Fixxxer Posted November 9, 2013 Share Posted November 9, 2013 http://www.billsdaily.com/gameday/ KEY MATCHUPS RT Erik Pears vs. OLB LaMarr Woodley: Pears did well last week but again faces a quality outside linebacker. Woodley leads the Steelers with five sacks. RB C.J. Spiller vs. LB Lawrence Timmons: They say Spiller's ankle injury is behind him. He showed some explosiveness last week. He needs a huge game this week and will need to look for Timmons who leads the way in tackles for Pittsburgh. DE Mario Williams vs. LT Kelvin Beachum: Williams is having a big second year in Buffalo and the Steelers offensive line have given up a whopping 32 sacks. This could be another big day for the Bills $100 Million man. CB Stephon Gilmore vs. WR Antonio Brown: Gilmore is still shaking off the rust after missing the early part of the season with a broken wrist. He now has the big club off and will be following Brown all over the field. KEYS TO THE GAME 1. Ball Security: The Bills have turned the ball over six times over the past two games and it has led to 31 points for their opponents. It's simple but not easy: Protect the ball and you have a better chance to win. 2. Goal Line Efficiency: The last few weeks the Bills offense has gone anemic the closer they got to the end zone. They need to get seven instead of three or nothing when they get down by the goal line if they are going to win this week. 3. Contain Roethlisberger: Big Ben is very good at escaping pressure. The Bills not only need to pressure him but they need to keep him from running around and buying time to make big plays. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
San Jose Bills Fan Posted November 9, 2013 Share Posted November 9, 2013 A lot here are talking about the decay of the Steelers front 7 but as big a story is the slide from perennially bad offensive line to horrible offensive line. Their two highly drafted OTs (I described Adams as Frankenstein-like before he was drafted, WTF were they thinking?) suck when healthy and are battling injuries. Pouncey is perhaps their best player and he's done for the season, and DeCastro was showing signs of improvement before getting injured. I think Foster is a bit dinged up too. The Steelers are still strong with offensive and defensive skill guys. Brown and Sanders are very good receivers. Heath is Heath and Bell looks like a nice running back. Troy, Woodley, and Simmons are past peak but still good players. In the trenches it looks like a mismatch in favor of the Bills but it's still Big Ben at home versus a very green rookie QB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Turk Posted November 9, 2013 Share Posted November 9, 2013 (edited) There's an argument they "should" have won 7 of their first 9 games. Two angry teams going into this game -- the difference is one knows they're better than their record and the other is just red-faced with embarrassment. It goes without saying the Bills need this W or the season can officially be written off (from a playoff perspective) -- but a convincing win would be even more important to give the Bills confidence going into the following week's rematch w/ Gangrene. Who's making that argument? Pittsburgh has been god awful in all except a few games Edited November 9, 2013 by matter2003 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted November 9, 2013 Share Posted November 9, 2013 Manny Lawson made the trip to Pgh. He'll play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
26CornerBlitz Posted November 9, 2013 Share Posted November 9, 2013 Manny Lawson made the trip to Pgh. He'll play. Good news. Thanks for the update. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YoloinOhio Posted November 10, 2013 Share Posted November 10, 2013 I appreciate and admire what the Steelers have done throughout the years. But I don't think I have taken them seriously ever since they let Tim Tebow beat them (on a pass, even!) in the playoffs in 2012. It was like their version of the Music City Miracle. I'm not sure they've ever quite recovered... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarleyNY Posted November 10, 2013 Share Posted November 10, 2013 I like Cotchery too. Both him and Brown are tough smart receivers who picked up some characteristics from Hines Ward before he retired. Neither one is the world's greatest athlete but they have great instincts and can really get their hands dirty. This will be a great matchup to watch Gilmore scrapping with them. As for Ben, yeah he can still play. But I don't think he's the same guy when he doesn't have the horses around him. He has a tendency to press too much and gets himself in trouble because of it. His habit of holding the ball is likely to create real problems for him against this defensive front. Right now he's creating almost as many problems as he's resolving. I hope this is the week he finally walks over to the sidelines after a series and punches Todd Haley in the face. And good point about their STs. Thoise units have had gremlins in them for the lat 15 years. I can't argue with much (any) of that. Especially the Todd Haley comment. He's been an abysmal OC IMO. His WCO version is a lot of dink and dunk which really hurts their run game and does not play to Roethlisberger's strengths. Still, I think Roethlisberger has been keeping them in a lot of games. They do still have solid WRs, but no special one or viable deep threat - not that Haley would take advantage of it if they did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarleyNY Posted November 10, 2013 Share Posted November 10, 2013 Who's making that argument? Pittsburgh has been god awful in all except a few games Delusional Steeler fans. When a team has sustained success like theirs they tend to pick up a lot of uninformed bandwagoners. They all haven't bailed yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YoloinOhio Posted November 10, 2013 Share Posted November 10, 2013 Delusional Steeler fans. When a team has sustained success like theirs they tend to pick up a lot of uninformed bandwagoners. They all haven't bailed yet. Based on recent track record, people assume Pitt is going to win/should have won until proven otherwise. People assume Bflo is going to lose/should have lost until proven otherwise. Let's hope the pendulum swings back our way, starting today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted November 10, 2013 Share Posted November 10, 2013 The safe pick is the Steelers. But it will be the wrong pick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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