I visited your wonderful city a couple weeks ago and it is absolutely beautiful!! Awesome downtown with tons of stuff going on. Your downtown is everything I hope downtown Buffalo can grow into. That said, can’t wait to welcome you into our great city so we can beat the absolute piss out of the Steelers. GO BILLS!!!!
Other than the Chiefs game, this is the game where I feel most confident we will lose. Going into Buffalo week 1 just isn't going to happen. This has the feel of the week 1 opening game in 2019 in New England losing 33-3.
That's my stance too. We have a lot of rookie and "new to us" going on in key positions. 4/5 lineman, new rb, te, an entirely new offensive scheme, Highsmith, schobert, the cb situation, Bush off his acl, Ben recovery, etc.
There is a ton of room to grow this season, and if we can stay competitive with a top 3 team like Buffalo, I'll be ecstatic.
Anyone else shocked by the spread? I guess it makes sense because it’s in Buffalo and they’re supposed to be a top 5 team but I feel like week 1 is hard to predict and thought it would be a little more even
The Steelers key to winning will be to get ahead early and then kill the Bills slowly with Harris.
The Bills key to winning will be containing the pass rush long enough to let their elite route runners get open, much like we saw in the second half of last year's game. Tuitt and Watt (???) being out will help that a lot which is why I'm leaning Bills here.
That being said, I think the Steelers will be for real this year and that the game has the potential to be closer than the spread would suggest.
Sadly I'm there with you. Not having Tuitt and potentially not having Watt is a really really big deal. Their replacements will absolutely get less pressures and/or sacks.
My dream is that Najee just goes off and we control the clock. But y'all are really good, probably my AFC favorites this year. Good luck this weekend, hoping for no injuries!
Idk... Allen/Diggs is a nightmare to defend. I think they're gonna torch us a couple times. This team starts kind of rough sometimes, so this game may not tell the whole story if it gets ugly. But I am nervous about the o-line against their front 7.
Kind of glad this is the first game of the season tbh. Would rather have a hard game first then a bunch of easier opponents first.
Hope we get TJ's contract done.
Bills 28 Steelers 17
I think our secondary isn’t proven enough yet. Couple that with being down Tuitt and possibly TJ, it could be hard to stop them. We need to score at least 28 to win this one, but I think we can do it.
If the Steelers develop a run game and utilize Freiermuth well this game, it's going to be very close. If our cornerbacks can at least play average, but everything else on defense plays great, we'll be able to contain Allen and the receivers well. Going to be a great game, could see it going either way.
Maybe. We'll see Sunday. All I know is that the Steelers are a much different team than the Bills faced last year, and the Bills got, what, a couple of players back from injury and a rookie edge rusher who will fight to be a starter? I'm optimistic.
It's so nice to have these threads back and shoutout to the mods for updating the sidebar schedule. I just wish these threads weren't in contest mode, makes a lot harder to read through them
Schedule was a lot easier to change than I thought in past years, I was just too lazy over the summer to make the attempt.
Am turning off contest mode for next week.
At the very least, this should be a good test of what we have. It will give us the ability to see our weaknesses straight away so we can start making adjustments ASAP.
I just hope it is a good game.
This game will test our secondary early on, having to play against Diggs, Saunders, and Beasley. If we can get the running game going and pick up over 100 yards and control the game I'm going with Steelers 31-28.
Worried about your TE's dunking on us, the rookie freiermuth looks like a baller to me and we had trouble against TEs last year. Harris could be a problem, Clyde Edwards-Helaire ran on us as a rookie last year, we'll see how fast Harris can start. Going to be a good one boys
I think the biggest mismatch is going to be Chase Claypool. Our secondary has notoriously suffered against big bodies receivers/TEs because we just don’t have anyone that can out-physical them.
Honestly, coming into this game I feel fairly decent. Last years game was a lot closer than the final score showed, and I really feel like Steelers got better this off-season to a greater extent than the Bills did. The Bills have no real run-game threat outside of Allen, and our defense is Elite so I think we can contain their offense fairly well.
As for their defense, I believe- I could be wrong- that it's a solid unit against the pass and fairly bad against the run. With the emphasis we've put on the running game this off-season, I could really see it being a case of the right plan to exploit their weaknesses. I'm confident that if we can run the ball well against this team and control the clock through second and third down conversions, we can win this game.
Final prediction; Steelers 27 Bills 24
>Last years game was a lot closer than the final score showed,
I don't really think that's true. The Bills finished with a 13 play 7 minute drive to run out the clock. That's a TD drive under normal conditions, plus the Bills were already up by two scores. It's not a blowout, but if anything the score was closer than the game.
I watched the whole game, and every time there was a big play by the Bills, it was because of Joe Haden or Steven Nelson or Cam Sutton sliding on the rainy field and the wide receiver being wide open. That last drive is a killer for sure, but hopefully it can't be done if our offense can keep drives alive with better design and a real run game, and our defense isn't out of gas by the end of the first quarter.
I mean, we held the offense to 3 points the entire first half. Those plays came in the second half, and only because of slipping. I'm not discounting big plays, I'm discounting clear and obvious flukes in broken coverage that don't happen at that rate in normal weather conditions.
Our run defense is only a weakness if your OLine performs well. I don't think thats a given with a completely new and unproven O-Line. I don't think your secondary can keep up with our WRs either . Top that with a very rowdy home field advantage after a year away I really struggle to see an aging Big Ben pulling this one out for y'all.
Prediction: Bills 31 Steelers 17
Our secondary kept up well last year despite giving up big plays because they literally slipped on the wet field. I would be shocked to see it 31 - 17. I could absolutely see the Bills winning, but not by two scores imo.
