Buffalo Bills vs Pittsburgh Steelers: Not perfect anymore

Re-directing focus

Hopes of Steelers' fans for an undefeated season, died unexpectedly last week. After winning the first 11 games of the season, Steelers were heavily favored in their matchup against the Washington Football Team. But, they failed to solve this very compact Washington defense, that held them to just 17 points total, which was in the end not enough for a W. Maybe that's a positive thing for the Steelers. I think a streak like that one carries a certain burden with it, They are not a perfect team and now they can focus on improving their weaknesses and getting into playoffs as ready as possible.

Although they're fairly safe inside the division, they need to keep winning. As mentioned before, the playoff format was changed this year. There is only one team that receives a bye week now and it's a huge advantage. Right now, they are tied with the Kansas City Chiefs for that 1st place in the AFC conference. Looking at the injury report, one name stands out. Joe Haden is out with a concussion tonight. It's a big loss for this defense, considering how well Josh Allen has been playing this year.

Real test for this offense

And not just Josh Allen. His supporting cast is playing really good as well. Brian Dabol did an amazing job with this offense and they are clicking on all cylinders at the moment. I got burned badly last week going against them, thinking that the 49ers defense has potential to slow them down and allow their rush attack to take over and control the game. It was not even close! Allen threw for 375 yards. Completed all the passes in key situations and they just looked unstoppable.

Steelers are at the moment definitely a stiffer test than the 49ers. First off all, they are probably more potent offensively. Big Ben has a bunch of talented pass catchers in this offense, which allows them to test the depth that their opponents have in the secondary. It comes real handy vs the Bills, who have an elite corner in Tre'Davious White and not much behind him. He'll take his and lock somebody up in this game, there's no doubt about it. But the rest of the crew will get an opportunity to eat.

Bills vs Steelers betting tips

Looking at some of these traditional markets, cases could be made pretty much for all sides. Buffalo looks really strong at the moment, but it's going to be interesting to see how they deal with the Steelers' pass rush and the depth at wide receiver. Looking the other way around, Steelers will also need to find a way to hide the absence of Joe Haden and somehow slow down the passing game of Buffalo. It will also be the key to balance out the playcalling offensively, because that run defense is the weakness of the Bills' defense and it's important to take advantage of it.

When I talked about someone being slowed down by White, I had primarily Dionte Johnson in my mind. He is obviously the most dangerous wideout for the Steelers at the moment. But considering how well he's been playing, I still can't pull the trigger on that under. I'd rather go a different route, taking Chase Claypool over, because I think he'll get more targets and he is also a very dangerous deep threat, making this line simply too low. I'd also add James Conner. He was not the most effective so far this season, but this is a great matchup. He is getting activated form Covid -19 list and considering his backups didn't show much, I think he'll get a normal workload in his return.

Also, don't forget to check out our new feature for comparing outright odds. These two opponents are both part of the AFC conference. Odds for winning it can be found with this link: https://theplayer.com/odds/american-football/usa/nfl/nfl-afc-conference-winner