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Week 2 Game Recap: Buffalo Bills 3, Pittsburgh Steelers 26
What you need to know
| Buffalo Bills |
The Bills came into the game last in the NFL in total yards on offense after week one. They did little to improve on that mark. After gaining only 184 yards against the Denver Broncos in the opener, Buffalo managed only 223 yards against the Steelers defense. The Bills were especially ineffective in the first half. They mustered only a single first down and 58 total yards before halftime. The offense played better after halftime, but only was able to put points on the board after Terrence McGee returned the second half kickoff to the Pittsburgh 32 yard line.
Rookie Marshawn Lynch had a respectable effort in his second NFL game. He carried 18 times for 64 yards. Lynch exhibited a mix of power and speed that should serve him well in his career. His long run went for 12 yards, but he just missed breaking a couple of his carries into really big gains.
J.P. Losman struggled to move the chains and put points on the board. Losman completed 60 percent of his passes for 154 yards, but was unable to lead any drives into the end zone. In his defense, Losman faced a heavy rush throughout the game and was usually forced to hurry throws or scramble.
After a breakout season last year, Lee Evans has struggled so far this year. He caught only two passes for 17 yards. For the season, he now has only four receptions for 22 yards.
Buffalo's defense played without starters Ko Simpson, Jason Webster, and Coy Wire and tried its best to bend but not break, but finally succumbed to the Pittsburgh attack. The Bills held the Steelers to four field goals in the first half despite almost no help from the offense. After the Bills closed the game to 12-3, the defense finally broke and allowed the Pittsburgh offense to go on a nine play touchdown drive to effectively seal the game.
| Pittsburgh Steelers |
The Steelers beat up on an opponent for the second straight week to open the season. Pittsburgh dominated Buffalo, especially in the first half when the Steelers ran 44 plays to the Bills' 16 and outgained Buffalo 239-58. Pittsburgh totaled 14 first downs prior to halftime while holding Buffalo to one. The only thing the Steelers struggled to do in the first half was to reach the end zone. They came close twice, but had to settle for four Jeff Reed field goals and a 12-0 lead. After allowing the Bills to score a field goal on the opening possession of the second half, the Steelers answered with their first touchdown drive of the game to make the score 19-3.
Ben Roethlisberger ran an efficient game plan and spread his 21 completions to nine different receivers. When pressured, Roethlisberger was able to buy time and avoid the rush. He finished the game completing 21 of his 34 passes for 242 yards and one touchdown. Roethlisberger was intercepted once when he tried to hit Santonio Holmes on a bomb. He underthrew the pass just enough to allow safety Jim Leonhard time to close and pick it off. With the game in hand, Roethlisberger was relieved by Charlie Batch for the last few minutes of the game.
Willie Parker was effective throughout the game. He ran for 70 first half yards and finished the game with 126 yards and a touchdown. Most of Parker's big gains came on runs to the outside, but he did have a couple of strong power runs through the middle of the Bills defense. Parker is off to a quick start and has opened the season with consecutive 100 yard games.
Pittsburgh's defense played aggressively until late in the game and put consistent pressure on J.P. Losman, sacking him four times and forcing him to scramble numerous others. The Steelers have allowed only ten points in their first two contests and have outscored their opponents by 50 points.
What you ought to know
| QB J.P. Losman, Pass: 15 - 25 - 154 - 0 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 4 - 38 - 0 |
Losman opened the season passing for only 97 yards with a 57.0 rating. He completed 60 percent of his passes against the Steelers, but totaled only 154 yards passing for the game. In two games, he has passed for just over 250 yards with no touchdowns.
Losman had only five pass attempts in the first half. He completed two of them for 23 yards. He was better in the second half completing 13 of his 20 throws for 131 yards. Losman throws a nice deep pass and nearly connected for touchdowns twice with Lee Evans. Both passes were well thrown. Evans should have been called for offensive pass interference on the first occasion, but then failed to hang on to the pass anyway. On the second attempt, Evans was able to get only one hand on the ball due to what could have been a defensive pass interference penalty. Most of Losman's other passes came on short routes and dump-offs. The Steeler defense blitzed often and pressured Losman frequently. Losman was sacked and fumbled once. He was able to scamper for 38 yards on four scrambles, finishing second on the team in rushing yardage.
