Steelers lose AFC top seed, 2nd game in row with defeat vs. Bills

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — The only bit of good news to come out of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ trip to western New York on Sunday was they clinched a playoff berth for the first time in three years before they took the field against the Buffalo Bills.

What transpired during the 60 minutes they spent playing the actual game at Bills Stadium had no other redeeming qualities.

The Steelers lost their grip on the top seed in the AFC, and they are no closer to clinching a division title than they were a week ago after a 26-15 defeat that was their second in six days.

The loss to the AFC East leaders dropped the Steelers to 11-2 and into the second playoff seed in the conference behind 12-1 Kansas City. The Bills, at 10-3, are on the Steelers’ heels, and the Cleveland Browns (9-3) have a chance Monday night to move within a game of the AFC North lead.

“We played like crap today,” defensive captain Cameron Heyward said. “It’s as simple as that.”

Everything went sour with a minute left in the first half and the Steelers holding a 7-3 lead. Ben Roethlisberger threw a pass that was intercepted and returned 51 yards for a touchdown, giving Buffalo a 9-7 advantage.

Held to 102 first-half yards by the Steelers’ injury riddled defense, the Bills rebounded after intermission behind Josh Allen, who threw two touchdown passes in the third quarter for a 23-7 lead that wasn’t seriously threatened. Allen had 166 of his 238 passing yards in the second half when the Bills totaled 232 yards and controlled the clock against the NFL’s third-ranked defense.

“They really heated up offensively,” coach Mike Tomlin said, “and we weren’t able to keep pace with them.”

The Steelers finished with 224 yards — the first time in six games they were held under 336 — and they possessed the ball for only 8 minutes, 20 seconds in the second half.

Roethlisberger completed 21 of 37 passes for 187 yards with two touchdowns — to James Washington and JuJu Smith-Schuster — but he was intercepted twice and had a season-low 65.9 passer rating. He also was sacked for the first time in 275 pass attempts dating to the third quarter of their Nov. 1 game at Baltimore.

The Steelers went 1 for 10 on third downs and were held to under 20 points for the third game in a row. They also failed to cure their sickly running game, getting 47 yards on 17 carries despite the return of starter James Conner.

“Offensively, we’re not very good,” Roethlisberger said. “Right now, we’re not playing good football, and it starts with me. We all need to look in the mirror, and it starts with me and understand we all need to be better. I think we will be.”

Roethlisberger was asked whether the Steelers have enough time before the playoffs start to get back on track. They don’t take the field again until Dec. 21 at Cincinnati.

“I hope so,” he said. “If I don’t play good enough football, I need to hang it up.”

The Steelers entered the game with Joe Haden, Robert Spillane and Vince Williams missing from a defense that already was minus Bud Dupree and Devin Bush. On offense, left guard Matt Feiler left with a pectoral injury in the first half and his replacement, rookie Kevin Dotson, followed him to the locker room with his own pec injury in the third quarter.

“You can be put in some tough situations,” Heyward said. “But it’s our job to battle through adversity.”

The Steelers did that for the first 28 minutes, getting two turnovers and holding a 7-0 lead until the Bills got a field goal with 1:42 left in the half. Taron Johnson’s 51-yard interception return just 50 seconds later not only provided the Bills with their first lead, it jolted them awake.

“I can’t do that at the end of the half,” Roethlisberger said. “Not just the turnover, but the points off it. That’s 110% on me.”

Buffalo took the second-half kickoff and went 68 yards in eight plays to take a 16-7 advantage on Allen’s 19-yard touchdown pass to Stefon Diggs.

After completing 10 of 23 passes for 76 yards in the first half, Allen was 5 for 5 on the drive, hooking up with Diggs four times for 42 yards. Diggs finished with 10 catches for 130 yards.

Allen and Diggs worked over the middle of the field again when the Bills got the ball back following a three-and-out. They had completions of 22 and 19 yards before Allen spotted Gabriel Davis for a 13-yard touchdown and 23-7 lead with 7:02 left in the third. The drive covered 57 yards in four plays.

“He was making quick decisions and getting the ball out quick,” Tomlin said of Allen. “With a quarterback like that having an MVP-caliber year, it’s going to be tough to hold him down for 60 minutes. He was able to figure things out and find some rhythm, and it made it tougher sledding for us.”

The Steelers answered with a touchdown on their third possession of the half, Roethlisberger finding Smith-Schuster for a 3-yard score to cap a 10-play, 81-yard drive. Eric Ebron caught the 2-point conversion attempt to pull the Steelers within 23-15 and 12:18 remaining.

Buffalo responded with an 11-play drive that ended with Tyler Bass’ 23-yard field goal for a 26-15 lead. Roethlisberger threw his second interception while looking deep for Washington on the next possession.

The Steelers never got the ball again, as Allen helped run off the final 7:11.

The first five drives for the Steelers ended in punts. Diontae Johnson was sent to the bench after he dropped passes on the first two possessions, and he didn’t return until the second half. Ebron also had a drop.

The Bills were equally inept, having four punts and two turnovers on their first six possessions.

The Steelers couldn’t manufacture anything after Mike Hilton’s interception in the first quarter. They were more fortunate after Cam Sutton recovered a fumble forced by Hilton at the Bills’ 30 with 9:36 left in the half.

It took three plays after the turnover for the Steelers to take a 7-0 lead. Following two runs by James Conner, one of which was fumbled and recovered by Smith-Schuster, Roethlisberger hit Washington in the middle of the end zone for a 19-yard score.

That would be the lone highlight of the first half and, arguably, the game.