In a defensive outing between both teams, the Buffalo Bills offense did just enough to put them over the edge of victory to send them back to the post season for the second time in three years. It was a testament to coaching, discipline, and a …
In a defensive outing between both teams, the Buffalo Bills offense did just enough to put them over the edge of victory to send them back to the post season for the second time in three years. It was a testament to coaching, discipline, and a winning culture that Sean McDermott has established in Buffalo.
The Bills sit at 10-4, are officially in, and could very easily loosen up a bit, but there is still another opportunity at stake, and that is to win the AFC East title for the first time in over 20 years. The chances are slim, but it is still a very reasonable feat, as they head to Foxborough to play the New England Patriots next Saturday. The Bills need to win out, and the Patriots need to lose not only to the Bills, but the Miami Dolphins in Week 17 as well.
Buffalo and Pittsburgh brought their hard nosed defenses to the table last night for Sunday Night Football, and both teams excelled in stopping drives, forcing punts and turnovers, and keeping the game close for their offenses. It was the Bills, fortunately, that made it all happen, behind Josh Allen, John Brown, and even tight end Tyler Kroft.
It was a great win for a team, in the national spotlight, that proved many doubters wrong in the process.
Podcast host Matt Johnson recaps the big Week 15 win, and a look ahead.
The Kansas City Chiefs and Chicago Bears will play on Sunday Night Football in Week 16 eschewing the New Orleans Saints and Tennessee Titans
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The New Orleans Saints still haven’t played their Week 15 game, but eyes are already cast forwards on their Week 16 matchup with the Tennessee Titans. And for good reason: the NFL delayed its decision to flex that game into a more prominent time slot, possibly even the coveted “Sunday Night Football” national broadcast window.
However, the Saints and Titans will not be getting that prime-time kickoff, per a report from NFL Network’s Andrew Siciliano. The league and its broadcast partners have agreed to keep the previously scheduled game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Chicago Bears in that slot, which isn’t as compelling a matchup (the Bears are mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, while the Titans need to beat the Saints to keep their hopes alive) but probably easy to develop a narrative around.
With Chiefs coach Andy Reid planning against his former assistant in Bears coach Matt Nagy, and Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky preparing to share the field with a passer he was drafted ahead of but been thoroughly outplayed by in Patrick Mahomes, there’s plenty of material for fans and media to work with over the next week.
So where do the Saints go from here? For now, they’re scheduled to play the Titans at noon, as was previously decided. We’ll find out by close business on Monday whether the game gets flexed into a late-afternoon spot, which is possible with FOX scheduled to broadcast the Saints-Titans game as well as two contests later that afternoon. The Dallas Cowboys-Philadelphia Eagles game is a virtual lock to remain in that time slot given their hefty TV market support and the implications for the NFC East title, but the Arizona Cardinals-Seattle Seahawks contest is very likely to get moved.
At this point there’s no official word from the league or FOX on whether the Saints will get flexed into a later time slot, so keep an eye out for updates. We’ll know soon enough.
Buffalo Bills opponent information on the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin. Credit: Joe Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports
The Bills find themselves in a wonderful predicament, but could be all for naught if they can’t find a win over the next three weeks. The 9-4 Buffalo Bills meet the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday Night Football, their first appearance in that primetime slot in some time. Major playoff implications are at stake here, as a Bills loss can knock them back a spot in the Wild Card Race, though still in by a hair.
This is easily the biggest Bills-Steelers match up in some time, so let’s get into their history, statistics and more:
The Bills and Steelers first met on Oct. 11, 1970, in Pittsburgh, with the Steelers winning 23-10.
They met in the 1974 postseason, with Pittsburgh taking a 32-14 win in that game.
The Bills won five straight games against Pittsburgh, from Nov. 9, 1986 to their 1992 AFC Divisional Round Game on Jan. 9, 1993.
Buffalo and Pittsburgh also met in the 1995 AFC Divisional Playoff Game, with the Steelers winning 40-21.
The Bills have not defeated the Steelers in the 21st Century, with their last victory over them on Oct. 10, 1999, in a 24-21 victory.
Buffalo had an opportunity to make the post-season in the 2004-05 season. In a “win and your in” scenario. The Bills starters failed to defeat the Steelers backups, who were 14-1 heading into the final game of the season. Pittsburgh beat Buffalo 29-24, in Buffalo.
Their most recent encounter was a 27-20 win for Pittsburgh, in Buffalo.
