Tag: Steelers vs. Bills 2020

Buffalo Bills didn’t take kindly to JuJu Smith-Schuster’s pregame antics

JuJu’s pregame TikTok performance left a bad taste in the mouth of the Buffalo Bills.

“It’s litty,” alright.

Steelers wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster litty a fire in the Buffalo Bills that Pittsburgh couldn’t put out on Sunday night.

Nothing like an opponent dancing on the team logo to add fuel to your fire. This flame was ignited in the Buffalo Bills via their leader Josh Allen. In the tunnel huddle, he told his team, “The recipe is simple, guys. Let them do all the (expletive) talking and all the dancing, and we do the work.”

Sure, it’s just a logo. But we’ve seen it happen before, and the outcome is never good. James Conner stopped Smith-Schuster from recreating the iconic Terrell Owens celebration on the Dallas Cowboys star in Week 9. You could bet JuJu would’ve gone ahead with his plan if Conner’s didn’t have something to say about it.

From the perspective of the Bills, JuJu’s dance on their logo is the equivalent of disrespecting the Terrible Towel. Buffalo used JuJu’s antics as motivation (not that they needed it) and handed Pittsburgh its second loss of the season.

Though a veteran of the NFL, JuJu is a 24-year-old kid. TikTok is what 24-year-olds do. But come game day, he’s better off leaving his phone at home.

Did his antics cost Pittsburgh the game? Certainly not. But it didn’t help the situation either.

[vertical-gallery id=483716]

[lawrence-related id=483926]

Steelers LB Avery Williamson is Pittsburgh’s key versus Buffalo Bills

When the Pittsburgh Steelers take on the Buffalo Bills tonight, they’ll have some intel in their back pocket, and its name is Avery Williamson.

When the Pittsburgh Steelers take on the Buffalo Bills tonight, they’ll have some intel in their back pocket, and its name is Avery Williamson.

Initially, the Steelers signed the 7th-year linebacker in November to solidify depth when Devin Bush went down. Fast forward 38 days, and Williamson is being thrust into his first start in the Black and Gold after Vince Williams was placed on Reserve/COVID-19 list and Robert Spillane went to injured reserve on Saturday.

With Williamson comes familiarity with Buffalo, as the Jets played the Bills twice in seven weeks this season. Williamson did not play in the first Bills matchup — he was being eased into action after an ACL tear stripped him of the entire 2019 season. But he was active for Week 7 and made it a good one, racking up a team-leading 13 tackles. It was only one game; still, Williamson feels he can use that to his advantage.

“I know that they definitely got some tendencies,” said Williamson in a press conference last week. “We game-planned for them pretty well that second game with the Jets. It was a close game. I’m definitely going to use what I learned that week and transfer some of it over to now.”

Though Williamson was itching to play from the moment he set foot in Pittsburgh, he admits the acclimation period was helpful.

“I feel a whole lot better with where I’m at,” Williamson said. “I definitely thought I was ready the first week I got here, but I wasn’t nowhere near ready. It took a little time. I’ve never been in a situation where I been traded and had to learn a whole new playbook in the middle of the season. … I feel a whole lot more comfortable.”

Pittsburgh had the luxury of easing Williamson into the defense, as it wasn’t urgent he take on a big role immediately. His 38 snaps last week were the most he’s had since signing with Pittsburgh.

Williamson took over calling plays for Spillane after his exit last week, which instilled confidence enough for Pittsburgh to tab him as play-caller versus Buffalo. It won’t be his first rodeo, though; Williamson called defensive plays with the Jets.

[vertical-gallery id=483673]

[lawrence-related id=483710]

One significant advantage Steelers have over Bills that they didn’t in 2019

Heading into Buffalo for the second time in as many seasons, Ben Roethlisberger looks to vastly improve his 2016 performance.

The Pittsburgh Steelers put up a mediocre fight in their matchup versus the 9-4 Buffalo Bills last December.

The one missing piece on offense? Ben Roethlisberger.

Devlin “Duck” Hodges, in his fourth game of the season, tossed four interceptions — one in each quarter. It’s a tall task vying for a win when your quarterback is turnover happy, but the Steelers defense kept them in it thanks to two forced fumbles and four recoveries.

Fast forward a year, and it’s the 11-1 Steelers taking on the 9-3 Bills, once again, in Buffalo. This time with a healthy Big Ben.

In his 17 seasons, Sunday will be only the fourth time Roethlisberger has faced the Bills. In 2005, the 15-1 Steelers were playoff-bound, so Roethlisberger sat while Tommy Maddox took care of business, 29-24.

At 4-0, Roethlisberger is undefeated versus the Bills, but it hasn’t come easy. With 912 yards passing on 128 attempts and 76 completions, and a 2:5 touchdown to interception ratio, Ben’s average quarterback rating is 69.9. The rating was decimated by the zero-touchdown, three-interception game he produced the last time he faced them in 2016.

Roethlisberger and the Steelers hope to leave Buffalo with a much different result than in 2019. The gravity of the situation is daunting, though.

“They are a really good football team. They are playing with a lot of confidence,” said Roethlisberger in a press conference on Wednesday. “They have an MVP-caliber quarterback who is playing at that level. They’ve got some defenders that are just taking the ball away every single time the ball is thrown their ways, and they are just a really good football team. I think confidence has a lot to do with that.”

Not only are the Steelers going up against a quarterback in Josh Allen — coming off a 375-yard, four-touchdown performance versus the San Fransisco 49ers — they are the away team for just the second time in five games.

“We are going to their place, looks like crappy weather, night game, cold,” said Roethlisberger. “All the perfect elements that come with playing playoff-caliber football teams and playoff-caliber situations this time of the year. It is a great test and challenge for us.”

Ben’s not wrong. The Bills Stadium forecast for Sunday night is a chilly 31 degrees with a feels-like temp of 22. It’ll be mostly cloudy with wind gusts of 20 miles per hour. The chance of precipitation is 25 percent.

[vertical-gallery id=483534]

[listicle id=483489]