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 Monday in an AFC wild-card playoff game that was postponed a day because of a lake-effect snowstorm.
The Highmark Stadium stands erupted with snow thrown into the air like confetti when Allen threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to Khalil Shakir with 6:27 remaining, restoring a two-touchdown lead to Buffalo. Shakir caught the pass at the 10-yard line and then slipped Minkah Fitzpatrick’s tackle attempt by spinning before outrunning the rest of the 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 No. 3-seeded Kansas City Chiefs in the divisional round on Sunday night. The Bills have longed for a home playoff game against the Chiefs after their 2020 and 2021 seasons ended with playoff losses in Kansas City.
“It’s going to take a team effort, they’re playing really good football right now, we know what kind of team they have, what kind of quarterback they have with Pat (Mahomes) there, so we need everyone.” in the Bills Mafia to support us,” Allen said after the game.
Allen finished 21 of 30 for 203 yards and ran for 74 yards on eight carries, becoming the first quarterback in NFL playoff history to throw three or more TD passes while rushing for 70 or more yards and a score.
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 their fifth straight playoff game; The franchise’s most recent postseason victory came exactly seven years ago.
The Steelers came out flat, allowing Buffalo to score touchdowns on three of their first five possessions and build a 21-0 lead on Allen’s electrifying touchdown run midway through the second quarter. But Pittsburgh got back into the game by blocking a field goal attempt late in the second quarter, leading to a touchdown.
Rudolph, a longtime backup, took over for the injured Kenny Pickett and the ineffective Mitch Trubisky to lead the Steelers to three straight wins to end the regular season and got the playoff start even after Pickett recovered of an ankle injury.
Buffalo had to wait an extra day to host the Steelers after a dangerous snowstorm dumped more than two feet of snow on the region, forcing the NFL to hold the game back from its scheduled Sunday afternoon start.
The elements didn’t play much of a role. Although the temperature was around -8 degrees Celsius, the sky was clear and there was only a light breeze at Lake Erie.