ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — Josh Allen threw three touchdown passes and scored on a franchise playoff-record 52-yard touchdown run, and the Buffalo Bills beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 31-17 on Monday in an AFC wild-card playoff game that was postponed a day because of a lake-effect blizzard.
The Highmark Stadium stands erupted with snow being tossed into the air like confetti when Allen threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to Khalil Shakir with 6:27 remaining that restored a two-touchdown lead for Buffalo. Shakir caught the pass at the 10 over the middle, and then slipped Minkah Fitzpatrick's tackle attempt by spinning around before outracing the rest of the Steelers defenders into the end zone.
The second-seeded Bills (12-6), who closed the regular season with five straight wins, advance to host Patrick Mahomes and the No. 3 seed Kansas City Chiefs in the divisional round on Sunday night. The Bills have longed for a home playoff game against the Chiefs after their 2020 and '21 seasons ended with playoff losses at Kansas City.
Allen finished 21 of 30 for 203 yards and ran for 74 yards on eight carries, becoming the first quarterback in NFL playoff history to throw three or more TD passes while rushing for 70 or more yards and a score. He didn't have a turnover for just the fourth time this season.
Mason Rudolph threw two touchdown passes in his first playoff start for the Steelers (10-8), but Pittsburgh was too inconsistent on either side of the ball to keep up with Allen and the Bills. The Steelers lost their fifth straight playoff game; the franchise's most recent postseason victory was exactly seven years ago.
Rudolph, a longtime backup, took over for the injured Kenny Pickett and ineffective Mitch Trubisky to lead the Steelers to three straight wins to close the regular season and was given the playoff start even after Pickett recovered from an ankle injury.
The Steelers came out flat, allowing Buffalo to score touchdowns on three of its first five possessions and build a 21-0 lead on Allen's electrifying touchdown run midway through the second quarter. But Pittsburgh got back into the game by blocking a field goal attempt late in the quarter, leading to a touchdown.
Rudolph went 22 of 39 for 229 yards with an interception.
Allen's 9-yard touchdown pass to Dawson Knox capped an 80-yard opening drive for the Bills.
Buffalo scored again after linebacker Terrel Bernard recovered receiver George Pickens' fumble at the Pittsburgh 29. Allen threw a TD pass to Dalton Kincaid on the very next play.
Allen's touchdown run came after cornerback Kaiir Elam intercepted Rudolph's pass intended for Diontae Johnson in the end zone.
The Steelers finally capitalized on one of the Bills' few errors of the half, when coach Sean McDermott elected to attempt a 49-yard field goal into the wind with a little more than two minutes left.
Montravius Adams blocked Tyler Bass' low kick. The ball squirted some 20 yards into Bills territory and was recovered by Nick Herbig at Buffalo's 33. The Steelers scored five plays later on Rudolph's 10-yard TD pass to Johnson.
Pittsburgh eventually cut the lead to 24-17 on Rudolph's 7-yard touchdown pass to Calvin Austin with 10:32 left.
The elements didn't play much of a factor. Though temperatures were in the teens, the skies were clear and there was only a slight breeze blowing in off Lake Erie.
With the remnants of a lake-effect snowstorm moving north on Monday, the Bills' hearty fanbase took over, helping dig out Highmark Stadium while finding new ways to tailgate before Buffalo hosted the Pittsburgh Steelers in a weather-delayed AFC wild-card playoff game.
"Nothing was going to stop us," said Ryan Stang, who organizes a tailgate event for each home game at a bar near the stadium. "It doesn't matter if it's snow, rain, sleet. We are playing this game ... We're used to it. This is nothing new to us."
The game initially was supposed to be played at 1 p.m. Sunday but was pushed back to 4:30 p.m. Monday. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and the NFL cited public safety concerns for the delay even before the 24-plus-hour storm dumped more than 2 feet of snow on the Buffalo region, with much of it concentrated on the Bills' home in Orchard Park through Sunday night.
Monday began with the hum of plows clearing snow from concourses and the scrape of shovels digging out seats. The sun that shone at noon gave way to a gray sky, but no more snow, as a small army of stadium employees and helpers being paid $20 an hour raced to clear the 70,000-seat facility ahead of kickoff.
Crews had been working since Sunday, when snow fell at a rate of more than 2 inches per hour. They worked overnight, with the Bills making a plea for more help early Monday.
The task proved too daunting, and a majority of the seats were still blanketed in snow when the gates opened. Fans borrowed shovels from guest services and used their hands or pieces of cardboard to clear the snow.
The Bills also sent out an alert suggesting fans wear snow pants to stay dry. Temperatures were expected to dip to 14 degrees, with winds ranging from 8 to 16 mph.
Major roadways leading to the stadium were cleared, with 5-foot snowdrifts lining the roads after they were plowed. Snowfall limited parking around the stadium, which contributed to a slow-arriving crowd.
At kickoff, a majority of fans were standing. And the few pockets of empty seats were mostly in the third deck, where conditions were the coldest because it is open to the wind.
Otherwise, it appeared to be business as usual for two teams that had to wait an extra day to play. With the field cleared of snow, the Bills were cheered when taking the field for pregame warmups, while the Steelers were mostly booed, except for a group of Terrible Towel-waving fans behind Pittsburgh's bench.
Bills fans found a way to use all that extra snow collected around them by throwing it like confetti to celebrate Buffalo's game-opening touchdown.
The lack of wind and the occasional hint of a blue sky provided relief for the shovelers earlier Monday.
"It lightens the mood," said Bob Isaacs, catching a glimpse of a blue sky south of the stadium.
As for how daunting the task at hand was, Isaacs said: "For 2 seconds. Then you got to remember you're a Bills fan. It's all part of the deal."
This is the fourth year the 62-year-old Isaacs has volunteered to shovel snow at the stadium, which he considers his way of supporting his hometown team.
In the parking lots surrounding the stadium, fans improvised their tailgating amid the 10-foot mountains of plowed snow. In one lot, some snowboarded down the hills on pieces of cardboard. At another lot, three fans stood atop a hill chanting, "Let's go, Buffalo," before they jumped down onto a burning folding table.
"We are built for this, it's Buffalo," Stang said.