Pittsburgh leads the all-time series, 16-9, including playoffs.
2019 So Far
In what has been a challenging year for the Steelers, including their fallout with Antonio Brown, losing Le’Veon Bell, and Ben Roethlisberger succumbing to season-ending injury in Week 2, somehow, the Steelers are still in the playoff picture, and have some favorable circumstances going for them. This season has been a massive testament to Head Coach Mike Tomlin’s ability to lead men on a football field, and is certainly a candidate for Coach of the Year.
Pittsburgh began the season with a blowout loss to the Patriots in the opening Sunday Night Football game for 2019. A 33-3 loss on primetime was no way to start the season, especially with many questioning how Pittsburgh would be effected by the losses of Bell and Brown. From there on, two more losses, a close one against Seattle, 26-28, their last game with Big Ben under center for this year, as well as a 20-24 loss to the 49ers. All three quality teams, and playoff teams at that, right now, in Week 15. Not too shabby for a team of backups despite the losses.
They earned their first win on Monday Night Football in Week 4 against the Bengals, a dominant win against a team that only has one win to it’s credit so far this season. This is also when the Steelers traded for safety Minkah Fitzpatrick, a trade that turned around their defense.
However, since that Bengals win, Pittsburgh has only lost twice. To the Baltimore Ravens, a 23-26 loss in overtime, and to the Cleveland Browns in Week 11, a 21-7 loss that ended in a chaotic situation.
Pittsburgh has defeated the Chargers, Dolphins, Colts, Rams, Bengals again, Browns and Cardinals, and face a relatively favorable schedule these last three weeks. They hold criteria over a few teams that are breathing down their neck, and a win over the Bills would nearly secure their playoff aspirations.
Currently, Pittsburgh is the 29th ranked offense, with 3,771 yards of total offense. They are 31st in passing, with 2,541 pass yards and 25th in rushing with 1,230 yards on the ground.
It’s truly impressive how successful that Pittsburgh has been, especially with their personnel under center. Three quarterbacks have taken snaps for the Steelers in 2019. Ben Roethlisberger, Mason Rudolph, and most recently and successfully, Devlin Hodges. The Bills had four last season and their season was not a success.
Rudolph’s tenure as starting QB was enough for him to be at 31st in the NFL in passing yards with 1,636 passing yards, 12 passing touchdowns and nine interceptions. He had a 5-3 record as a starter. In three starts, Hodges is 3-0, and 39th in passing yards with 682 passing yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions. Roethlisberger had 351 passing yards, zero touchdowns and one interception in his tenure.
It hasn’t been a great year for last year’s emerging rush sensation, James Conner. Conner was a certified stud in 2018, filling in seamlessly for the boycotting Bell. This year has been drastically different, with injuries. James Conner is currently ranked 44th in the NFL amongst rushers, leading Pittsburgh with 390 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns. Benny Snell is next up in rushing leaders for Pittsburgh with 320 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown. Snell is ranked 49th in rushing.
Pittsburgh’s highest ranked receiver in yardage, is James Washington, who is currently ranked 50th in the NFL. He has accrued 611 yards receiving on the year, Next in line, Ju-Ju Smith Schuster, who is ranked 63rd in receiving yards, with 524 yards. Schuster has dealt with injuries all year, and has not been able to handle the workload of being a No. 1 WR with Brown leaving, and it has harmed him statistically.
One aspect that is keeping the Steelers alive and well in the playoff race is their defense, which is star studded. They are the fifth ranked defense in the NFL, allowing 4,042 yards of offense against them. Pittsburgh is also the fifth ranked passing defense, allowing 2,727 yards by air, and they are eighth in rush defense with 1,315 yards allowed.
Their defense is led by talents of T.J. Watt, Joe Haden, Bud Dupree, Cameron Hayward, Fitzpatrick, and many others.
Seattle Seahawks defensive end Jadeveon Clowney is fighting to keep playing this season, despite pain in his abdomen.
Seattle Seahawks star defensive end Jadeveon Clowney decided to forego surgery on his core for a sports hernia related injury, and will instead try to play through the injury for the rest of the season.
Clowney made it through the first week, playing 41 defensive snaps on Sunday night against the Rams, but coach Pete Carroll already knows it will be tough for him to be ready for Week 15 against the Panthers.
“He’s hurting,” Carroll stated on Monday. “He’s going to have to work his way through the week to make it for game day. He’s playing really tough under the circumstances. He’s got some core issues that he’s working with, but he’s making it through. He’s toughing it out, doing rehab and all that stuff.”
