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5th seed on the line vs Bills in a Sunday Night extravaganza at Heinz Field

After all the blood, sweat, and tears spent battling back from an 0-3 start to the season, the Pittsburgh Steelers finally have a payoff within grasp in their battles against unbelievable adversity.

When the Steelers (8-5) take the field Sunday night vs the Buffalo Bills (9-5), not only is a playoff spot on the line but so is the #5 seed in the AFC Playoffs, as a win vs the Bills would vault Pittsburgh over Buffalo and give them a tie-breaker advantage to boot.

It will be a raucous crowd at Heinz Field as Steeler Nation will be pumped to roar their team to victory under the lights of Sunday Night Football on NBC.

The never-ending revolving door of injuries for the Steelers may see a return of a few starters, and the absence of a few others.

James Conner practiced fully the past two days, but Juju Smith Schuster was limited on Thursday after going full go a day before.

Both would be welcomed back with open arms, as both have unique abilities that would aid an offense that needs every weapon that they can muster.

Jaylen Samuels and Vance McDonald are hopeful to play as of Thursday night, but only time will tell. Samuels is battling a groin injury and practiced fully Thursday, but McDonald is still in the NFL’s concussion protocol and had a limited practice.

The Steelers defense will be leading the way again on Sunday, and have every intention of making Bill’s QB Josh Allen’s life as miserable as possible.

The Steelers have recorded 48 sacks and 43 takeaways in 2019.

Allen, as gifted as he is running the ball out of the pocket, has trouble holding on to the ball, something Pittsburgh’s defense has taken notice of.

“Oh yeah, that’s good,” Steelers linebacker Bud Dupree said about Allen’s fumble issues. “That’s good, definitely that’s good.”

Pittsburgh has caused opponents to fumble 27 times, recovering 15 of them, 2nd best in the NFL.

Allen has 22 fumbles in 25 career games.

“That’s great, man,” Dupree continued. “That will be an opportunity for us to even add to our repertoire.”

Defensive Player of the Year candidate T.J. Watt studies film weekly to get an advantage on his prey of the week. He also learns from practice when pursuing Duck Hodges, Mason Rudolph, and Paxton Lynch.

“Paxton comes from a little bit lower and Duck is a little bit higher,” Watt said. “You kind of look at that stuff when you look at film. But I don’t think you can get caught too much in the small, specific, minute details too much, otherwise, you will drive yourself crazy.

“But you do want to see how quick his release is because if he’s getting it out really quick, you don’t want to necessarily always go for the ball. That’s kind of gotten me in trouble a few times this year because the amount of time during a windup a QB goes from his hip to his release point is so quick if you reach for that outside arm during his throw… the ball can be released, and you just grabbed him when you could have had him.

“So I think it’s kind of a cat-and-mouse game there.”

The Steelers secondary, if Allen dares to throw deep, will be eagerly waiting and planning on adding to their 18 interceptions on the season.

Corner Stephon Nelson, who has had a tremendous year, is still looking for his first of the year.

“The turnovers will come,” Nelson said. “They haven’t come yet like I’ve wanted them to come. Hopefully, they’ll come soon down the stretch.”

Fellow CB Joe Haden would know. He waited until week nine to get his first, but has built that total to four on the season.

“Just continue to play your technique,” Haden said. “Don’t try to go out of position because that’s when you start getting beat on things you’re not getting beat on now. On the inside, everyone knows how good Steve is doing.

“He (Nelson) might not be seeing it in the numbers, but you can see it in the way that he’s not getting beat. I tell Steve just continue doing what you’re doing, and they’ll come in bunches. Once you get that first one, the ball is going to keep coming at you.”

Both players, and the entire defense has benefited from the presence of FS Minkah Fitzpatrick, who defenses have to be aware of at all times on the field with his play-making abilities. Nelson has now become a shutdown corner on a team that so desperately it missed for so many seasons.

“When I hear that term, that’s what I strive for,” Nelson said. “In the offseason, it’s what I worked toward, to gain that title. You don’t get that from being up or down, you get it from staying consistent.”

On Sunday night, the team hopes it will be business as usual for the defense.

If so, Pittsburgh’s winning ways will continue to be in their favor.