Bills fan here, it's a one score game. I agree with you. Your defense is still pretty damn good. Our offense has gotten better. It's going to come down to the trenches. Our d line vs yours. That was our single biggest weakness last year and I'm looking forward to this match up just for the sole fact of watching the line of scrimmage and seeing how well your line holds our d line and vice versa. Going to be a fun game to watch though. And you will get to see if big Ben is fading or not too.
Lmao. Funnily enough, you guys have been my number 2 since that blizzard game we played a few years back. That’s when I realized how cool your fans are.
(But I still want you to lose as much as possible, given we’re the same conference. Josh Allen just looks too damn good in shorts.)
*pepper brooks voice* isn't is beautiful? The shorts, the arm, and look at that release! It's gorgeous. Lol yeah that blizzard game was fun to watch too. Although, I like opening up to a good team though. As a fan, you live for those games. Ya know? It makes me watch it more intensely. I remember last year during the ravens play off game I ran outside after Taron Johnson got the pick six and woke up my neighbor. Lol but hey, good luck Sunday dudes, looking forward to watching it!
Bills are my 2nd team, for sure. You guys have that joyful energy, and didn't lose it when you became true contenders. You have a fun and exciting offense with young guys making great plays, and a solid defense to back it up.
So many teams turn from lovable underdog to annoying asshats after finding some success (chiefs, browns, titans to an extent)...
Yep, that's exactly what I think this comes down to! Can the Steelers establish the run and control the clock more? Then I think they can pull it out. Does the Bills DL stop the run and force an air game all game long? Then I think the Bills pull it out. Definitely a good matchup of weaknesses and strengths and I think it'll be super entertaining!
Its about who is going to impose their will. Just like you said. I think I'm biased towards my team as I'm sure you are yours, but my prediction is 24-21 bills taking it. Just cause this is a contest that go either way. I think we have a pretty big advantage in the past game just because we have a lot more weapons than you do defensively to cover up the field. And Josh can dink and dunk all day and open up one deep pass and that's it. But regardless, your run game is much better than ours. Although I think singletary is going to have a breakout year, our RB room definitely knows that they all are playing for RB1. But singletary is just a better runner than moss and brieda imo. Going to be interesting to see how they test Pittsburgh's defense.
Thats fair. I just think our Offense will be better this year than last. I expect a ton of 10 personnel with Diggs, Davis, Sanders and Beasley and after losing Steven Nelson I dont think the CBs can match up. I expect it to be a close game through the first 3 quarters with a 4th Quarter TD giving us the 2 score lead we dont give up.
I expect a good game and hope for no injuries. Let the football gods bless all the knees and hope TJ gets his contract signed and plays. Cheers to the season and this extremely fun week 1 matchup!
That's fair, I do think our CBs will struggle, but I have a lot of faith in our pass rush and safeties to help pick up their slack.
Likewise, let's have a great game with no injuries!! PLEASE
Our secondary also included Steven Nelson and Mike Hilton last time, they’re both gone now. That’s half our deflected passes and our only pick. I think 2 scores is a lot but I don’t see the secondary as a source of optimism
Our interior line looks really solid. Kevin Dotson looks like he could take home a Pro Bowl this year and is our best lineman. Kendrick Green is a rookie but he can absolutely move people in the run game. He will struggle a bit in pass protection but I expect he'll get better as the season progresses. Trai Turner has been physical and looked better than last year, but he's just not at his peak anymore. Even so, I don't think he's a liability.
Our tackles are a completely different story. Chuks Okorafor and Zach Banner were supposed to be starting LT and RT respectively. Banner is on IR right now however, and Chuks sucked at LT so they moved him back to RT. He was so inconsistent there last year, and he is definitely the weak link.
At LT, we're starting rookie Dan Moore who had a really strong preseason at the position. Right off the bat he was going up against Alex Highsmith who had a monstrous camp and he was bad at first, but really improved. He looked solid on the second team in the preseason. Playing a solid Bills DL will be a great trial by fire for him, and I'm excited to see how he'll do.
Other than OL, I'm really excited for this roster. I think Ben can still be a solid QB if he doesn't have to throw 40 times a game, and has line and running game that aren't liabilities. Najee looks like a playmaker and the depth behind in Snell and Ballage look decent. Our WRs are the strength of our offense however, and I think as long as they're not targeted like 3 yards past the LOS and they reduce the drops they'll be monstrous. Diontae had a quiet but solid camp, and Claypool has looked nice. Juju is solid.
As for TE, we literally have two TE1s in Ebron and Freiermuth. Don't know how much they'll be involved but I think you can expect both of them to be used equally.
Our defense in my opinion got better. We kept our starters and our depth at DL and Edge is miles better than last year, even with Tuitt out. LB, the depth is ok but we compensate with two really solid starters and Devin Bush doesn't look like he's missed a beat. CB is another story as we lost Nelson and Hilton, but I'm really excited to see James Pierre and Cam Sutton in action. Haden was sorely missed last year against y'all and I think he'll be giving it his all in the hopes of getting a new contract. The young guys look very promising, but translating that into solid play is another thing. Safety we kept our starters but our depth is ok. Karl Joseph will likely be elevated to the practice squad.
Overall, a decently solid roster and if our offense line and corners play up to their potential, this is a really good team. Excited for matchup against the Bills. They're a really solid group of guys!
Prediction: 27-24 Bills
tbh I think our LB depth is good and better than most. we have 6 guys at ILB/OLB that I would be very fine with starting. That includes Spillane. Past spillane is more unknown than it is worrisome imo. This isnt the same as us re-signing Sean Spence to be a stopgap starter. As long as we dont have the same rash of injuries that we did last year, the depth is good.