| RB Marshawn Lynch, Rush: 18 - 64 - 0, Rec: 1 - 21 - 0 (1 targets) |
Rookie running back Marshawn Lynch had another solid game considering that Pittsburgh is a tough defense to run on and Buffalo's offense did little to support him, especially in the first half. Lynch averaged just over 3.5 yards per carry, but narrowly missed breaking off a couple of long runs. He also nearly had a touchdown run, but knee his touched down at the Pittsburgh five yard line. On the play Lynch called upon his arsenal of skills to make tacklers miss and break tackles to make what looked like a short game into a near touchdown. After pirouetting and seemingly breaking a tackle, his knee was correctly ruled down. A Losman incompletion followed on third down and Buffalo had to settle for a field goal.
Lynch caught his only target and turned it into a 21 yard gain.
| RB Anthony Thomas (1 targets) |
Thomas' only rushing attempt was a three yard gain that was called back due to a penalty. Thomas played mostly on passing downs because he is better at pass protection than Marshawn Lynch. He was targeted once as a safety valve. He also recovered a Losman fumble on a fourth down play, but was not able to get past the line of scrimmage.
| WR Roscoe Parrish, Rec: 6 - 56 - 0 (9 targets) |
Parrish benefited from the injury to Josh Reed and played more extensively in this game. He was Buffalo's most targeted receiver and led them in receptions and yardage. Despite his big play ability, Parrish was targeted mostly on short routes.
| WR Peerless Price, Rec: 3 - 33 - 0 (5 targets) |
Price recorded receptions of two and 22 yards. He was used as Buffalo's third receiver in the game.
| WR Lee Evans, Rec: 2 - 17 - 0 (7 targets) |
Evans has not been able to get on track so far this season. He recorded only catches of nine and eight yards on seven targets and now has only four receptions for 22 yards on the season.
Evans was targeted on deep routes twice in the end zone. On the first play, he appeared to get away with pushing Ike Taylor, but still was unable to hold the well thrown Losman pass. On the second occasion, Evans appeared to be the victim of pass interference and was able to get only one hand on the pass. Visibly upset, Evans yelled at the referee and received an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for the second consecutive play.
| WR Josh Reed |
Reed was inactive for the game with a thigh injury.
| TE Ryan Neufeld, Rec: 1 - 8 - 0 (1 targets) |
Neufeld's only target resulted in an eight yard reception.
| TE Robert Royal, Rec: 1 - 5 - 0 (1 targets) |
Royal caught one five yard pass.
| TE Michael Gaines, Rec: 1 - 14 - 0 (1 targets) |
Gaines, who was recently signed off waivers from the Panthers, caught his only target and converted a first down.
| PK Rian Lindell 1 - 1 FG, 0 - 0 XP, 3 points |
Lindell made good on his only chance, a short 24 yard field goal.
| BUF Rush Defense |
The Bill defense allowed Pittsburgh to control the line of scrimmage and dominate time of possession. The Steelers rushed for 184 yards and averaged 5.6 yards per attempt. Willie Parker rushed for 126 yards and reeled off a handful of big gains including an eleven yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter. Parker ran up the middle and was barely touched.
| BUF Pass Defense |
Ben Roethlisberger attempted 29 passes in the first half. He was successful on 16 of them and spread the ball around as the Steelers ran a balanced offense and controlled the clock. Buffalo allowed the Steelers to dominate the clock, but was able to keep them out of the end zone until the second half, when Roethlisberger hit rookie tight end Matt Spaeth for a one yard touchdown on a play action pass.
| QB Ben Roethlisberger, Pass: 21 - 34 - 242 - 1 TD / 1 INT, Rush: 1 - 10 - 0 |
The Steelers mixed the run and the pass effectively and dominated for most of the game. Roethlisberger threw often in the first half, completing 16 of 29 passes for 155 yards. Roethlisberger was mostly sharp enough and efficient. He spread his 21 completions to nine different receivers. He did throw one interception on a deep attempt to Santonio Holmes on the first play of the Steelers' second possession. Holmes was well covered and Roethlisberger slightly underthrew the ball, which allowed safety Jim Leonhard enough time to range over and make the interception.