Clowney wasn’t able to generate much pressure on Sunday against the Rams, only recording two combined tackles on the night. However, his presence is of the utmost importance to this team going forward.
The Seahawks certainly don’t want to risk him aggravating his injury and having to miss the rest of the season and the playoffs, so expect him to be a limited participant in practices for the rest of the year, and a frequently listed player on the injury report.
Seattle Seahawks receiver DK Metcalf leads all rookies in receiving yards and total receptions, and is tied for second in touchdowns.
Seattle Seahawks rookie receiver DK Metcalf was one of few bright spots for the team in their 28-12 loss on Sunday night at the hands of the Los Angeles Rams.
Metcalf finished with six receptions, on six targets, for a team high 78 yards.
That gives him 50 receptions for 783 yards and five touchdowns on the season. The 50 receptions and 783 yards are both tops in the league among rookies. The five touchdowns is second, with four players tied for first place with six.
Metcalf was able to do most of his damage on Sunday despite being covered by Jalen Ramsey, one of the league’s strongest cover cornerbacks.
“He’s been really consistent in his competitiveness,” coach Pete Carroll commented on Monday. “He’s battled every week. He had a great matchup this week and he came through in a big way. Played one of the better guys in football who was trying to stop him and shut him down and he didn’t let that happen. He just kept working and coming through.”
Metcalf was perhaps the most polarizing pick of the 2019 NFL draft, lauded for his elite combination of size and speed, but criticized for his perceived lack of route running. He has proven more than capable of handling a multidimensional route tree in Seattle, and his coach likes that he is more than just a pass catcher as well.
“Tough catches, running after the catch, blocking,” Carroll continued. “He’s more than just a catcher. He’s done a lot of good stuff. I go back to his makeup. He’s a great competitor. He really wants to be great and he’s willing to work at it. He plays hard and physical and tough and it’s paying off for him. He’s been a real positive factor for us.”
The Seahawks will look to get back on track in Week 15 with their final road game of the season against the Panthers in Carolina on Sunday morning.
The Seattle Seahawks will turn to C.J. Prosise and Travis Homer with Rashaad Penny (ACL) likely done for the season.
The Seattle Seahawks were dealt a big blow on Sunday night, not only in the win-loss column but also at running back, with the news that Rashaad Penny has a sprained ACL and could miss the rest of the season.
“He got an ACL sprain,” coach Pete Carroll said in his postgame press conference. “We don’t know how serious it is but it’s significant.”
If Penny is out, the Seahawks will continue to rely heavily on Chris Carson to lead the charge out of the backfield. Behind him will be veteran C.J. Prosise and rookie Travis Homer, both whom coach Carroll expects to pick up the slack going forward.
“Both those guys will be part of it,” Carroll commented on 710 ESPN’s Pete Carroll show Monday morning. “Thankfully we have C.J. coming in ready to play. He was able to be active in this game to get him started. But he’s been sitting for awhile. He needs to get going. He’s very capable of helping us, he has a lot of assets that we like in the offense. Numbers-wise we just haven’t been able to get him up. So he’s ready to go.”
Prosise appeared on 11 offensive snaps on Sunday, carrying the ball once for two yards. In seven games this season, Prosise has 14 rushes for 43 yards and a touchdown, along with nine receptions (on 11 targets) for 66 yards out of the backfield.
It is pretty clear based on Carroll’s response that Prosise will be the first man up behind Carson, but he did say Homer will get a chance to carry the ball.
“Homer will be ready,” Carroll continued. “He’s been kind of sitting on the back burner for us. It may mean that he gets the ball a little bit more, we’ll wait and see. [But] I’m really glad that C.J. is available to us.”
More information about Penny’s injury should be available on Monday afternoon, but expect Prosise to take over as Seattle’s number two running back for the rest of the season.
Complete Week 14 snap counts and playtime percentages from the Seattle Seahawks’ loss to the Los Angeles Rams in primetime.
The Seahawks suffered a tough divisional loss to the Los Angeles Rams Sunday night on the national stage to yield the NFC West lead back to the San Francisco 49ers. Seattle also realized its first road defeat of the year.
With a few players battling injuries – including defensive end Ziggy Ansah, who was inactive for the matchup – some adjustments had to be made.
