A big week got even bigger for the Buffalo Bills in the late hours of Monday evening.
The Pittsburgh Steelers lost nothing short of a shocker on Monday Night Football to round out Week 15’s festivities in the NFL. The two-win Cincinnati Bengals, now the three-win Bengals, beat the Steelers 27-17.
Pittsburgh simply could not overcome a slow start in this one. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger only had seven yards passing in the first half.
The Steelers entered the game as 14.5 favorites in some sportsbooks, but still lost in Cincy.
After starting the year with 11-straight wins, Pittsburgh’s third loss of the year and in a row puts them in a tie with the Bills at 11-3 overall in the AFC playoff picture. But with the loss, the Bills move up from the third to second-seed in the playoff picture because of the head-to-head tiebreak Buffalo has on the Steelers. Buffalo topped the the Steelers, 26-15, on Dec. 13.
The loss to the Bengals is certainly the most alarming loss in the third-game losing skid for Pittsburgh, with the first two coming against Washington and Buffalo, respectively. The Football Team is, at minimal, in the fight to win the NFC East still. The Bengals were already looking toward the 2021 NFL Draft.
Heading into Week 16, the Bills can now clinch the No. 2 seed in the AFC postseason. To do so, Buffalo must beat the New England Patriots on next week’s Monday Night Football contest while the Steelers must lose to the Indianapolis Colts at home. Winning out would also do the trick for the Bills.
The Steelers’ loss is the cherry on top for perhaps the best weekend in Bills recent Bills history. Buffalo won their first AFC East title since 1995, while the New England Patriots were also knocked out of the playoffs this past weekend which… just feels nice.
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