ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — On the bright side, Kenny Pickett may have gotten the most lopsided loss of his NFL career out of the way in his very first start. After all, it was the worst for the franchise in 33 years. He and the Steelers should hope that mark will stand, given that the Bills booted them into the stratosphere, 38-3, Sunday at Highmark Stadium.
Wait, no, that was Buffalo wideout Stefon Diggs who kicked a ball into the stands after his 15-yard touchdown catch, the Bills’ only punt of the first half. Yep, it was that ugly for the Steelers, who might have to wonder if the Pickett era started too early, too late or maybe just at the worst possible time — on the road facing the Super Bowl favorites.
The Bills looked every bit of that with their high-flying offense and punishing defense. Superstar quarterback Josh Allen racked up 400 total yards of offense before halftime, including first-half career highs of 348 yards passing and four touchdowns. Allen’s 98-yard strike to Gabe Davis barely a minute into the game was the longest touchdown allowed by the Steelers since 1966, the first of many indignities in what turned out to be their worst loss under Mike Tomlin and biggest blowout since a 51-0 home loss to the Browns in 1989.
It’s not necessarily that Pickett himself played poorly, though his interception late in the first half was badly underthrown as things just kept getting worse for the Steelers on both sides of the ball. He finished 34 of 52 for 327 yards passing and 10 yards rushing, without any backing from a functional run game and with a slew of mistakes by No. 1 wideout Diontae Johnson. Offensive coordinator Matt Canada’s lack of a more aggressive game plan also was curious, especially once the Steelers were in a deep hole. Chris Boswell even missed two field goals.
The Steelers also started losing players on defense due to injuries, with starters Larry Ogunjobi, Cam Sutton and Levi Wallace all leaving early and not returning, along with standout tight end Pat Freiermuth, who entered concussion protocol after a scary hit in the second half. But with a halftime deficit of 31-3, the health issues didn’t matter all that much.
It was over when: Davis burned Wallace (who had no safety help over the top from an out-of-position Tre Norwood replacing Terrell Edmunds) for the 98-yard score on 3rd-and-10 on the third snap of the game, followed by backup cornerback James Pierre muffing the ensuing kickoff while stepping in for Steven Sims, who sustained an eye injury in warmups after being active for the first time this season in place of Gunner Olszewski. Yes, you read that right. Obviously, there was plenty of game to play after that, and the Steelers even managed a field goal on their opening drive, but it felt like it wasn’t going their way from the outset.
Player of the game: Josh Allen. He’s arguably the best football player walking the earth, and he showed it yet again in a game when he was without his No. 1 tight end, top two slot receivers and a third injured wideout. It didn’t matter as he did whatever he wanted, other than his second-quarter interception, completing a touchdown to rookie Khalil Shakir and also rushing for 42 yards on five carries.
Trending up: Cam Heyward. It had been a quiet few weeks for the longest-tenured Steeler once his defensive co-captain T.J. Watt went to injured reserve. But Heyward bounced back and made plays, finishing with five tackles, a batted pass, a blocked field goal and even a forced fumble at the goal line to save a touchdown. He was also playing through ankle and elbow injuries that limited him in practice this week, but he refused to give up on a game that got away.
Trending down: Devin Bush. Of course, you could pick just about any member of the Steelers secondary here, but lots of defensive backs are going to get burned by Allen, Diggs and company. Bush had a few chances early on to help stem the tide and couldn’t make a play. Shakir caught one down the seam for 31 yards with Bush in coverage, unable to break it up. On the next play, Allen simply side-stepped him in the backfield and scrambled away for 16 yards. Bush also allowed a 13-yard completion to backup tight end Quintin Morris to pick up a first down going into the two-minute warning.
Next up: The Steelers head back to Acrisure Stadium next Sunday dragging their first four-game losing streak since 2016, trying to avoid a five-game skid for the first time since 2009 — but they have to face Tom Brady and a Tampa Bay team sitting at 3-2 with designs on another deep postseason run before Brady rides off into the sunset (another 15 years from now).
