It was billed as a defensive battle by a lot of analysts, and Sunday's Bills 17-10 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers to clinch a playoff berth did not disappoint.
Buffalo's defense made life miserable for "Duck" Hodges, making his fourth straight start for the Steelers. It was a return to reality for Hodges, getting picked off four times a week after he had a career game going 16/19 against the Arizona Cardinals in his first year playing in the NFL.
The Steelers were also plagued with fumbles, with four total. Pittsburgh would recover three of the four, but the one they lost was costly, losing the ball on a running play inside the red zone with less than two minutes to play in the first half, with Buffalo leading 7-3 at that point.
The defense helped Josh Allen, who wasn't at his best on Sunday night, but did enough to get the Bills in position to tie the game in the fourth quarter after the Steelers took a 10-7 lead on the first drive of the second half.
And then he found Tyler Kroft inside the end zone later on in the fourth quarter to cement the win.
But it wasn't easy down the stretch, with the Steelers marching down the field twice only to be picked off in Buffalo territory. Tre'davious White sealed the victory for the Bills by picking off Hodges in the end zone with seconds left to play in the 4th Quarter.
The win is Buffalo's 10th win of the season, the first time that the Bills have seen a double-digit win count since the 1999 season, the last time the Bills had made the playoffs before their 2017 stint. The win also was Buffalo's first win at Pittsburgh since 1993.
It also guarantees that the Bills can do no worse than the #5 seed when it comes to the upcoming playoffs. They still have a chance to improve their seeding next week when the Bills travel to Foxboro to face the New England Patriots with the AFC East title still up for grabs.
Kickoff for the Week 16 game between the Buffalo Bills and the New England Patriots is this Saturday, 4:30pm. Pregame coverage will begin on FOX Sports Radio 97.9/1230 beginning at 2PM.
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