The Buffalo Bills (8-4) are still on the journey to make it to the playoffs and hopefully make a run to the Super Bowl if they have learned from their past failures in the postseason. Prior to getting to that point, Buffalo has to take care of business against some of the tougher teams on their schedule, but they found a way to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers (6-6) on their home turf.
The Bills beat the Steelers 26-7 on Sunday thanks to the defense limiting Aaron Rodgers and Pittsburgh to just 3.9 yards per play and 166 yards of total offense. Quarterback Josh Allen didn't have his most prolific game passing the football, but he put his name in the history books with his own legs and was able to ride the coattails of running James Cook to another victory.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementBuffalo ran away with this game in the second half as Rodgers and the Steelers couldn't establish any type of offensive rhythm through the air or on the ground. The Bills are now able to look forward to their next matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals, but until then, here is the Buffalo stock report following Sunday's massive win at the Steelers:
Stock Up: RB James Cook
Cook has been having a great season on the ground for a Bills team that has needed every run and catch from him to have a productive offense. At some points, Cook has been the engine that makes this offense run and against the Steelers, he ran 32 times for 144 yards while catching all three of his targets for 33 yards, leading the team in receiving yardage.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementStock Down: WR Khalil Shakir
Shakir is normally the leader of a Bills receiving corps that has changed significantly since the beginning of the season, especially when it comes to the uncertain status of Keon Coleman. Shakir won't pop off for high-yardage games due to his nature as a threat in the short and intermediate range, but he was basically nonexistent against Pittsburgh and its group of cornerbacks.
Stock Up: DE Joey Bosa
Prior to suffering his hamstring injury, Bosa was one of the players on the Buffalo defensive line wreaking havoc on the Steelers, specifically Rodgers. In fact, one of the times that Bosa got to Rodgers on a pass rush, the play led to Rodgers fumbling the ball and cornerback Christian Benford taking the fumble all the way for a touchdown, seemingly jumpstarting the Bills impressive run.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementStock Down: DE AJ Epenesa
Epenesa did not make much happen in this one and to make matters worse, he picked up an unnecessary unsportsmanlike penalty that kept a Steelers drive alive before Buffalo ran away with the game. Ultimately, Epenesa's lack of impact on this game is the more important element, but it's discouraging to see him fall victim to the kind of penalty that rookies make.
Stock Up: WR Keon Coleman
Coleman missed the past two games due to matters happening behind the scenes that led to him getting benched, but he was active for this game and there couldn't be a better return than scoring a touchdown. Granted, Coleman didn't do much outside of that touchdown, but it was good to see the second-year player have his moment after being a healthy scratch.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementStock Down: Bills Passing Game
The Bills came away from this game against a tough opponent with a dominant win so there shouldn't be much to critique from that angle, but Buffalo is playing for a championship at the end of this season if they're lucky. Having the leading receiver on the team being James Cook isn't ideal and with the wide receiver corps looking weaker by the week, the Bills have to figure something out with the passing attack.
This article originally appeared on Bills Wire: Stock up, stock down following the Bills' 26-7 win at Steelers
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