Stefon Diggs takes over on SNF stage, leads Bills to win over AFC rival Steelers (Instant observations)

Orchard Park, N.Y. — It looked like the same old Buffalo Bills during the first 29 minutes of Sunday Night Football.

The Bills offense was struggling to move the football, their offensive line was getting beat by an aggressive Pittsburgh front, and the Steelers looked like they were starting to get going on offense after a slow start.

But the drops that have plagued Pittsburgh for a few weeks now continued to doom them in this game. The defense provided the spark and the offense got going in the second half to knock off the Steelers for a second straight season on the national stage. The Bills are 10-3 for the first time since 1991.

Here are some immediate observations from the game.

Stefon Diggs showcase game

The Bills gave up a bunch of draft picks – a 1st, two 4ths and a 5th – to trade for Stefon Diggs. There was plenty of folks pushing a narrative that the Bills gave up too much, but all Diggs has done since the season started is make plays. He’s proven that he was worth that haul of picks and maybe even more. He couldn’t be guarded on Sunday Night Football. It didn’t matter who Pittsburgh assigned to cover Diggs, they couldn’t stop him from making catches and running after them for extra yards. Twice in the third quarter a defensive back fell to the turf after a Diggs fake during his route. He single-handedly injected life into a Bills offense that was held to a disappointing 102 yards of total offense in the first half. He had four catches for 42 yards on the Bills’ touchdown drive to open the third quarter and finished it off with a touchdown after making cornerback Steven Nelson fall.

Taron Johnson takes it to the house

The Bills had just had a drive stall with time running out in the first half, giving Ben Roethlisberger another chance before halftime. After a nice play by cornerback Levi Wallace to break up a pass intended for Chase Claypool, slot cornerback Taron Johnson stepped in front of a throw intended for JuJu Smith-Schuster, intercepting it and taking it all the way to the house for the first pick-six by a Bills player since 2017. Johnson’s play was heavily criticized earlier this season as he struggled in coverage. Pro Football Focus had him graded as one of the worst cover nickels in the league through the first five or six games. As the Bills got healthier and the defense started to string good games together, Johnson has improved. He’s made several big plays over the past few games and this was the biggest of the season at a time the offense was struggling. Johnson left the game in the third quarter after sustaining a concussion on an attempted tackle.

Josh Allen comes alive in second half

Allen was erratic in the first half and it was hard to blame him for all of the Bills’ issues. We’ll talk about the offensive line in a moment. But Allen was under pressure and he wasn’t able to find any rhythm throwing the ball. After a few failed drives the Bills looked to be going down a bad path as they started to turn it over. Allen had a ball intercepted in the first quarter after the ball was tipped as he was throwing it deep downfield. Then in the second quarter, Allen completed a pass to Dawson Knox who sort of bobbled it but ended up coughing it up and it was ruled a fumble. After Johnson gave the Bills some juice with his pick-six, Allen picked things up in the second half and went 10-for-10 in the third quarter with two touchdowns – one to Diggs and another to rookie Gabriel Davis, who has the team lead for the season with six.

Levi Wallace steps up

It was covered plenty this past week after Bills defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier was blunt when discussing Levi Wallace’s struggles last week against the San Francisco 49ers. He said whoever plays opposite Tre’Davious White is going to get the work. If that player wants teams not to throw their way often they have to make plays to make them stop. That’s what Wallace did on Sunday night. He had a great pass breakup before Johnson’s interception and then picked off Roethlisberger in the fourth quarter to stop a Pittsburgh drive.

Offensive line totally redeemed itself

Allen was under fire in the first half and the interior of the offensive line was a big reason why. Mitch Morse injured his elbow and left for a few series before ultimately returning. Even when he was in the game in that first half the Steelers were getting penetration against their line. Brian Winters came in for Morse and Jon Feliciano moved over to center. He slid back to right guard when Morse returned and Winters went back to the bench. The Bills o-line fixed their issues and right tackle Daryl Williams specifically was having great success against Steelers phenom pass rusher T.J. Watt. Early in the game you could tell that Williams was trying to time the snap to get an advantage as he tried to get quickly into his gather to try and beat Watt to his spot. He got called for an foul start penalty and probably could have earned another. But that proved to be an effective technique as Watt had two QB hits but no sacks.

Matt Milano makes presence felt

Milano popped last week in his first game back and this week he finished. He’s been primarily used on third downs. Sunday, he was able to get to Roethlisberger for a sack in the third quarter as the Pittsburgh quarterback got hammered on the play. He’s looking quicker and healthier each week, which is a big development for a Bills defense that’s playing its best football of the season.

Game Summary

Score: Bills 26, Steelers 15

Total net yards Bills: 334

Total net yards Steelers: 224

Team passing Bills: 230 yards

Team passing Steelers: 177 yards

Team rushing Bills: 104 yards

Team rushing Steelers: 47 yards

Penalties: Bills 7 for 48 yards | Steelers 3 for 55 yards

Box Score

Up next: Buffalo Bills at Denver Broncos, 4:30 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 19, NFL Network

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