Fans who tuned in to see the promised quarter-and-a-half of Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills’ starters instead got a look at the Greg Rousseau and Joe Andreessen show.
No, the Bills’ offense didn’t look much — if at all — better against Pittsburgh than in last week’s preseason-opening loss to the Bears, but that reasonably had a lot to do with coach Sean McDermott’s cautious decision to rest Allen. That call, according to McDermott, had everything to do with a heavy storm that pounded Acrisure Stadium with rain before Saturday night’s game. Not wanting to take chances with the franchise’s quarter-billion-dollar man on a wet grass field, the Bills kept Allen on the sidelines in a ballcap and instead started Mitchell Trubisky alongside the rest of the first-team offense.
But the Bills won 9-3, so let’s start by focusing on the positive, predominantly on McDermott and defensive coordinator Bobby Babich’s side of the ball.
— Buffalo spoiled Russell Wilson’s preseason Steeler debut, harassing the former Seahawk and Bronco into a painfully quiet night through a quarter and a half of action. Buffalo sacked Wilson three times, 2.5 of those credited to Rousseau, the other 0.5 to Ed Oliver.
Rousseau, the fourth-year edge rusher out of Miami (Fla.), terrorized Steelers right tackle Broderick Jones. On the third Wilson sack, Rousseau almost casually tossed Jones aside on his way to the quarterback.
Through four drives against (mostly) the Bills’ first-team defense, Wilson had thrown for just 28 yards (5-of-6 passing) while losing 21 yards on those sacks. Including his fifth drive, which was primarily against Bills backups and ended in a missed field goal, Wilson ended the night 8-of-10 passing but for only 47 yards.
But the Bills’ defensive exploits were hardly limited to Rousseau. In a surprising turn, the rookie Buffalo-area native linebacker Andreessen got the start at middle linebacker and made the most, statistically, of his playing time. He finished with a game-high 12 total tackles (two for loss, seven solo, five assists), playing into the early third quarter.
Andreessen started in place of Terrel Bernard. Just days after announcing a long-term injury to Matt Milano, and with Baylon Spector also sidelined, McDermott made the same call with Bernard that he did with Allen: except this was predetermined before the weather due to Milano’s injury.
So Andreessen got some extended playing time, including with the first-team defense next to Dorian Williams, Milano’s likely replacement as he begins his “indefinite” rehab from surgery for a torn bicep.
And Andreessen made his case well that he’s not just a feel-good, ‘local-boy done good’ story. The 24-year old out of the University at Buffalo and Lancaster High School made some real plays against Steelers first or second-teamers. He made an excellent tackle on shifty Steelers running back Jaylen Warren for a short gain late in the first. He similarly stopped Justin Fields (in for Wilson at the end of the first half), one of the league’s fastest quarterbacks, for a short gain just before the two-minute warning to foil a potential scramble.
“When a young guy gets an opportunity and he makes the most of it, it’s just fun to watch,” McDermott told reporters. “(To) watch a young man like that, especially a local guy. I think I met his aunt in the elevator in the hotel and she was excited, (she) was on the phone with Joe’s mom who had just called in at the time. You love stories like that. So, real happy for Joe.”
And Andreessen wasn’t the only UB product who made an impact: Ja’Marcus Ingram, a reserve cornerback who spent the last two seasons on the practice squad, had six solo tackles and two assists.
Andreessen, who got his training camp invite after trying out at the rookie minicamp in May, is suddenly making a push for the practice squad or even the active roster, considering the injuries at his position group.
— The dominant defensive night against both Wilson and Fields helped the Bills overcome a rough night for Trubisky, who was sacked twice and threw an interception on a badly overthrown ball. None of Buffalo’s various new receivers had more than one catch, and one of them, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, left the field after a scary collision termed as a neck injury.
Offering his reasoning for holding out Allen, McDermott noted, “I thought Josh had a really good week of practice, played well in the practice against the Steelers (Thursday) and the conditions the way it was, I didn’t love that. And then the warmup wasn’t a full warmup with the weather the way it was, so I just didn’t feel like in my gut it was the right thing to do.”
In Allen’s absence, you could see, unsurprisingly, just how important it is to keep him healthy. Making matters worse, Trubisky also exited with a knee injury of undetermined severity, leaving more than half the night to Ben DiNucci, who only signed with the Bills on Tuesday after an injury to previous third-stringer Shane Buechele, and given his brief familiarity with the playbook, only attempted five passes. But keeping it simple actually worked with DiNucci handing off to several backup running backs (Ray Davis, Darrynton Evans, Frank Gore Jr.) to some success, averaging 5.4 yards per carry in the second half.
Depending on Trubisky’s status, maybe fans at the Bills’ preseason finale “Kids Day” against Carolina will see a lot more of DiNucci, or Buffalo could be in the market for another QB.