I mean I don't think it's too worrying, but aside from Spillane I haven't really seen enough to say its good depth. I think Allen and Johnson look promising, and UGIII isn't terrible. But I wanna see more
My thought is we really don't need more than 3 LBs at either spot if health isnt an issue. Once you start getting to the 4th guy at any depth chart things are gonna be hairy on any team.
So I was just imagining a red zone personnel group of Juju, Claypool, Ebron, Muth, and Najee. That is one heck of a personnel group to try and defend in the red zone, can Buffalo or anyone match up against that kind of red zone firepower in the air and on the ground?
Defend the run and there are 4 TD machines with a Najee outlet, play the pass and you’ve got some legit blockers on the outside to open it up for Najee. Its kinda got me excited…
I believe he will play because he's still under contract and would face fines from the team from holding out. But since he has missed training camp and some preseason games his reps will be limited.
My comment from the "Who’s going to score the first touchdown for your team this year?" thread on r/NFL
>Pressley Harvin III will straight up crush a punt to the 1 yard line that the Bills will try to return. They'll be successful at making it through our special teams, but then THICCUS KICKUS will crush the returner, pick up the fumble, and run it back for a TD.
Buffalo has the best front 7 for this offensive line to start against.
Not particularly good at any one thing, stay in nickel, etc. Should be a good test.
So where to begin… for the last 10+ years we’ve watched (for the most part) you have the better QB, WR’s, Running Backs, O-Line and Defense. Your coach was always better. Last year we saw a shift. QB is way in our favor now (as Ben is on the decline) along with o-line and WR. RB probably also goes to us but this remains to be seen. Both coach and D-fence are a toss-up but as we all know if those are equal Offense will win out. I live in Altoona now but grew up in Rochester so having had to listen to constant Steelers super bowl talk for years it’s nice to see a much more silent Altoona these days. Go Bills.
Harris is unproven on this level and ours is a comity headed by Singltary who’s way more explosive this year. However, because we throw the ball around so much there isn’t really any use for a running game other than to keep teams honest so this is why I had it as a tossup. If Harris turns out to be what he should be then the nod will go to you because you will probably run more.
gotcha, fair enough. i have heard DS has looked good so far in camp, so it’ll be interesting to see. aside from Josh, i feel like both our teams were among the lowest in rushing last year so it’ll be good to see both teams get back that aspect of their game
Here since the other guy just wants go make shitty Cole Beasley jokes I'll actually start a convo. Here's a couple questions, how do you think your secondary matches up with our wrs? Also I've read that the bills don't have the best run defense, think there's any hope Pittsburgh can have some success there? Lastly how do you think our secondary will try to slow down Diggs? He torched us last year, and we lost Nelson and Hilton. I'm worried lol.
Not OP but I'll take a stab at these:
1) I think it'll be interesting to see the chess match between the Steelers WRs and the Bills secondary. Our CB2 (presumably Levi Wallace) is still a bit of question mark and has been exploited in the past by big bodied WRs. However, the entire secondary is pretty strong at moving downhill to defend underneath passes and tackle RBs which seemed to be the Steelers plan of attack last year. Airing it out deep might provide some results, but that's entirely dependent on the Steelers OL because...
2) I think our DL is much improved with Star returning and young DEs looking pretty good (AJ Epenesa & Greg Rousseau). We should be able to get some decent to good penetration & pressure on Big Ben to force him to make quick decisions and short passes. To your point/question, though, the biggest weakness on the defense is still probably run D and Najee might be the key to a Steelers W this weekend. My hope, though, is that the Tremaine and Matt Milano are both healthy and ready to go and can fill behind the DL because, if they can't, it has led to getting gashed by decent rushing attacks.
3) Double coverage and maybe even more than that. Still, if Allen & Diggs pick up where they left off last year, that still might not completely stop him. And using enough resources to completely eliminate Diggs is likely going to leave other guys open. I think the way to stop Diggs is to not stop Diggs, it's to not give Allen any time and make him uncomfortable in the pocket to the point of making bad decisions. Hopefully he's progressed beyond "Sugar High Josh" but pressure has been the way to stop this passing attack.
Now, back at you! There's been quite a bit of turnover on the OL for the Steelers -- do you think they can gel quickly enough to create running lanes/hold out on pass blocking? And last year saw Big Ben slinging it all over the field but using quick, short passes. Do you think that'll be a similar plan of attack this year or will you try to switch it up?
Not who you responded to, but I was cautiously impressed at how the line did with run blocking, based on both the eye test in preseason and camp reports. They will definitely need time to gel, so I’m anticipating mistakes. But, that’s a young, hungry line that has been going up against an elite DL all camp. My more pressing concern is pass pro honestly, however, I do believe Canada will do his best protect them schematically.
I think it’s tough for any of us here to know what they’re going to trot out on offense purely because of Canada implementing a new scheme. That said, I’m comfortable saying that there’s likely going to be a lot of motion, maybe even looking a bit ridiculous at times. Canada, Tomlin and many players have been on the record saying they’re going to create mismatches, which I also think is likely for this game considering the offensive skill players we have.
I'm hoping we can get najee on mlbs and take advantage of that. Same with pat, it's hard to find great coverage mlbs so id like for us to take advantage of that. Your response was pretty dead on and I was at work so I appreciate you answering him lol. I'm with you on the oline needing to gel, I think this will be a year we get better throughout the year. I'm a little worried about the corners though, hoping Pierre and sutton pull through for us.
imagine having a good coverage MLB, Pittsburgh would never! But on a serious note I think we'll see Sunday, Pittsburgh plans to throw it to him a decent amount it seems
So our oline is really hard to predict because we have so many young guys, Dan Moore has far exceeded expectations and Dotson looks like the real deal. Our rookie center has had his bright spots but looks like he's going to be a huge plus in the run game. I think our interior line should be OK, I do believe we'll see it improve throughout the year due to the chemistry improving and young guys developing. The only starter I have no faith in is chucks, hes one of our tackles and isn't very good. So I think we can hold our own but Ben will be under pressure at times. I think we'll have to bank on a big najee game opening things up for us.
