BUFFALO, N.Y. — It would not be a surprise if this Bills-Steelers game was a gritty, physical, defensive battle as two top defenses in the league faceoff on Sunday Night Football on Channel 2 and NBC.
At 9-4, the Bills are in the driver's seat for that first wild card spot, something that they haven't experienced in a long time. Remember when the Bills broke their 17-year playoff drought, they needed a lot of things to go right, including an Andy Dalton touchdown pass on fourth-and-12 to beat the Ravens in 2017.
This year there's no scoreboard watching or relying on other teams for help. The Bills control their path to the playoffs. All they have to do is win one out of their last three and they're in.
After saving their season with a great defense and some quarterback shakeups, the Steelers are also in a position to make the postseason. At 8-5, they sit in the second wild card spot right now.
The two will meet on prime time Sunday night after the game was flexed, so this is another chance for the Bills to make a statement on national television, and there are a bunch of matchups that favor Buffalo.
Like facing an undrafted, rookie quarterback in Devlin Hodges. The Bills need to make him rely on beating them with his arm, something he doesn't seem ready to do. If the Bills can dial up the pressure, limit the production of Pittsburgh's running game, they'll be able to take care of business on their end going against Hodges and forcing him to make mistakes.
And these defenses are two of the best in the league. The Steelers lead the NFL in sacks (48) and takeaways (33) while the Bills are second in the league in points allowed per game (16.3) and third in the NFL in yards allowed per game (296.8).
This will also be an extra special night for Bills linebacker Tremaine Edmunds facing his two brothers, Trey and Terrell. Trey plays running back and Terrell is a safety for Pittsburgh, and it's the first time in 92 years three brothers will play in the same NFL game.
The three were teammates at Virginia Tech in 2016, but other than going against each other in the spring game or practice, they've never faced each other on opposite teams.
As for the Bills offense, I think this game will come down to the quarterbacks given how tough these defenses are. Josh Allen has to be the better QB in this one. With how effective the Steelers are in creating turnovers, he needs to play almost mistake-free and the passing game needs to be sharper than it was against the Ravens. He missed a ton of receivers but also did not get much help with guys dropping passes and other missed opportunities.
It will also help to get the running game going with Devin Singletary and Frank Gore to avoid some of those long second and third down situations.
2 on Your Side's Heather Prusak and Vic Carucci from the Buffalo News and Sports Talk Live breakdown some of these matchups even further in their weekly game preview.