Roethlisberger had a couple of other errant throws that could have resulted in interceptions. He also threw low to a wide open Dan Kreider on a swing pass that might have gone for a touchdown. Roethlisberger had a perfect second half, completing all five of his passes for 87 yards. He hit rookie tight end Matt Spaeth for a one yard touchdown on a play action pass to open the Pittsburgh scoring after halftime.
| QB Charlie Batch, Rush: 2 - -2 - 0 |
Batch replaced Roethlisberger for the Steelers' final possession. He handed the ball off to Najeh Davenport five straight times and then was credited with two yards lost on two kneel down plays to end the game.
| RB Willie Parker, Rush: 23 - 126 - 1, Rec: 2 - 7 - 0 (2 targets) |
Parker has rushed for over 100 yards in both games this season. He used his speed to get outside for big gainers, but also was able to use his power to gain yardage in the middle of the line. Parker had six runs of at least nine yards, including an eleven yard touchdown run, where he was barely touched. Parker caught two passes. He gained eight yards on the first and lost a yard on the second.
| RB Najeh Davenport, Rush: 6 - 46 - 0, Rec: 2 - 11 - 0 (2 targets) |
Davenport had one carry for no gain early in the third quarter. During the Steelers' final possession, he took five consecutive handoffs and gained 46 yards to close out the game. He caught two screen passes for eleven yards.
| RB Carey Davis, Rush: 1 - 4 - 0, Rec: 1 - 0 - 0 (1 targets) |
Davis had one carry for four yards in the first half. He caught a screen pass on the next play, but couldn't find any room to run.
| RB Dan Kreider (1 targets) |
Kreider was open in the flat and had plenty of room to run on a third and two play from the Buffalo ten yard line, but Roethlisberger's pass fell short and the Steelers settled for a field goal.
| WR Hines Ward, Rec: 5 - 55 - 0 (9 targets) |
Ward was Roethlisberger's favorite target in the game. He led Pittsburgh with five receptions. Ward had a long gain of 21 yards. Ward nearly had a diving touchdown catch in the first half, but the ball touched the ground before he had complete control.
| WR Nate Washington, Rec: 3 - 60 - 0 (4 targets) |
Washington was targeted four times, mostly downfield. He had a pretty leaping catch on a high throw in heavy traffic, but also dropped a pass.
| WR Santonio Holmes, Rec: 3 - 53 - 0 (6 targets) |
Holmes caught half of his targets for gains of nine, 21, and 30 yards. The Steelers sent Holmes deep on the first play of their second possession, but he was well covered and the pass was intercepted.
| WR Cedrick Wilson, Rec: 1 - 12 - 0 (2 targets) |
Wilson caught one pass for a 12 yard gain. He made another nice grab along the sideline, but Roethlisberger threw the ball a little too wide for Wilson to get his feet down in bounds.
| TE Heath Miller, Rec: 2 - 34 - 0 (3 targets) |
Miller had receptions for five and 29 yards.
| TE Matt Spaeth, Rec: 2 - 10 - 1 (2 targets) |
Spaeth had a nine yard reception and added a one yard touchdown catch for the Steelers' first touchdown of the game. He now has two touchdowns among his three career receptions.
| PK Jeff Reed 4 - 4 FG, 2 - 2 XP, 14 points |
Reed had a perfect day. He hit field goals of 34, 28, 39 and 31 yards and converted both of his extra point tries.
| PIT Rush Defense |
The Steelers limited Marshawn Lynch to 64 yards on 18 attempts. Lynch was barely stopped on a couple of plays that could have gone for big gains. J.P. Losman was able to scramble four times for 38 yards to bring Buffalo's total rushing yards to 102. Overall, the Steeler defense was very effective. Buffalo had only one first down and 58 yards in the first half. James Farrior led the team with eight solo tackles and two assists.
| PIT Pass Defense |
The Steelers held J.P. Losman to two completions (for 23 yards) on five attempts in the first half. The defense was very aggressive for most of the contest and put pressure on Losman throughout the game. The Steelers registered four sacks and forced Losman to run numerous times. James Harrison, Larry Foote, Brett Keisel, and LaMarr Woodley each had sacks. Foote's forced a Losman fumble. Deshea Townsend contributed seven solo tackles and an assist.
Losman had a better second half, but was still limited to 154 passing yards for the game. The Steelers have held their opponents to ten points in two games, lowest in the NFL. James Harrison was injured on the final play of the first half and was taken from the field on a backboard. He later returned to the sideline and was walking around with no trouble.