“We made our efforts, we made – the things that we do to get us back in it, we had couple great picks and a great touchdown by (Quandre Diggs) and we blocked the field goal too,” coach Pete Carroll said postgame. “We did the kinds of things that we needed to do, but we needed a couple plays on the other side to go ahead take advantage of it, and we weren’t able to find it. So a difficult night. And you got to hand it to them. They played great.”
Here’s a look at the snap counts and playtime percentages for both the Seahawks and the Rams Week 14.
Seattle Seahawks rookie linebacker Cody Barton suffered a pair of injuries on Sunday night, and is having an MRI done on his knee.
The Seattle Seahawks saw their already thin linebacker group take another hit on Sunday night against the Los Angeles Rams.
Starting in place of Mychal Kendricks (hamstring), rookie Cody Barton suffered both a knee and ankle injury and is scheduled to have an MRI on Monday, according to coach Pete Carroll.
“He strained his knee a little bit and [had] a little bit of an ankle thing,” Carroll said on 710 ESPN’s Pete Carroll show. “We gotta figure that out. He’s gonna get an MRI today to find out where he is. He was able to go back in the game, tough as nails and finished it, but I don’t know.”
Barton had a big role on Sunday, appearing on 58 defensive snaps (83 percent) as well as 16 snaps on the special teams. He came out after getting hurt in the fourth quarter but returned after just a few plays, apparently playing through the knee strain.
He finished with four combined tackles and one pass defended.
Barton’s health will be a big factor this week, as Kendricks may not make it back in time for Sunday’s game against the Panthers. Additionally, WILL linebacker K.J. Wright suffered a dislocated finger on Sunday, although Carroll expects him to be fine by next week.
If neither Kendricks or Barton are able to play, expect fellow rookie Ben Burr-Kirven to step into a starting role on defense.
Seattle could also opt to use their nickel package – which only requires two linebackers – a lot more as well.
Check back throughout the week for updates on Seattle’s injuries before they head South to take on the Panthers in their final road game of the season.
The Seattle Seahawks didn’t play well as a whole on Sunday night against the Rams in Los Angeles, but safety Quandre Diggs had a great game.
It wasn’t a pretty game for the Seattle Seahawks, who fell to the Rams in Los Angeles by a score of 28-12 on Sunday night.
The offense looked disjointed, and poor blocking up front and an early injury to Rashaad Penny prevented Russell Wilson from getting anything going.
The defense looked horrible in the first half as well, but a really strong third quarter helped keep the team in the game until the fourth.
The defense was anchored by free safety Quandre Diggs, who recorded interceptions on back-to-back drives – including a pick-six.
Diggs took away an overthrow from Rams quarterback Jared Goff early in the third quarter and ran it back into the end zone. Kicker Jason Myers missed the extra point, but it brought the Seahawks within 12.
On the following drive, Diggs picked off Goff again on a very deep throw near the end zone. The ensuing drive resulted in a punt for the Seahawks, and they were unable to score again until late in the fourth quarter.
Diggs finished with five combined tackles along with the two picks, which gives him three total in his short time with the Seahawks.
It wasn’t a good game for most of the Seattle squad, but it has become quite clear just how impactful the midseason acquisition of Diggs will be for this team down the stretch.
The Seattle Seahawks fell into the fifth seed of the NFC after an ugly loss to the Rams in Los Angeles, 28-12, on Sunday Night Football.
A sloppy game on both sides of the ball saw the Seattle Seahawks fall to the Los Angeles Rams, 28-12, on Sunday night.
The Seahawks are now 10-3 on the season and in fifth place in the NFC – with a playoff spot still not a guarantee.
It was a particularly ugly first half for Seattle, especially on defense. The Seahawks allowed Rams quarterback Jared Goff to complete 15 passes, on 18 attempts, for 184 yards and two touchdowns. Seattle’s offense really wasn’t any better, only mustering a field goal on the opening drive and otherwise being held scoreless.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, the Seahawks lost running back Rashaad Penny to a knee injury early in the game, and he did not return.
The defense picked things up in a big way in the third quarter, with two interceptions by free safety Quandre Diggs – including a pick-six – allowing Seattle to crawl back into the game.
However, the offense never found their rhythm, and while the defense did their best to keep things close, Los Angeles eventually found the end zone again with about 11 minutes to go, and their lead remained insurmountable.
The loss knocked the Seahawks down to the fifth seed in the extremely top-heavy NFC. With three games remaining, including one against San Francisco (11-2) in Week 17, Seattle can’t afford to come out sloppy again the rest of the season.
