ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Here are my five takeaways from the Buffalo Bills’ 9-3 preseason victory against the Pittsburgh Steelers Saturday night at Acrisure Stadium:
1. Mother Nature helped the Bills make a wise decision to keep Josh Allen out of the game.
Sean McDermott had planned to start Allen and have him play into the second quarter, weather permitting. If the field was slippery due to rain, Allen’s night would have been shortened. As it turned out, rain before the game prompted the coach to pull the plug on having Allen play.
Having played Allen for a full quarter in last Saturday’s preseason opener against Chicago, the Bills didn’t have a compelling reason to put him on the field Saturday night. For that matter, they don’t need to play him in next Saturday’s preseason finale, either.
Getting through the slate of games that don’t count with their franchise QB in one piece should always be the top priority.
2. Sean McDermott’s stern message that the Bills’ “standard was not out there” during last Saturday’s 33-6 loss against the Bears clearly resonated with the team.
The performance was far from pretty, but the players did seem far more present than they were a week ago when they were manhandled on both sides of the ball. That was not the case against the Steelers.
It’s generally fruitless to put much stock in a preseason performance, good or bad. But McDermott had every reason to be upset with watching his team, especially the starters, consistently overwhelmed at the line of scrimmage.
3. The most impressive part of the Bills’ performance was the play of the defense.
Greg Rousseau had 2 ½ sacks and was part of a pass rush that consistently applied heat to starting Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson, who was dumped three times. Ed Oliver had a half-sack and was a constant disruptive force up the middle.
The Bills’ starting defense was physical at the point of attack and generally controlled the line of scrimmage. Buffalo’s backup defenders also did a solid job, highlighted by linebacker Joe Andreessen, who started, and cornerback Ja’Marcus Ingram combining to dump backup QB Justin Fields for a seven-yard yard loss on fourth-and-two from the Buffalo 9 late in the third quarter.
Andreesen, a former Lancaster High School and University at Buffalo standout, was credited with a game-high 12 tackles to create a wonderful hometown story.
4. The offense didn’t perform much better with Mitch Trubisky as the starting quarterback than it did with Josh Allen last Saturday.
For the second game in a row, the Bills failed to score a touchdown; Tyler Bass's field goals accounted for all of their scoring. Again.
The Bills were only two-of-10 on third-down conversions. No one stood out among the receivers, who continue to have problems gaining separation from coverage. Trubisky also didn’t help the cause. He completed nine of 13 passes for 86 yards and had an interception.
Newly acquired third-string quarterback Ben DiNucci completed three of five passes for 20 yards.
The most notable offensive production was rookie running back Ray Davis running for 58 yards on eight carries, an average of 7.3 yards per carry. He showed good power, second effort, and explosiveness in the open field.
5. The Bills made only slight improvement in the penalty department.
They had 11 accepted against the Bears. They had eight Saturday night, with four coming in the first half. The Steelers had six.
The Bills will need to show much greater discipline when the games count.
