CHRISTOPHER PANSINO – OVATHELTICS.COM
The roster move to dump Jeff Reed looked pretty smart today as Shaun Suisham made all four of his field goals from longer than 40 yards to help the Steelers win 19-16 in overtime.
The Buffalo Bills have been a tough team to put away all season and are probably better than their 2-9 record would suggest. Today was the Bills third overtime loss this season, which is a franchise record, and is the most since the Cardinals did it in 1997. And they gave the Steelers a tough battle today in Buffalo.
The Steelers led 13-0 at the half before allowing the Bills to climb slowly back into the game.
In the third quarter James Harrison had another helmet to helmet incident, this time on quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick below the chin just after he got the off a pass. Harrison was penalized 15 yards for roughing the passer and will likely face another fine from the NFL for leading with his helmet.
The penalty set up for a touchdown pass by Fitzpatrick to Fred Jackson.
Later in the fourth quarter a pair of field goals tied the game at 13-13 and the Steelers were left wondering where everything went wrong.
And statically speaking the Steelers dominated this game. Rashard Mendenhall rushed for a career high 151 yards on 36 carries and a touchdown. Hines Ward recorded his 28th career 100-yard receiving game with 7 receptions for 107 yards. And Roethlisberger went 20 of 33 for an 83.6 quarterback rating and did everything he could to keep the Steelers ahead in this game.
The one mistake the Steelers made on offense was early in the fourth quarter with the fumble by Mendenhall that Buffalo recovered on the 23-yard line. Buffalo tied the game on the resulting field goal.
The two teams traded field goals in the forth to send the game into overtime, where the Bill almost won it. Receiver Stevie Johnson allowed the game-winning touchdown to slip though his hands. The 40-yard pass to a wide-open Johnson in the end zone would have sealed the game. But with 10:38 in game the Steelers would not give Buffalo a second chance.
Kicker Suisham hit his fourth field goal from beyond 40 yards to get the win with 2:14 left. Suisham was signed two weeks ago after the Steelers cut long time kicker Jeff Reed. Suisham, who is better know for a kick known as “the choke” than his heroics today, made all four of his field goals today and all coming beyond 40 yards.
The Steelers improved to 8-3 on the season. The Steelers will likely have a tough week of practice as a division defining game at Baltimore looms ahead next Sunday.