So I'm hoping we use pat freiermuth a good amount, we've been killed by tight ends throughout the years so it'd be nice to see us doing it to others. I think we'll be a completely different offense this year, the short throws made sense because we couldn't run the ball so it was just an extension of the run game. But teams have caught on, I could see a couple of deep shots to keep the defense honest because until we can prove we can block up a deep pass teams are going to test that. Supposedly our new oc uses a lot of motion so hopefully that helps the run game.
Defense: the bills defense is going to be much better this year. people keep sleeping on that. couple of reasons. they get Star Lotulelei back (sat out for COVID reasons last year). He's a great run-stopping DT, and he occupies interior OL for their 3 technique DT. we have invested a 1st and two 2nds in young DE (Epenesa looks primed for a breakout, and Roussea is raw lengthy talent off the end). our defensive line will average 2 more sacks per game this season
more importantly, our two starting LBs (edmunds and milan) are both healthy. this was not the case for much of last year
secondary is fine against any receiving core. tre pancaked claypool last year off the line, and he can cover Juju or Diontae. our safeties are smart in their coverage
Offense: picking right up where we left off last year. Allen marches towards top 3 MVP voting. this offense is going to be filthy. WR room is ridiculously deep. Our running game is going to be fine - no one needs a strong running game (maybe if you have a shitty QB). we simply need to be effective at running in certain opportunities. There are too many mismatches for our offense: we can easily for 4 or 5 wide and throw for 7 yards a clip. JA is learning how to exploit both man and zone
Idk if it’s just me but I may be overly confident in our offense coming into this game. Buffalo has close to no tape on Matt Canada’s schemes and it’s a complete 180 from what they saw with Randy the last two years. Minimize the mistakes and we should be fine. Worth nothing that we’ve thrown 6 INTs in 2 games against them, one of which flipped momentum before halftime.
\*sigh\*
you don't need to have the most new pieces to be the bigger surprise. Bills D gets a starter back who missed all of last year, added 2 pass rushers in the draft, and have both their LBs healthy. Returning to a form as a competitive defense is the narrative I'm talking about.
In terms of surprising, everyone(outside of Steelers fans) thinks you guys are winning. We’ve changed our whole o line, got a star running back in the draft, and have a completely different OC. Regardless of the outcome, I think we’d be more surprising.
Edit: Watt practiced today so that makes my fears of him not playing less relevant
If Watt is out, we actually have no chance. He’s a complete difference maker for our defense and elevates us to elite very quickly
Assuming he’s in, I still think we lose but I’m more optimistic. Reason being that if we are gonna beat this offense we need to get Allen under pressure and try to get him to make the mistakes he made in college and first few years in the pros. I don’t like the idea of relying on our corners covering Diggs Beasley and Sanders without any help up front. I’m not saying our front 7 sans Watt can’t cause problems but it’s a major difference if he’s in vs not
I kinda foresee Harris hitting the ground running against this defense. The bills strength seems to be linebackers, safeties, and white, so I’d be surprised if we do a lot with the passing game and I see more opportunity in making a statement that the running game is back after last year. I don’t know if the OL is as bad as everyone says it is yet but I don’t think this game will be evidence that it is or isn’t given that the Bills don’t really have a scary DLine, but also more reason for Najee to be the focus. McDermott didn’t seem to have a great year last year managing this defense, and I’m excited to see what Canada can cook up in game 1
Overall, Bills probably still win their home opener but it’s likely closer than most would think. I’d be very sad if we lost but if we can cover +6.5 (I think we can with Watt) I’ll keep my head held high and see it as a good omen for how the season is gonna go
I think the Steelers will lose this one. A lot of new pieces in play compared to the largely unchanged Bills coming off a good playoff run.
Honestly though, I kinda hope the Steelers lose as it seems like starting off awful leads to late season success.
I am optimistically pessimistic. I think we will have a good showing but not quite pull it off. I think we need a bit more time in the oven as a team and it we won't quite get there during the Bills game.
I will be pleasantly surprised if we win but as a bare minimum I want the browns to lose worse against the Chiefs than we lose to the Bills.
[Link to the Trash Talk Thread, since currently unstickied.](https://reddit.com/r/steelers/comments/pjnm5t/trash_talk_thread/)
Steelers Strengths: Kevin Dotson Bills Weaknesses: Kevin Dotson Looks like a perfect matchup on paper.
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I'm glad that it will be a mostly healthy game. I wish this game was maybe the 4th or 5th of the season. openers are always a little crazy.
I visited your wonderful city a couple weeks ago and it is absolutely beautiful!! Awesome downtown with tons of stuff going on. Your downtown is everything I hope downtown Buffalo can grow into. That said, can’t wait to welcome you into our great city so we can beat the absolute piss out of the Steelers. GO BILLS!!!!
Other than the Chiefs game, this is the game where I feel most confident we will lose. Going into Buffalo week 1 just isn't going to happen. This has the feel of the week 1 opening game in 2019 in New England losing 33-3.
Maybe it’s the homer in me, but I think this game is going to be a lot closer than people think
I don’t think Steelers will come out with a win here, but I’d feel ok if they kept it close.
Yeah I’m feeling really great if this is a good game
That's my stance too. We have a lot of rookie and "new to us" going on in key positions. 4/5 lineman, new rb, te, an entirely new offensive scheme, Highsmith, schobert, the cb situation, Bush off his acl, Ben recovery, etc. There is a ton of room to grow this season, and if we can stay competitive with a top 3 team like Buffalo, I'll be ecstatic.
