Buffalo Bills must win the field position battle
One of the things the Buffalo Bills did very well the last time the two teams met was pinning the Steelers deep in their own territory. In the game last year, the Steelers had only one drive start past their own 30-yard line, which was the result of a fumble by the Bills.
This was due in large part to Corey Bojorquez, who had a season-high five punts in the game last year, but also the defense forcing three and outs to get off the field. The first three drives the Steelers had they only had 26 net yards. Their inability to pick up first downs forced them to stay in the shadow of their own goalposts for most of the first quarter.
While the defense will need to continue to get off the field on third downs, the offense can certainly help as well. Josh Allen described this game as a ‘slugfest‘ and the offense will also need to do their part.
While the Buffalo Bills offense is unlikely to put up a big score, if they can limit the three and outs and pick up one or two first downs per drive, it will help keep the Steelers deep in their end and outside of field goal range.
This game looks like it could be a methodical, grind-it-out type game and the margin of error will probably be small. The Buffalo Bills ability to win in these situations should help them start the year off with a victory.