Buffalo Bills beat Pittsburgh Steelers 31-17 in Wild Card playoff game (game recap)

Orchard Park, N.Y. — The Buffalo Bills beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 31-17 in an AFC Wild Card playoff game Monday at a snowbound Highmark Stadium.

With the win, the Bills move on to the Divisional Round. They’ll face the Kansas City Chiefs next Sunday at 6:30 p.m. in Orchard Park.

Syracuse.com and NYUP.com provided live updates from the matchup in Orchard Park. Read a recap of the game’s major events below.

4th Quarter (Bills 31, Steelers 17)

0:00 The Steelers run a few more plays, but this thing was over five minutes ago. The Bills move on. The Steelers go home.

1:57 Tyler Bass badly shanks a short field goal. The kicking game hasn’t looked great tonight for Buffalo. It likely won’t matter. Bills still lead by 14. But that would have made it a three score game.

4:50 On a 4th and short, the Steelers go for it. The pass comes up incomplete with Dane Jackson in coverage. Steelers think Jackson got away with a penalty there. But no flag thrown. It’s Bills ball at the Steelers 32 yard line.

6:27 TOUCHDOWN BILLS. Another score, another snow flurry. Allen throws a slant to Khalil Shakir, who seemed to get wrapped up for a few yard gain. But he squirms out of the tackle, sneaks past a few defenders, and gets into the endzone from 20 yards out. A remarkable run, and the Bills are back up by double digits, 31-17.

Watch it here:

10:27 Huge drive coming up for the Bills. They need a score here to make things more comfortable.

10:32 TOUCHDOWN STEELERS. After a six-minute drive, Mason Rudolph tosses one to Calvin Austin in the endzone to make this a one-score game. This is going to be a photo finish kind of game.

15:00 Steelers are driving and could cut this to a one-score game.

3rd Quarter (Bills 24, Steelers 10)

1:32 FIELD GOAL BILLS. After a good long drive, the Bills kick a field goal from 45 yards. They pad their lead. It’s Bills 24, Steelers 10.

6:17 On a 4th and 1 the Bills go for it with a tush push (or a Buffalo Bobsled, if you’re Cris Collinsworth). They pick it up on the second effort and continue the drive.

How about a weather update? It’s 12 degrees on the field, and it feels like it’s 1 degree.

8:50 FIELD GOAL STEELERS. After an impressive drive, the Steelers stall in the red zone. They kick a 40-yard field goal. They’re clawing their way back into this one. It’s Bills 21, Steelers 10. The injuries on the Bills defense are mounting.

13:00 Another Bills defender goes down with an injury. Terrel Bernard stayed down holding his legs after a tackle at midfield. He’s being carted off the field. A.J. Klein will take his spot in the middle of the defense.

14:06 Bills go three-and-out to start the half, including a dropped pass from Knox. They trot out Sam Martin to punt. Martin clearly pulled his hamstring at the end of the first half. Martin hits a 45-yarder and limps off.

15:00 The Bills will start the half with the ball.

2nd Quarter (Bills 21, Steelers 7)

1:17 Scary moment for Bills fans as Stefon Diggs goes down on the field. After a minute, he pops back up. Looks alright. The Bills will run out the clock until the half.

1:39 TOUCHDOWN STEELERS. Mason Rudolph tosses one to George Pickens for the score, after starting with good field position off the blocked field goal. Steelers are right back in this thing. It’s 21-7 Bills.

2:23 Bills try for a field goal and it’s blocked. The punter Sam Martin appeared to pull a hamstring on the play. He comes up limping. Steelers take over. That was a disaster of a series for the Bills. They may be without a punter for the rest of the game.

6:04 Mason Rudolph and the Steelers still can’t get anything going against the Bills defense. Steelers go three and out. Bills will take over deep in their own territory.

7:01 TOUCHDOWN BILLS. Josh Allen makes a heroic 52-yard run, blowing past defenders and into the endzone for the score. The stadium erupts. Bills go up 21-0.

Fun fact: that was the longest rushing TD of Josh Allen’s career.

12:00 INTERCEPTION BILLS. What a series for Kaiir Elam there. The Steelers picked up a long third down conversion after he got bulldozed by Freiermuth right at the sticks. Then, in the red zone, Elam gets called for pass interference near the end zone.

But he responds by picking off Mason Rudolph in the end zone. Steelers come away empty handed. Bills ball.

Note: Elam is playing for Christian Benford, who’s in the locker room dealing with a knee injury.

1st Quarter (Bills 14, Steelers 0)

1:31 The Steelers just put the ball on the turf again. Receiver Freiermuth catches a long one from Rudolph, but fumbles near the sideline. Bills recover but it’s called out of bounds. McDermott challenges. But the call stands. Bills lose a timeout.

3:12 This Buffalo team looks invincible right now. They stuff the run, bat a pass and nearly pick off Mason Rudolph as the Steelers go three and out. The Bills take over with good field position after a middling punt.

Bills go three-and-out; punt it away.

4:10 TOUCHDOWN BILLS. On the first play after the turnover, Allen hits Dalton Kincaid down the middle for a 30-yard score. The Bills go up 14-0. And yes, the snowballs are flying again.

4:21 (update) After review, it’s a fumble. Bills take over.

4:21 The Bills punt and Steelers take over. On the Steelers’ first play of the drive Pickens catches and appears to fumble the ball. Refs call it incomplete. McDermott challenges. Buckle in, this looks like it could get overturned for a turnover.

***

Quick aside from Ryan Talbot: Dawson Knox has scored the first touchdown for the Bills in the Wild Card round in four straight years.

7:02 TOUCHDOWN BILLS. Josh Allen to Dawson Knox for the score after a 5-plus-minute drive in which Josh Allen looked solid -- he went five for five there. It’s a good start for an offense (and quarterback) that’s been shaky to start games in recent weeks. Bass drills the extra point and it’s Bills by seven.

Fun note: A flurry of snowballs flew across Highmark Stadium to celebrate after the TD. That’s one way to get it off the seats.

12:35 After getting one first down, the Steelers are stopped short by the Bills’ offense. They punt. Josh Allen & Co. will take over.

15:00 The Bills win the toss and defer. They kick it to Pittsburgh who return to about the 30.

Pregame

Table time: Snow hasn’t deterred Bills fans from tailgating at Orchard Park. And they brought their tables. Here’s some pregame action from the OP parking lots.

Won’t you step into the freezer? Let’s talk about the weather for a second. It’s gonna be cold, cold, cold, cold, cold today in Orchard Park.

The temperature at kickoff should be around 18 degrees, and will dip to about 14 degrees once the sun goes down. But the wind will mostly die down for the game.

Fans are in for a rougher outing, as many will have to dig their seats out from under a foot-and-a-half of snow.

Inactives: The Bills will be without several defensive players who got hurt in last week’s Dolphins game, as well as a starting receiver. The inactive players are:

• Gabe Davis (WR)
• Taylor Rapp (S)
• Tyrel Dodson (DB)
• Rasul Douglas (CB)
• Kingsley Jonathan (DE)
• Alec Anderson (OL)
• Poona Ford (DT)

Talk about the Bills

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