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There’s one similarity between the Pittsburgh Steelers’ upcoming playoff game against the Buffalo Bills and one of the franchise’s most iconic wins. Sunday’s game is between two teams that have won a combined eight straight games. In January 1979, the Steelers prevailed against the Dallas Cowboys in a Super Bowl that featured two teams that had won a combined 15 straight contests.
Pittsburgh defeated Dallas back then by making more big plays, receiving better quarterback play and capitalizing on two major Cowboys mistakes. The Steelers will look to do similar things Sunday against a Bills team that has won five straight games after a 6-6 start.
Buffalo is currently a whopping 10-point favorite over Pittsburgh, according to Caesars Sportsbook. While that might seem like too much, it’s easy to see the oddsmakers’ likely point of view.
The Bills finished the regular season with the league’s sixth-ranked scoring offense and fourth-ranked scoring defense. Buffalo’s offense is led by the prolific trio of quarterback Josh Allen, wideout Stefon Diggs and Pro Bowl running back James Cook. Its defense, led by Leonard Floyd, sacked opposing quarterbacks 54 times during the regular season. The unit also recorded an impressive 18 interceptions.
Couple the Bills’ strengths along with the facts that the Steelers are playing with a third-string quarterback and without Defensive Player of the Year candidate T.J. Watt, one can see why the Steelers are heavy underdogs. Don’t, however, assume that the Steelers will go down gently, especially if this is in fact Mike Tomlin’s last run as Pittsburgh’s coach.
In fact, don’t be surprised if the Steelers evoke memories of the ’05 title team by beating Buffalo. Here are three reasons why Pittsburgh will beat Buffalo on Sunday.
1. Punishing running game
Like the ’05 Steelers, Pittsburgh has a formidable running back duo. A big reason for the…
Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/2024-nfl-playoffs-three-reasons-why-steelers-will-beat-bills-in-super-wild-card-weekend/
Author : Bryan DeArdo
Publish date : 2024-01-11 00:53:11
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