Looking Good in Throwbacks, Steelers Slam Bills 26-3

So the throwbacks were not that pretty.  As far as the defense went, it sure looked like a thing of beauty.  The Steelers defense played like the glory days of the Steel Curtain, pounding the Buffalo Bills on Sunday 26-3 at Hinez Field.  The win for the Steelers means that they are 2-0, and they have outscored their two opponents 70-10 in two games, beating the Browns and now Bills.  The offense for the Bills was null and void most of the afternoon, only gaining 223 total yards, 10 first downs, and QB JP Losman was 15-for-25 for 154 yards and he was sacked 3 times for 25 yards.  The Steelers defense did what it did in week one, they swarmed to the ball, didn’t allow any real big plays, and gave their offense plenty of opportunities.

As for the Steelers offense, it was not quite as effective as it was vs the Browns last week, but did manage four Jeff Reed first half field goals, and then put the game away in the second half with a TD from QB Ben Roethlisberger to rookie TE Matt Spaeth, and an 11-yard run from Willie Parker to make it 26-3.

The Bills defense just was spent by the time the second half rolled around, as they were all the field way too much in the first half due to the fact their offense could not get anything going.  Pittsburgh went 13 plays, 58 yards and kicked a first quarter field goal to make it 3-0.  In the second quarter, the team put together 3 scoring drives, all field goals.  The drives covered 14, 10 and 10 plays, covering a total of 186 yards.  Again, the Bills defense could not get off the field, and when they did, the Bills offense was able to run just 7 offensive plays.

The third quarter saw the Bills get their only points, coming after a long kickoff return, and it was a short field goal after Losman was unable to get the team in the end zone.  Pittsburgh then put the game away, driving 62 yards in 9 plays, and after Parker got them close, Roethlisberger hit Spaeth for the 1-yard score to make it 19-3.  Parker then went off in the fourth quarter, scoring on an 11-yard run to give them the easy 26-3 win.  Pittsburgh’s offense put up 416 net yards, 23 first downs, and rushed for 180 yards to go along with 230 passing yards for Big Ben.  Once again, the Steelers looked like the Super Bowl champs from two seasons ago instead of the bumbling, stumbling Steelers that began 2006 with a mark of 2-6.

The Steelers will look to make it 3-0 next week when they host Alex Smith, Frank Gore and the 49’ers at home at 1pm next Sunday.