Bills Ride Defense To Victory Over Steelers; Bills Mafia Greets Team At Airport As Buffalo Clinches Playoff Berth

The Bills clinched a NFL Wildcard playoff berth with a 17-10 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers Sunday. This marks only the second time in 20 years the Bills have reached the postseason.

The BIlls looked great on defense, never allowing Pittsburgh to get into a rhythm. Tre’Davious White lead the way for Buffalo with two interceptions and four tackles.

The Steelers relied on third string quarterback Devlin Hodges who replaced Mason Rudolph after the latter’s poor outing in a November 24 game against the Bengals. After last night’s terrible performance it wouldn’t be surprising if Rudolph is named the starter ahead of next week’s matchup against the Jets. Hodges finished the game throwing 23-38 for 202 yards with one touchdown pass and four interceptions. His quarterback rating of 43.5 was his worst of the season.

“You hate to lose, but I think after the first loss, how you respond is going to define who I am. I mean, yeah, I’m disappointed right now, but in a couple days I’m still going to be who I am. I’m still going to be confident, still going to know that I can get the job done,” Hodges said.

The Steelers couldn’t capitalize on their interception and only turnover of the game. After a bad snap in the redzone, Hodges tried to hand off the ball, but it wasn’t secured properly resulting in a recovered fumble by the Bills with two minutes left in the half. The Bills only allowed two scoring drives all game. One in the first half resulting in a field goal, and another early in the third quarter resulting in a touchdown.

Josh Allen didn’t have a stellar game, but did enough to get his team over the hump with a couple of big throws. He hit John Brown for multiple completions downfield, and hooked up with Tyler Kroft on a third down touchdown pass in the redzone during the fourth quarter to give the Bills a 17-10 lead. Allen finished with one passing touchdown, one rushing touchdown, and an interception to go along with 139 passing yards. Brown finished with 7 catches for 99 yards.

SLIDESHOW: 50 GREAT SPORTS FIGURES WHO DIED IN 2019

As the Bills’ jet landed in Buffalo at 2 a.m., hundreds of fans were waiting to greet the team. The “Bills Mafia” were going nuts in 25 degree weather as Allen took off his headphones nodding aggressively in their direction. He proceeded to greet the fans and took a “group selfie” with them. The Bills fan are right to be excited because the team hasn’t won ten or more games in a season since 1999. Their 10-4 record guarantees a wild-card spot, but they are still in the running to catch the AFC East division leading Patriots.

Article by Frank DeLorenzo