The ride that the Buffalo Bills have taken their fans on through the 2019 season will continue into January as the 10-4 Bills punched their ticket to the postseason Sunday with a 17-10 win in Pittsburgh on Sunday Night Football against the Steelers.
It’s been an amazing journey for the Bills, who were 6-10 a year ago. While the Bills made the postseason two years ago, fans in Buffalo have become accustomed to mediocre seasons where the team finds itself staring up at other AFC teams in the Wild Card race. The Bills have been perpetually “In The Hunt,” the graphic that pops up every December detailing teams trying to sneak into the playoffs at the very end. This season, the Bills are not lost in the “In The Hunt” shuffle and their fans don’t have to scoreboard watch and hope for collapses from teams in front of them.
The 2019 season has been uncharted territory for many Bills fans. The Bills have won 10 games for the first time since 1999. By clinching a playoff berth in Week 15, it marks the earliest the Bills have punched their postseason ticket since clinching in Week 14 in 1991. If the Bills win their final two games, they’ll have a 12-win season for the first time since 1993.
Speaking of 1993, Sunday’s win was Buffalo’s first in Western Pennsylvania since the 1993 divisional playoffs, a game which featured Frank Reich and Neil O’Donnell. It’s the franchise’s first regular season win in Pittsburgh since the O.J. Simpson-led Bills defeated the eventual Super Bowl champion Steelers in 1975.
There were monumental implications from a game that saw the Bills slug it out with Devlin Hodges and the Steelers in a tough matchup that went right down to the final throw. Josh Allen and the Buffalo offense struggled mostly for three quarters, but put together their drive of the season in the fourth quarter to take the lead. Hodges and the Steelers had three chances to drive and tie the game, but failed each time. Jordan Poyer and Levi Wallace had interceptions in the end zone to shut the door on the Steelers twice in the final two minutes.
With their playoff spot now clinched, the Bills can turn their attention to trying to steal the AFC East from the division’s long-time overlords, the New England Patriots. The Bills travel to Foxborough on Saturday afternoon with a chance to tie the Patriots in the standings. The Bills would then need to win against the Jets in Week 17 and hope the Patriots are stunned by Ryan Fitzpatrick and the Dolphins to win the division for the first time since 1995.
Here are four things we learned from the Bills’ huge Sunday night win in the Steel City: