Bills rush to Acrisure Stadium record in pounding of Steelers

Brian Batko, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Nov 30, 2025

Published in Football

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PITTSBURGH — Wait, was this a playoff game? It’s only late November, but it felt like early January at Acrisure Stadium.

That’s how much the Pittsburgh Steelers’s 26-7 romp at the hands of the Buffalo Bills resembled one of their typical postseason failures. This beat-down Sunday was just ahead of schedule.

The Steelers actually had a 7-3 lead at halftime and ball-in-hand coming out of the break, but that only set the stage for the Bills to break Aaron Rodgers — or almost, at least. Joey Bosa’s strip-sack that led to a 17-yard return touchdown by Christian Benford gave the Bills a 10-7 lead 16 seconds into the third quarter, and it was quicksand from there for the Steelers (6-6).

Rodgers had a cut on his nose that required a lengthy trip to the medical tent, and eventually a bandage on it that made him an easy target for the CBS broadcast while he was on the sideline. And he was on the sideline a lot as the Bills (8-5) gashed the Steelers, 372-166, in total yardage. Time of possession? Bills 41:59, Steelers 18:01.

Buffalo’s 249 rushing yards are the most ever by a Steelers opponent at Acrisure Stadium. Somewhere, the Heinz Field ketchup bottles are shaking with anger.

After getting a Thanksgiving gift from the Cincinnati Bengals by virtue of their win Thursday night in Baltimore, the Steelers squandered it as they fell back into a tie for first place with the Ravens atop the AFC North. The home crowd showed its displeasure — voiced it, actually — with boisterous boos and “Fire Tomlin” chants as the clock ticked past the 9-minute mark in the fourth quarter.

It was over when ...

Kenneth Gainwell was stuffed on fourth-and-2 with 10:11 left at the Bills 9, a play call by Arthur Smith that didn’t fool anyone and just resulted in the defense crashing down for a 2-yard loss.

Player of the game

James Cook. Buffalo’s starting running back entered with the second-most rushing yards in the NFL, and he kept it rolling against the Steelers. It’s not even as if Cook was making otherworldly runs or breaking copious amounts of tackles. He had big holes to run through, small holes to run through, corners to turn, really anything the Bills offense wanted to do despite missing both of their starting tackles. Cook finished with 144 yards on 32 carries, including a 31-yarder.

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Brandin Echols. The fast start was in large part to Echols, who is getting better and better as the slot cornerback ever since a forgettable night in Los Angeles. Echols made a great play to pin the ball between his legs and pick off Josh Allen on the Bills’ opening drive. That interception was huge, but Echols also had a key third-and-4 breakup in coverage on slot receiver Khalil Shakir, who’s probably Allen’s most reliable playmaker.

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Everything except Echols.

Up next

Their first matchup this season with their bitter rival, the Ravens, who are also 6-6 with the division lead on the line — somehow.

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