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Steelers snag 19-16 win over Bills in OT
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BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Kicker Shaun Suisham, signed two weeks ago when the Steelers' patience ran out with veteran Jeff Reed, made all four of his field goal tries, including one from 41 in overtime to lift them to a 19-16 victory over the stubborn Buffalo Bills.
The win came with 2:14 left in overtime. All four of his kicks came beyond 40 yards.
The Steelers let a 13-0 halftime lead slip through their fingers but never trailed in the contest.
The victory lifted the Steelers to 8-3. Buffalo slipped to 2-9.
Buffalo wide receiver Stevie Johnson was wide open in the end zone when he dropped what would have been the winning 40-yard touchdown pass with 10:38 left in overtime.
Rian Lindell tied the game with a 49-yard field goal with two seconds left in regulation to send it into overtime.
The Steelers' winning drive started at their 20 after a Buffalo punt.
Buffalo got the ball after a punt at their 46 with 46 seconds left in regulation. They reached the Steelers' 31 with seven seconds left and sent Lindell on to try a 49-yard field goal. He kicked it good, but Steelers coach Mike Tomlin called a time out just before the play began. On his next try, Lindell made it again.
Buffalo overcame a 13-0 halftime deficit by tying the game 13-13 in the fourth quarter.
Suisham gave the Steelers a 16-13 lead when he kicked a 48-yard field goal into the wind with 6:19 left in regulation.
Rashard Mendenhall scored on a one-yard run, and Suisham made both of his field goal tries, from 45 and 46 yards in the first half.
The Steelers led 10-0 after their first two series. They took the opening kickoff and drove 78 yards with Mendenhall running one yard on third down for the touchdown, his ninth rushing of the season.
Their second drive ended with Suisham's first field goal since the Steelers signed him, from 45 yards.
The Steelers also had a good third drive going. It began at their 23, and they had a first down at Buffalo's 48. But a holding penalty and two sacks ended that drive.
Suisham kicked his second field goal with three seconds left.
Buffalo never got closer than the Steelers' 39 yardline in the first half.
The Bills scored in the third quarter on a 65-yard screen pass from Ryan Fitzpatrick to Fred Jackson, who eluded a tackle by linebacker LaMarr Woodley in the middle and outran everyone else to the end zone. Fitzpatrick has thrown touchdown passes in 12 consecutive games, the longest for Buffalo since Doug Flutie had 12 in 1999.
On that series, linebacker James Harrison was penalized 15 yards for what the officials ruled was leading with his helmet while hitting Fitzpatrick in the chest.
Buffalo scored again early in the fourth quarter on Lindell's 29-yard field goal, and suddenly it was a game with the Steelers clinging to a 13-10 lead.
Two minutes later, the game was tied after Mendenhall lost the ball when safety Jairus Byrd stripped him of it at Buffalo's 23, and the Bills converted the turnover into Lindell's 32-yard field goal.
It was 13-13 with 11:25 left in the game.
That set up a drive of big-play proportions that ended with Suisham's third field goal, a 48-yarder into the wind that put the Steelers back on top, 16-13.
The drive began with a big play from the 20 when Mendenhall ran 42 yards to the Buffalo 38. However, a holding penalty on guard Chris Kemoeatu canceled that play and put the Steelers back on their 10.
Ben Roethlisberger then completed a 26-yard pass to Heath Miller. Later, on third-and-17, Roethlisberger scrambled from his 29 for a first down to the 47.
However, Emmanuel Sanders dropped a pass for what would have been a first down, and Suisham followed with his go-ahead field goal.
The Bills appeared to be moving for either the go-ahead or tying score with the ball at the Steelers' 12 when, on second down, Troy Polamalu made a diving interception at the two of a pass that was tipped by William Gay.
First Published November 28, 2010 2:32 pm