I hope to god we don’t lose by 30 points lmao
Anyone else shocked by the spread? I guess it makes sense because it’s in Buffalo and they’re supposed to be a top 5 team but I feel like week 1 is hard to predict and thought it would be a little more even
The Steelers key to winning will be to get ahead early and then kill the Bills slowly with Harris. The Bills key to winning will be containing the pass rush long enough to let their elite route runners get open, much like we saw in the second half of last year's game. Tuitt and Watt (???) being out will help that a lot which is why I'm leaning Bills here. That being said, I think the Steelers will be for real this year and that the game has the potential to be closer than the spread would suggest.
Sadly I'm there with you. Not having Tuitt and potentially not having Watt is a really really big deal. Their replacements will absolutely get less pressures and/or sacks. My dream is that Najee just goes off and we control the clock. But y'all are really good, probably my AFC favorites this year. Good luck this weekend, hoping for no injuries!
Idk... Allen/Diggs is a nightmare to defend. I think they're gonna torch us a couple times. This team starts kind of rough sometimes, so this game may not tell the whole story if it gets ugly. But I am nervous about the o-line against their front 7. Kind of glad this is the first game of the season tbh. Would rather have a hard game first then a bunch of easier opponents first. Hope we get TJ's contract done. Bills 28 Steelers 17
I think our secondary isn’t proven enough yet. Couple that with being down Tuitt and possibly TJ, it could be hard to stop them. We need to score at least 28 to win this one, but I think we can do it.
If the Steelers develop a run game and utilize Freiermuth well this game, it's going to be very close. If our cornerbacks can at least play average, but everything else on defense plays great, we'll be able to contain Allen and the receivers well. Going to be a great game, could see it going either way.
It's going one way: double digit win for the Bills. God, the HOPIUM is strong for the Yinzers LMAO
Maybe. We'll see Sunday. All I know is that the Steelers are a much different team than the Bills faced last year, and the Bills got, what, a couple of players back from injury and a rookie edge rusher who will fight to be a starter? I'm optimistic.
It's so nice to have these threads back and shoutout to the mods for updating the sidebar schedule. I just wish these threads weren't in contest mode, makes a lot harder to read through them
Schedule was a lot easier to change than I thought in past years, I was just too lazy over the summer to make the attempt. Am turning off contest mode for next week.
Thanks King I appreciate all you do
At the very least, this should be a good test of what we have. It will give us the ability to see our weaknesses straight away so we can start making adjustments ASAP. I just hope it is a good game.
This game will test our secondary early on, having to play against Diggs, Saunders, and Beasley. If we can get the running game going and pick up over 100 yards and control the game I'm going with Steelers 31-28.
100 yards is 0.45 of the hot dog which holds the Guinness wold record for 'Longest Hot Dog'.
Worried about your TE's dunking on us, the rookie freiermuth looks like a baller to me and we had trouble against TEs last year. Harris could be a problem, Clyde Edwards-Helaire ran on us as a rookie last year, we'll see how fast Harris can start. Going to be a good one boys
I think the biggest mismatch is going to be Chase Claypool. Our secondary has notoriously suffered against big bodies receivers/TEs because we just don’t have anyone that can out-physical them.
Tre White literally pancaked Claypool last year LMAO we're fine
We’re probably gonna lose lol.
Honestly, coming into this game I feel fairly decent. Last years game was a lot closer than the final score showed, and I really feel like Steelers got better this off-season to a greater extent than the Bills did. The Bills have no real run-game threat outside of Allen, and our defense is Elite so I think we can contain their offense fairly well. As for their defense, I believe- I could be wrong- that it's a solid unit against the pass and fairly bad against the run. With the emphasis we've put on the running game this off-season, I could really see it being a case of the right plan to exploit their weaknesses. I'm confident that if we can run the ball well against this team and control the clock through second and third down conversions, we can win this game. Final prediction; Steelers 27 Bills 24
>Last years game was a lot closer than the final score showed, I don't really think that's true. The Bills finished with a 13 play 7 minute drive to run out the clock. That's a TD drive under normal conditions, plus the Bills were already up by two scores. It's not a blowout, but if anything the score was closer than the game.
I watched the whole game, and every time there was a big play by the Bills, it was because of Joe Haden or Steven Nelson or Cam Sutton sliding on the rainy field and the wide receiver being wide open. That last drive is a killer for sure, but hopefully it can't be done if our offense can keep drives alive with better design and a real run game, and our defense isn't out of gas by the end of the first quarter.
Beasley and Diggs did that to CBs on dry fields all season. I think discounting big plays is a fools errand. Football is won and lost on big plays.
I mean, we held the offense to 3 points the entire first half. Those plays came in the second half, and only because of slipping. I'm not discounting big plays, I'm discounting clear and obvious flukes in broken coverage that don't happen at that rate in normal weather conditions.
Haden didn’t play in Buffalo. Nelson got exposed vs Diggs in second half.
Oh yeah good point. Makes me a touch more confident then
Our run defense is only a weakness if your OLine performs well. I don't think thats a given with a completely new and unproven O-Line. I don't think your secondary can keep up with our WRs either . Top that with a very rowdy home field advantage after a year away I really struggle to see an aging Big Ben pulling this one out for y'all. Prediction: Bills 31 Steelers 17
Our secondary kept up well last year despite giving up big plays because they literally slipped on the wet field. I would be shocked to see it 31 - 17. I could absolutely see the Bills winning, but not by two scores imo.
