalo and Pittsburgh have split their previous four playoff games.
The teams met for the first time on Oct. 11, 1970 in Pittsburgh, PA, with the Steelers prevailing 23-10. This has been a series of runs, with Pittsburgh winning five of the first six games. The Bills responded by winning seven of the next eight games, including a 24-3 road win in the AFC Divisional Round of the 1992 season, behind two passing touchdowns from backup quarterback Frank Reich, 158 combined rushing yards from running backs Thurman Thomas and Kenneth Davis, and a Bills defense that sacked quarterback Neil O’Donnell seven times and picked him off twice.
Pittsburgh won 10 of the next 11 games in the series from 1993-2016, but Buffalo has prevailed in four of the last five matchups, including a 31-17 Super Wild Card Weekend triumph during the 2023 season — a playoff game that was delayed 24 hours due to a winter lake-effect snowstorm that dumped more than two feet of snow on the Orchard Park, NY area.
In their last meeting, that 2023 playoff clash at Highmark Stadium, quarterback Josh Allen threw three touchdown passes and scored on a franchise playoff-record 52-yard touchdown run to power the Bills past the Steelers. Allen completed 21 of 30 passes for 203 yards and added 74 rushing yards, becoming the first quarterback to throw three-plus touchdown passes and rush for 70-plus yards with a touchdown in a playoff game in NFL history.
Buffalo raced out to a 21-0 lead on a nine-yard touchdown pass to tight end Dawson Knox, a 29-yard touchdown strike to tight end Dalton Kincaid, and Allen’s 52-yard touchdown scamper. Pittsburgh pulled within 24-17 early in the fourth quarter, but wide receiver Khalil Shakir caught a pass from Allen, eluded a tackler and won a foot race into the end zone for the backbreaking score with 6:27 remaining.
Linebacker Terrel Bernard forced a fumble to set up a touchdown, and cornerback Kaiir Elam came away with an interception in the end zone to deny the Steelers a scoring opportunity and set up Allen’s record-setting touchdown run.
Fun fact: The Steelers would go on to win the Super Bowl during the 1975 NFL season, but the Bills picked up their first win against Pittsburgh during a Week 2 contest at Three Rivers Stadium. Buffalo, which entered as an eight-point underdog, raced out to...
