Buffalo Bills: 4 key matchups for Wild Card Weekend against the Steelers

Pittsburgh Steelers v Buffalo Bills
Pittsburgh Steelers v Buffalo Bills | Bryan Bennett/GettyImages
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 Bills receivers vs. Steelers secondary

Diggs and Allen's chemistry was shining bright in their last game against the Dolphins, as they connected seven times for 87 yards. As of today, Gabe Davis is ruled out with a knee injury, which gives more opportunities to other weapons on the Bills offense.

Khalil Shakir has established himself in the slot receiver role, as he's had his best season so far, recording over 600 receiving yards and earning an impressive 75.3 PFF grade. Expect Shakir to be used a lot more in the receiving game due to not just the absence of Davis, but due to the Steelers' weak slot coverage. Also excpect Trent Sherfield to be getting a lot more reps, as he will be filling in that Davis role in being a deep threat and being that big body blocker on runs.

The weak slot coverage may also give Dalton Kincaid more opportunities to make plays. The Steelers' defense is also vulnerable when covering tight ends, so expect a lot of two tight-end formations, along with some play-action to draw some plays, and also expect Knox to make some noise, especially on short-yardage situations.

Bills Running Backs vs. Steelers Run Defense

Another thing that the Steelers are very inconsistent in is their run defense. They're 19th in the league in terms of average rushing yards given up per game, mainly because of their weak inside linebacking core and weak nose tackles. This should be the number one thing that's attacked when playing the Steelers, especially with the weather the game is supposed to have. 

There should be a lot of two tight-end formations that are believable enough for play-action but also believable enough for someone like Cook or Fournette to run through the Steelers. Giving the Bills that two-dimensional offense will open up a lot of different options on how they can attack the inconsistent Steelers' defense.

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