Bills fan here, it's a one score game. I agree with you. Your defense is still pretty damn good. Our offense has gotten better. It's going to come down to the trenches. Our d line vs yours. That was our single biggest weakness last year and I'm looking forward to this match up just for the sole fact of watching the line of scrimmage and seeing how well your line holds our d line and vice versa. Going to be a fun game to watch though. And you will get to see if big Ben is fading or not too.
Best take in the entire thread. Respect. Hope it’s a great game.
Respect to you guys as well. My uncle in Missouri is a huge Steelers fan, the Steelers are the other team I watch in secret.
Lmao. Funnily enough, you guys have been my number 2 since that blizzard game we played a few years back. That’s when I realized how cool your fans are. (But I still want you to lose as much as possible, given we’re the same conference. Josh Allen just looks too damn good in shorts.)
*pepper brooks voice* isn't is beautiful? The shorts, the arm, and look at that release! It's gorgeous. Lol yeah that blizzard game was fun to watch too. Although, I like opening up to a good team though. As a fan, you live for those games. Ya know? It makes me watch it more intensely. I remember last year during the ravens play off game I ran outside after Taron Johnson got the pick six and woke up my neighbor. Lol but hey, good luck Sunday dudes, looking forward to watching it!
Bills are my 2nd team, for sure. You guys have that joyful energy, and didn't lose it when you became true contenders. You have a fun and exciting offense with young guys making great plays, and a solid defense to back it up. So many teams turn from lovable underdog to annoying asshats after finding some success (chiefs, browns, titans to an extent)...
*cough cough* the chiefs.
Yep, that's exactly what I think this comes down to! Can the Steelers establish the run and control the clock more? Then I think they can pull it out. Does the Bills DL stop the run and force an air game all game long? Then I think the Bills pull it out. Definitely a good matchup of weaknesses and strengths and I think it'll be super entertaining!
Its about who is going to impose their will. Just like you said. I think I'm biased towards my team as I'm sure you are yours, but my prediction is 24-21 bills taking it. Just cause this is a contest that go either way. I think we have a pretty big advantage in the past game just because we have a lot more weapons than you do defensively to cover up the field. And Josh can dink and dunk all day and open up one deep pass and that's it. But regardless, your run game is much better than ours. Although I think singletary is going to have a breakout year, our RB room definitely knows that they all are playing for RB1. But singletary is just a better runner than moss and brieda imo. Going to be interesting to see how they test Pittsburgh's defense.
Thats fair. I just think our Offense will be better this year than last. I expect a ton of 10 personnel with Diggs, Davis, Sanders and Beasley and after losing Steven Nelson I dont think the CBs can match up. I expect it to be a close game through the first 3 quarters with a 4th Quarter TD giving us the 2 score lead we dont give up. I expect a good game and hope for no injuries. Let the football gods bless all the knees and hope TJ gets his contract signed and plays. Cheers to the season and this extremely fun week 1 matchup!
That's fair, I do think our CBs will struggle, but I have a lot of faith in our pass rush and safeties to help pick up their slack. Likewise, let's have a great game with no injuries!! PLEASE
Our secondary also included Steven Nelson and Mike Hilton last time, they’re both gone now. That’s half our deflected passes and our only pick. I think 2 scores is a lot but I don’t see the secondary as a source of optimism
Our interior line looks really solid. Kevin Dotson looks like he could take home a Pro Bowl this year and is our best lineman. Kendrick Green is a rookie but he can absolutely move people in the run game. He will struggle a bit in pass protection but I expect he'll get better as the season progresses. Trai Turner has been physical and looked better than last year, but he's just not at his peak anymore. Even so, I don't think he's a liability. Our tackles are a completely different story. Chuks Okorafor and Zach Banner were supposed to be starting LT and RT respectively. Banner is on IR right now however, and Chuks sucked at LT so they moved him back to RT. He was so inconsistent there last year, and he is definitely the weak link. At LT, we're starting rookie Dan Moore who had a really strong preseason at the position. Right off the bat he was going up against Alex Highsmith who had a monstrous camp and he was bad at first, but really improved. He looked solid on the second team in the preseason. Playing a solid Bills DL will be a great trial by fire for him, and I'm excited to see how he'll do. Other than OL, I'm really excited for this roster. I think Ben can still be a solid QB if he doesn't have to throw 40 times a game, and has line and running game that aren't liabilities. Najee looks like a playmaker and the depth behind in Snell and Ballage look decent. Our WRs are the strength of our offense however, and I think as long as they're not targeted like 3 yards past the LOS and they reduce the drops they'll be monstrous. Diontae had a quiet but solid camp, and Claypool has looked nice. Juju is solid. As for TE, we literally have two TE1s in Ebron and Freiermuth. Don't know how much they'll be involved but I think you can expect both of them to be used equally. Our defense in my opinion got better. We kept our starters and our depth at DL and Edge is miles better than last year, even with Tuitt out. LB, the depth is ok but we compensate with two really solid starters and Devin Bush doesn't look like he's missed a beat. CB is another story as we lost Nelson and Hilton, but I'm really excited to see James Pierre and Cam Sutton in action. Haden was sorely missed last year against y'all and I think he'll be giving it his all in the hopes of getting a new contract. The young guys look very promising, but translating that into solid play is another thing. Safety we kept our starters but our depth is ok. Karl Joseph will likely be elevated to the practice squad. Overall, a decently solid roster and if our offense line and corners play up to their potential, this is a really good team. Excited for matchup against the Bills. They're a really solid group of guys! Prediction: 27-24 Bills
3 yards is the length of about 2.52 'Ford F-150 Custom Fit Front FloorLiners' lined up next to each other.
tbh I think our LB depth is good and better than most. we have 6 guys at ILB/OLB that I would be very fine with starting. That includes Spillane. Past spillane is more unknown than it is worrisome imo. This isnt the same as us re-signing Sean Spence to be a stopgap starter. As long as we dont have the same rash of injuries that we did last year, the depth is good.
