There was a time when this would have been a festive weekend in Western New York.
That’s the way it always is when the Steelers venture north to play the Bills.
Of course, this isn’t any year.
The coronavirus pandemic has purged all fans from both teams’ stadiums.
Gone is the fury that the Buffalo faithful had when individual game tickets went on sale only to have thousands of them gobbled up by Steelers devotees.
Come Sunday night, Bills Stadium will have 71,870 empty seats as Pittsburgh and Buffalo, two of the AFC elite teams, meet for position in the conference.
This game, matching the 11-1 Steelers and the 9-3 Bills, is the most meaningful one between these two regional rivals separated by barely 200 miles, since the fateful finale of the 2004 season.
TO THIS DAY, that game is a galling memory for the most fervent Buffalo fans.
It was the regular season finale, actually played on Jan. 2, 2005, and Pittsburgh was 14-1 and had already clinched the AFC’s top seed. Coach Bill Cowher rested a third of his starters, including quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and power back Jerome Bettis.
The Bills were 9-6 under former Steeler tight end Mike Mularkey, and needed only to beat what most felt would be an uninspired Pittsburgh at Ralph Wilson Stadium to claim a wild card berth.
But nobody told the Steelers they were expected to go through the motions.
Roethlisberger’s backup, Tommy Maddox, had a lousy day – 12-of-24 passing for a mere 120 yards with a puny 43.7 passer rating and two interceptions, one of which was a “pick six” by Buffalo’s Nate Clements – but he also threw a touchdown toss to wide receiver Antwaan Randle El. In addition, linebacker James Harrison returned a fumble for a TD and Jeff Reed kicked five field goals.
Pittsburgh won, 29-24, in a game which wasn’t that close. Bills QB Drew Bledsoe had his own tough afternoon, throwing no touchdown passes, as the only offensive scores were two short TD runs by Willis McGahee.
That game was the closest Buffalo came to making the playoffs in the 17-year drought that finally ended three seasons ago.
DESPITE the difference in records, the Bills are actually favored by 2½ points for the current meeting, even without benefit of a home crowd.
And that flies in the face of recent history.
Pittsburgh has won 10 of the last 12 meetings – the Bills actually won five straight before that. Buffalo prevailed at home, 24-21, in 1999 and, last season, at Heinz Field, it won, 17-10, as the Steelers were without the injured Roethlisberger en route to an 8-8 record and a rare playoff miss. Coach Sean McDermott’s crew, meanwhile, was heading to 10-6 and a second postseason berth in three years.
And, of the eight home games this season – even with Super Bowl champion Kansas City, Seattle and suddenly struggling New England on the slate – the one Bills fans were most looking forward to was Sunday night’s nationally-televised game against the Steelers.
A half century ago, Buffalo’s biggest rival was Miami, mostly because the Dolphins beat the Bills 20-straight times … the whole decade of the 1970s.
Then, since 2000, their most hated opponent has been the Patriots.
But neither of those teams is regional, they’re division foes.
Pittsburgh and Cleveland, 30 miles even closer to Orchard Park, touch a nerve with Buffalo nation because those teams have fans in the Bills’ backyard and those three cities aren’t all that dissimilar. They’re like bragging rights games with their fans enthusiastically making the three-hour trip to the opposing stadium to antagonize the home faithful.
The Steelers lead the all-time series 16-10 (2-1 in the playoffs). Buffalo’s postseason victory came in January of 1993, six days after “The Comeback” when the Bills rallied from a 35-3 third-quarter deficit to beat the Oilers in overtime. With Jim Kelly hurt, Frank Reich fashioned that victory, then went to Pittsburgh and beat the Neil O’Donnell-led Steelers, 24-3, en route to Super Bowl XXVII.
Cleveland has a 13-9 all-time edge against Buffalo, 1-0 in the playoffs, which featured the storied dropped touchdown pass by the Bills’ Ronnie Harmon in the closing seconds.
It’s a little different when the Browns and Steelers meet because they’re in the same division. But when Buffalo plays either of them, it’s not so much mean-spirited as it is muscle-flexing bragging: “My team can beat your team any day.”
And, sadly, that’s what will be missing Sunday night at Bills Stadium without the fans to bring that spirit to life.
(Chuck Pollock, a Times Herald senior sports columnist, can be reached at cpollock@oleantimesherald.com)
