The second week of preseason has arrived for the Buffalo Bills and they will be on the road for the only time this preseason. They will meet up with a familiar opponent in the Pittsburgh Steelers. After a horrific start to their preseason against the Chicago Bears, the Bills will need to clean up their mistakes from last week.
Head coach Sean McDermott announced that the starters will play “about a quarter and a half” according to Sal Capaccio.
Plan is for Bills starters to play about a quarter and a half Saturday night against Steelers, per head coach Sean McDermott. That is subject to change based on weather and/or other factors. #BillsMafia
— Sal Capaccio 🏈 (@SalSports) August 16, 2024
Putting the starters in for this long in the second preseason game means that McDermott and the coaching staff didn’t see enough from their last game to think that they are all set for Week 1. The only problem with this setup is that the Bills are already facing major adversity with injuries.
This past week, All-Pro linebacker Matt Milano was ruled out for a majority, if not all season with a torn bicep. In addition, Buffalo has been facing injuries across the roster that are lingering and can take longer than usual. The starters cannot afford to go down with an injury. McDermott could be taking a massive risk.
Aside from leaving with no injuries, fans are hoping to see some progress by the players. Aside from Tyler Bass, no Bills players displayed much success in Week 1. Whether you believe it was lack of preparation or horrible effort by the roster, there were more questions than answers once again. Buffalo needs to change the views of the doubters.
Pittsburgh is a terrific matchup for the Bills because they are physical and display smash-mouth football. If Buffalo can take them on and respond well to them, this game could actually be a fun one to watch. These two teams met last year in Week 2 of the preseason where the Bills made Kenny Pickett look like Tom Brady.
It’s just preseason, but the Bills still need to show that they can be a threat no matter who is on the field for them. Buffalo has shown that they can be a force if they play at their best. If they can perform at a high level against the Steelers, the Bills could leave Pittsburgh with a win and a lot more confidence.