Steelers vs. Bills: 5 questions with the enemy ahead of Week 13

The Steelers and the Bills both tumbled down the playoff standings last week and are desperate for a win. I spoke with Matthew Byham of Buffalo Rumblings ahead of this crucial game.

1. Before the season, I think most fans penciled the Bills in for another division title. They are currently the final playoff seed in the AFC. How have they found themselves in this position?

MB: Those darn New England Patriots. The short answer is by losing, especially three games against AFC teams: a home game to the Patriots, an inexcusable blowout in South Beach against the Miami Dolphins, and most recently that painful loss in Week 12 at the Houston Texans. They’ve lost too many of the “wrong” games.

The long answer could extend into a few thousand words on my end, but I won’t ask anyone to suffer that read. Quite honestly, these Bills just aren’t a great team. There are tremendous aspects, namely quarterback Josh Allen and running back James Cook III. Beyond that, things get a bit muddy, and even Allen hasn’t played up to his standard many weeks (mainly those losses).

Truth be told, it feels as though One Bills Drive decided they needed Allen to carry the team in 2025. That sounds foolish in many ways (mostly why wouldn’t they/why would they be so careless), but then you consider what they did at wide receiver, and how they drafted (nearly all defensive players), and then evaluate those moves and realize there’s a lot of pressure on Allen to cover for a lack of blue-chip talent in too many places.

When the run game is humming, they’re a pretty dangerous team. Obviously, that takes a lot of the pressure off of Allen (who is quite the runner of footballs himself, as Steelers fans understand). James Cook is legit, and the Bills probably underpaid him for what he means to the team’s success. He’d be in rarified air if only more passes were sent his way.

2. The Bills’ offense still ranks top-5 in passing, scoring, and rushing, yet the buzz around Buffalo seemingly is that the offense has been disappointing/underachieving. Are the gripes about the offense overblown, or are there legitimate issues?

MB: It’s a bit of both, if that makes sense. A lot of Bills Mafia and a fair number of national/Bills beat analysts see the sky falling, and to those who watch most of the games and tape it rings true. For as much as I enjoy a deep dive into data fueled by stats, it’s also true that stats lie… simply because they don’t account for nuances in 11-on-11 football; they don’t include the eye test.

It’s a Mafia house divided right now, where three camps exist among those who wonder if general manager Brandon Beane is to blame (for personnel choices); whether offensive coordinator Joe Brady is ruining the team’s passing attack and Josh Allen; and then a final group that wonders if something’s off with Allen in...