By Timothy An

Sunday, Dec. 13 at 8:20 P.M. EST

NBC

Spread: Bills, -2.0

The Pittsburgh Steelers face the Buffalo Bills on Sunday Night Football in one of the most highly anticipated matchups of the season. The Steelers currently stand at 11-1, first in the AFC, while the Bills are 9-3 and the third seed in the AFC. Not only does this game have heavy playoff implications in terms of seeding for both these teams, but it will also give us a clear picture of how good the AFC is behind the Kansas City Chiefs.

This is one of the most exciting games of the season and I expect a great matchup between these two top teams in the AFC.

Pittsburgh Steelers

The Pittsburgh Steelers enter Week 14 after coming off of their first loss of the season against the Washington Football Team. This was a devastating loss, but the Steelers have an opportunity here to make everyone forget about their one loss and recognize them as a top tier Super Bowl contender. The Steelers defense has been one of the scariest units in the whole league this season, but they haven’t faced a team as talented as the Buffalo Bills offensively all season. This is the toughest matchup the Steelers have faced all season, and this is their chance to prove their doubters wrong and establish themselves as one of the best teams in football. 

Steelers Offense

While the Steelers defense gets all the attention, their offensive unit has been pretty solid as well. This offensive unit ranks 7th in the league in points per game averaging 27.8.

They are led by their passing attack, featuring veteran QB Ben Roethlisberger who has thrown for 3,105 yards and 27 touchdowns to just 7 interceptions so far this season. He can attribute this success to his offensive line's ability to protect the quarterback. The Steelers offensive line ranked number one in the entire league in sacks allowed, only giving up 0.8 a game. Roethlisberger has had a lot of time in the pocket due to his offensive line’s great blocking, and this has allowed their talented receiving core to put up amazing numbers this season.

The Steelers seem to have three receivers on their roster capable of being number one receivers for other teams in WR Diontae Johnson, WR Chase Claypool, and WR Juju Smith-Schuster. Adding TE Eric Ebron and fourth WR James Washington to this group makes them arguably the most talented set of offensive weapons in the league. The only issue the Steelers seem to face on the offensive side of the ball is in their running game.

They rank 29th in the league, rushing for only 92.6 yards per game. This is a worrying sign for a team that expects to make a deep run in the playoffs. One dimensional teams get in trouble against well-coached teams in the playoffs, and the Steelers must figure out a way to turn this running attack around if they want a shot at beating the more talented teams in the NFL. 

Steelers Defense

The Steelers defensive unit is, in my opinion, the scariest unit in all of football on either side of the ball. They rank first in points allowed, only giving up 17.6 points per game. They seem to have no real weaknesses on their roster, ranking 2nd in passing yards allowed, giving up only 199.8 a game, and 6th in rushing yards allowed, only giving up 100.7 yards a game. The only trouble this unit has is that they have suffered two major injuries to ILB Devin Bush and OLB Bud Dupree who are both ruled out for the rest of the season. These are two major blows to this defensive unit, but they still have the talent and depth to remain one of the top defensive units heading into the playoffs. This team starts with their front seven, who lead the league in sacks, averaging 3.7 a game.

This all starts with All-Pro OLB TJ Watt who is having a DPOY-caliber season with a whopping 12 sacks, 44 tackles, 21 tackles for loss, and 6 passes defensed with one interception and forced fumble. This man has been on an absolute tear this season, and when you combine his talent with veteran DE Stephon Tuitt, DT Cameron Heyward, OLB Bud Dupree, and LB Vince Williams, you have an absolutely lethal defensive front seven in terms of both pass rushing and run stuffing.

This secondary is no joke too.

They lead the league in interceptions with 16 this season and feature some absolute studs in S Minkah Fitzpatrick, S Terrell Edmunds, CB Steven Nelson, and CB Joe Haden. This defensive unit has no weakness whatsoever. They are good in all aspects from limiting opposing offenses yards and creating turnovers with ease. This Bills offensive unit is in for a tough matchup this upcoming Sunday night. 

Buffalo Bills

The Buffalo Bills are coming off a strong victory over the San Francisco 49ers, and seem to be on a great roll as of late. What many people fail to realize, is that the Buffalo Bills record may be 9-3, but they should be a 10-2 team in reality. They lost one of their games due to a Hail Mary against the Arizona Cardinals, and this shouldn’t really be recognized as a Cardinals victory as it was one late, some would call lucky, play at the end of the game.

I see this Bills team as a super talented team that has many great victories, specifically against the Seahawks, Rams, Dolphins, and 49ers. The Bills have a chance to establish themselves as the second-best team in the AFC, and I hope they come out to play against the Steelers and give us an exciting matchup on primetime Sunday night. 

Bills Offense

The Buffalo Bills offensive unit is the strength of this team, ranking 8th in the league, averaging 27.8 points per game. They are specifically dominant in the passing game, throwing for 276.4 passing yards per game.

Third-year quarterback Josh Allen has been stellar this season, ranking 6th in both passing yards and touchdowns, throwing for 3,403 passing yards along with 26 touchdowns with just eight interceptions.

The addition of newly acquired wide receiver Stefon Diggs has been a huge addition to this team, leading the NFL in receptions with 90, and ranking 5th in yards with 1,037 and 4 touchdowns.

This wide receiving core also features veteran WR Cole Beasley, WR John Brown, and TE Dawson Knox. The offensive weapons surrounding Josh Allen do not even compare to the weapons Ben Roethlisberger has in Pittsburgh, but the Bills have been good at running gimmicky plays that allow the Bills to accumulate yards at an effective rate. Where the Bills seem to struggle is in their running attack. Both their RBs, Devin Singletary and Zack Moss, just have not been able to get anything going all season.

The Steelers’ defense is way too talented to be beaten with a one-dimensional offense, so the Bills running attack has to find their rhythm if they want any chance of defeating the Steelers on Sunday night. 

Bills Defense 

The Bills defensive unit as a whole ranks as a pretty average unit in the league, ranking 19th in points allowed, giving up 25.5 points per game.

Their weakness defensively comes in their run defense, as they rank 24th in the league in terms of rushing yards allowed. Against the Steelers, who have a poor rushing attack, this shouldn’t be too much of an issue, but if the Steelers can capitalize on this weakness then the Bills will be in for a long night. While this defensive unit is not considered elite by any means, they do feature a variety of playmakers in their secondary.

They have one of the top corners in the NFL in CB Tre’Davious White and include two former All-Pro safeties in Micah Hyde and Jordan Poyer. If these three players in the secondary can contain the Steelers flurry of offensive weapons, they may have a chance of slowing down this Steelers offense, so that Josh Allen can keep up with them on the scoreboard.

In the front seven, the Bills also have some young, talent in DE AJ Epenesa, LB Tremaine Edmunds, and DT Ed Oliver, who will have to step up and play to their potential to stop this Steelers offense. 

The Prediction

This will be a great matchup between two of the top teams in the NFL with major playoff implications. No matter the result, I think we will learn a lot about both football teams heading into the playoffs. I think the Steelers will come out strong, after their embarrassing upset loss last week to the Washington  Football Team. They will come out with success throwing and running the football, putting up a ton of points against the Bills. I think the Bills’ offense will be able to expose the Steelers’ defense better than any other one of their opponents.

However, this Steelers defense is still extremely talented and will not allow the Bills to score over 30 points. 

AJ’S PREDICTION: Bills 31 - 20

TIM’S PREDICTION: Steelers 34 - 24

Follow Timothy on Twitter @timothyan1