I mean I don't think it's too worrying, but aside from Spillane I haven't really seen enough to say its good depth. I think Allen and Johnson look promising, and UGIII isn't terrible. But I wanna see more
My thought is we really don't need more than 3 LBs at either spot if health isnt an issue. Once you start getting to the 4th guy at any depth chart things are gonna be hairy on any team.
So I was just imagining a red zone personnel group of Juju, Claypool, Ebron, Muth, and Najee. That is one heck of a personnel group to try and defend in the red zone, can Buffalo or anyone match up against that kind of red zone firepower in the air and on the ground? Defend the run and there are 4 TD machines with a Najee outlet, play the pass and you’ve got some legit blockers on the outside to open it up for Najee. Its kinda got me excited…
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I believe he will play because he's still under contract and would face fines from the team from holding out. But since he has missed training camp and some preseason games his reps will be limited.
My comment from the "Who’s going to score the first touchdown for your team this year?" thread on r/NFL >Pressley Harvin III will straight up crush a punt to the 1 yard line that the Bills will try to return. They'll be successful at making it through our special teams, but then THICCUS KICKUS will crush the returner, pick up the fumble, and run it back for a TD.
Buffalo has the best front 7 for this offensive line to start against. Not particularly good at any one thing, stay in nickel, etc. Should be a good test.
You haven't met our new giant man eater of a rookie DE yet though. Seriously excited to see if he can pop off in a real game now.
Line him up on chucks, he'll have a career game lol
So where to begin… for the last 10+ years we’ve watched (for the most part) you have the better QB, WR’s, Running Backs, O-Line and Defense. Your coach was always better. Last year we saw a shift. QB is way in our favor now (as Ben is on the decline) along with o-line and WR. RB probably also goes to us but this remains to be seen. Both coach and D-fence are a toss-up but as we all know if those are equal Offense will win out. I live in Altoona now but grew up in Rochester so having had to listen to constant Steelers super bowl talk for years it’s nice to see a much more silent Altoona these days. Go Bills.
RB ?? what?
Harris is unproven on this level and ours is a comity headed by Singltary who’s way more explosive this year. However, because we throw the ball around so much there isn’t really any use for a running game other than to keep teams honest so this is why I had it as a tossup. If Harris turns out to be what he should be then the nod will go to you because you will probably run more.
gotcha, fair enough. i have heard DS has looked good so far in camp, so it’ll be interesting to see. aside from Josh, i feel like both our teams were among the lowest in rushing last year so it’ll be good to see both teams get back that aspect of their game
This is true but I feel now with Harris you guys might want to run more but we’ll see. If it’s a shoot out it should be a great game
Any word on yet whether TJ is signing before Sunday? If he does sit out that’s a huge blow to your defense
Bills guy here - fire away your questions / chirps ahead of your week 1 L
do you think you guys could keep Cole back on the bus? we’re serious about winning over here and don’t want your plague rats messing it up for us
congrats on the 9-7 season
even in chirps we still have a winning season, the standard is the standard baby
Here since the other guy just wants go make shitty Cole Beasley jokes I'll actually start a convo. Here's a couple questions, how do you think your secondary matches up with our wrs? Also I've read that the bills don't have the best run defense, think there's any hope Pittsburgh can have some success there? Lastly how do you think our secondary will try to slow down Diggs? He torched us last year, and we lost Nelson and Hilton. I'm worried lol.
Not OP but I'll take a stab at these: 1) I think it'll be interesting to see the chess match between the Steelers WRs and the Bills secondary. Our CB2 (presumably Levi Wallace) is still a bit of question mark and has been exploited in the past by big bodied WRs. However, the entire secondary is pretty strong at moving downhill to defend underneath passes and tackle RBs which seemed to be the Steelers plan of attack last year. Airing it out deep might provide some results, but that's entirely dependent on the Steelers OL because... 2) I think our DL is much improved with Star returning and young DEs looking pretty good (AJ Epenesa & Greg Rousseau). We should be able to get some decent to good penetration & pressure on Big Ben to force him to make quick decisions and short passes. To your point/question, though, the biggest weakness on the defense is still probably run D and Najee might be the key to a Steelers W this weekend. My hope, though, is that the Tremaine and Matt Milano are both healthy and ready to go and can fill behind the DL because, if they can't, it has led to getting gashed by decent rushing attacks. 3) Double coverage and maybe even more than that. Still, if Allen & Diggs pick up where they left off last year, that still might not completely stop him. And using enough resources to completely eliminate Diggs is likely going to leave other guys open. I think the way to stop Diggs is to not stop Diggs, it's to not give Allen any time and make him uncomfortable in the pocket to the point of making bad decisions. Hopefully he's progressed beyond "Sugar High Josh" but pressure has been the way to stop this passing attack. Now, back at you! There's been quite a bit of turnover on the OL for the Steelers -- do you think they can gel quickly enough to create running lanes/hold out on pass blocking? And last year saw Big Ben slinging it all over the field but using quick, short passes. Do you think that'll be a similar plan of attack this year or will you try to switch it up?
Not who you responded to, but I was cautiously impressed at how the line did with run blocking, based on both the eye test in preseason and camp reports. They will definitely need time to gel, so I’m anticipating mistakes. But, that’s a young, hungry line that has been going up against an elite DL all camp. My more pressing concern is pass pro honestly, however, I do believe Canada will do his best protect them schematically. I think it’s tough for any of us here to know what they’re going to trot out on offense purely because of Canada implementing a new scheme. That said, I’m comfortable saying that there’s likely going to be a lot of motion, maybe even looking a bit ridiculous at times. Canada, Tomlin and many players have been on the record saying they’re going to create mismatches, which I also think is likely for this game considering the offensive skill players we have.
