This was the turning point for the Buffalo Bills in Week 1 against the Pittsburgh Steelers
The Buffalo Bills entered Week 1 with the expectation that they would come away with a win, even though it was against a team like the Pittsburgh Steelers. The first half seemed to go as expected with a game that was going to be a close, hard-fought, defensive struggle.
While Josh Allen and the Bills’ offense didn’t have their best game, the team took a 10-0 lead into halftime. The Bills got on the board early with a Tyler Bass on their opening drive after Isaiah McKenzie returned the opening kickoff 75 yards.
Then they closed the first half with their best looking drive with Josh Allen finding Gabriel Davis in the back of the end zone for the first touchdown of the game.
The second half was a different story and the Steelers chipped away at the Bills lead with two field goals in the third quarter. However, the Buffalo Bills still had the lead going into the fourth quarter and looked to be doing enough to hold onto the win.
The Steelers finally found the end zone in the fourth quarter when Ben Roethlisberger hit Diontae Johnson for a five-yard touchdown. The next drive for the Buffalo Bills proved to be the turning point and ultimately decided the outcome in Week 1.
Turning Point in Week 1 for the Buffalo Bills
After the Steelers took a 13-10 lead, the Buffalo Bills had a chance to answer back and try to take the lead back. However, they ended up going three and out and were forced to punt.
The Steelers called a perfect play with a rush up the middle where Reid Ferguson and Tyler Matakevich struggled to account for every Steeler and they came through to block Matt Haack. The loose ball was picked up by Ulysees Gilbert III and returned for a touchdown.
Steelers blocked punt. Matakevich (44) pushes No. 28 off to LS Ferguson so he can block the looping LB (27). But Ferguson has No. 45 crossing his face, so he's blocking him. Bills J. Johnson (46) also steps up to block oncoming traffic of 45 and 27, leaving 28 free for the block. pic.twitter.com/s0dOiRsDMU
— Sal Capaccio 🏈 (@SalSports) September 13, 2021
This touchdown gave the Steelers a double digit lead 20-10 and with how the game had gone to this point, that was going to be too much for the Bills to overcome at this point in the game.
This was expected to be a close game and there was likely going to be one play or point of the game that could be pointed to as the deciding factor. This blocked punt by the Steelers was just that and the Buffalo Bills start the year 0-1.