ORCHARD PARK — Josh Allen threw three touchdown passes and scored on a franchise playoff-record 52-yard touchdown run, and the Buffalo Bills defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 31-17 on Sunday. The AFC Wild Card Playoff game was postponed for one day due to the following reasons: Lake effect snowstorm.
When Allen threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to Khalil Shakir with 6 minutes, 27 seconds left, giving Buffalo a two-touchdown lead, the stands at Highmark Stadium erupted in a flurry of confetti. became.
Shaquille caught a pass in the middle 10 over, rotated past Minkah Fitzpatrick's tackle attempt, and raced past the remaining Steelers defenders into the end zone.
The second-seeded Bills (12-6), who finished the regular season with five straight wins, will host Patrick Mahomes and the third-seeded Kansas City Chiefs in the regional round on Sunday night.
The Bills have been eager for a home playoff game against the Chiefs since the 2020 and 2021 seasons ended with a playoff loss in Kansas City.
Allen went 21-of-30 for 203 yards and ran for 74 yards on eight carries, making him the first player in NFL playoff history to throw three or more TD passes while rushing for more than 70 yards and a score. He became a quarterback.
Mason Rudolph threw two touchdown passes in his first playoff start for the Steelers (10-8), but Pittsburgh was too inconsistent on both sides of the ball to keep up with Allen and the Bills.
The Steelers lost five straight games in the playoffs. The last time the franchise won the postseason was exactly seven years ago.
The Steelers went undefeated and Buffalo scored touchdowns on three of their first five possessions, building a 21-0 lead midway through the second quarter on Allen's impressive touchdown run.
But Pittsburgh got back into the game late in the second quarter with a blocked field goal attempt and a touchdown.
Rudolph, a longtime backup, led the Steelers to three straight wins in place of an injured Kenny Pickett and an ineffective Mitch Trubisky, ending the regular season and starting the playoffs even after Pickett recovered from an ankle injury. Ta.
Buffalo will have to wait another day to host a game against the Steelers after a dangerous snowstorm that dumped more than 2 feet of snow in the area, and the NFL postponed the game from its scheduled Sunday afternoon start. did.
The factors did not have much influence. The temperature was in the teens, but the sky was clear and there was only a slight breeze coming off Lake Erie.