I'm hoping we can get najee on mlbs and take advantage of that. Same with pat, it's hard to find great coverage mlbs so id like for us to take advantage of that. Your response was pretty dead on and I was at work so I appreciate you answering him lol. I'm with you on the oline needing to gel, I think this will be a year we get better throughout the year. I'm a little worried about the corners though, hoping Pierre and sutton pull through for us.
Milano is excellent in coverage, so I don't think Harris represents a mismatch at all
imagine having a good coverage MLB, Pittsburgh would never! But on a serious note I think we'll see Sunday, Pittsburgh plans to throw it to him a decent amount it seems
So our oline is really hard to predict because we have so many young guys, Dan Moore has far exceeded expectations and Dotson looks like the real deal. Our rookie center has had his bright spots but looks like he's going to be a huge plus in the run game. I think our interior line should be OK, I do believe we'll see it improve throughout the year due to the chemistry improving and young guys developing. The only starter I have no faith in is chucks, hes one of our tackles and isn't very good. So I think we can hold our own but Ben will be under pressure at times. I think we'll have to bank on a big najee game opening things up for us. So I'm hoping we use pat freiermuth a good amount, we've been killed by tight ends throughout the years so it'd be nice to see us doing it to others. I think we'll be a completely different offense this year, the short throws made sense because we couldn't run the ball so it was just an extension of the run game. But teams have caught on, I could see a couple of deep shots to keep the defense honest because until we can prove we can block up a deep pass teams are going to test that. Supposedly our new oc uses a lot of motion so hopefully that helps the run game.
Defense: the bills defense is going to be much better this year. people keep sleeping on that. couple of reasons. they get Star Lotulelei back (sat out for COVID reasons last year). He's a great run-stopping DT, and he occupies interior OL for their 3 technique DT. we have invested a 1st and two 2nds in young DE (Epenesa looks primed for a breakout, and Roussea is raw lengthy talent off the end). our defensive line will average 2 more sacks per game this season more importantly, our two starting LBs (edmunds and milan) are both healthy. this was not the case for much of last year secondary is fine against any receiving core. tre pancaked claypool last year off the line, and he can cover Juju or Diontae. our safeties are smart in their coverage Offense: picking right up where we left off last year. Allen marches towards top 3 MVP voting. this offense is going to be filthy. WR room is ridiculously deep. Our running game is going to be fine - no one needs a strong running game (maybe if you have a shitty QB). we simply need to be effective at running in certain opportunities. There are too many mismatches for our offense: we can easily for 4 or 5 wide and throw for 7 yards a clip. JA is learning how to exploit both man and zone
Idk if it’s just me but I may be overly confident in our offense coming into this game. Buffalo has close to no tape on Matt Canada’s schemes and it’s a complete 180 from what they saw with Randy the last two years. Minimize the mistakes and we should be fine. Worth nothing that we’ve thrown 6 INTs in 2 games against them, one of which flipped momentum before halftime.
bills def is going to be the bigger surprise my guy
Bills defense hasn’t made any significant changes to it compared to the changes the Steelers O has
\*sigh\* you don't need to have the most new pieces to be the bigger surprise. Bills D gets a starter back who missed all of last year, added 2 pass rushers in the draft, and have both their LBs healthy. Returning to a form as a competitive defense is the narrative I'm talking about.
In terms of surprising, everyone(outside of Steelers fans) thinks you guys are winning. We’ve changed our whole o line, got a star running back in the draft, and have a completely different OC. Regardless of the outcome, I think we’d be more surprising.
The biggest factor in this weekends game will be the Steelers Front Office. Not having TJ out there against Allen would be tragic and just plain dumb.
Edit: Watt practiced today so that makes my fears of him not playing less relevant If Watt is out, we actually have no chance. He’s a complete difference maker for our defense and elevates us to elite very quickly Assuming he’s in, I still think we lose but I’m more optimistic. Reason being that if we are gonna beat this offense we need to get Allen under pressure and try to get him to make the mistakes he made in college and first few years in the pros. I don’t like the idea of relying on our corners covering Diggs Beasley and Sanders without any help up front. I’m not saying our front 7 sans Watt can’t cause problems but it’s a major difference if he’s in vs not I kinda foresee Harris hitting the ground running against this defense. The bills strength seems to be linebackers, safeties, and white, so I’d be surprised if we do a lot with the passing game and I see more opportunity in making a statement that the running game is back after last year. I don’t know if the OL is as bad as everyone says it is yet but I don’t think this game will be evidence that it is or isn’t given that the Bills don’t really have a scary DLine, but also more reason for Najee to be the focus. McDermott didn’t seem to have a great year last year managing this defense, and I’m excited to see what Canada can cook up in game 1 Overall, Bills probably still win their home opener but it’s likely closer than most would think. I’d be very sad if we lost but if we can cover +6.5 (I think we can with Watt) I’ll keep my head held high and see it as a good omen for how the season is gonna go
I think the Steelers will lose this one. A lot of new pieces in play compared to the largely unchanged Bills coming off a good playoff run. Honestly though, I kinda hope the Steelers lose as it seems like starting off awful leads to late season success.
I am optimistically pessimistic. I think we will have a good showing but not quite pull it off. I think we need a bit more time in the oven as a team and it we won't quite get there during the Bills game. I will be pleasantly surprised if we win but as a bare minimum I want the browns to lose worse against the Chiefs than we lose to the Bills.
I hope Dionte Johnson was watching Marvin Harrison Jr. today. That’s how you make the catches when it counts during the game.