Celebrate the Steelers’ first playoff win since 2017?

The regular part of the NFL season is over and the postseason continues for a total of 14 teams. Twelve of those teams will compete in the Wildcard Round this weekend, meaning only six franchises will advance to the Divisional Round after this week. There, the field will be filled out with the 1st seeds from each conference

But first, let’s take a look at this week’s exciting matchups in the NFL, all of which are on the schedule and can be watched live on RTL, for example. Before the games in the NFC take place, the AFC kicks things off with three matches. The conclusion of the wildcard matchup in the American Football Conference takes place at Highmark Stadium. There, the Buffalo Bills – as the clear favorite of the matchday – will host the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Why we are not going with the favorite with our recommendation, we will tell you on the next lines and in addition we have been able to find some more attractive odds for the game between the Bills and Steelers

Buffalo Bills – Statistics & current form

Final spurt crowned! Buffalo had their bye week in Week 13, winning six and losing six of their previous games. The playoffs were in serious danger and a few weeks before the break, the team tried to give the offense new impetus by firing the offensive coordinator. After the bye week, the team had five wins from five games, which should answer the question of whether the change had borne fruit. During this period, Buffalo beat the top teams of the Chiefs, Cowboys and Dolphins, among others.

The final game for the AFC East title between Miami and Buffalo marked the end of the 104th regular season in the NFL and the Bills lived up to their role as favorites with a 21-14 victory. They secured the division championship for the fourth time in a row, but the game was a mirror image of the season so far. Quarterback Josh Allen suffered three turnovers, but he often saved his team with improvised plays.

The New York franchise has discovered the running game since a breath of fresh air blew through the offense and has now won seven games in a row in which they have always recorded more than 100 rushing yards. This is partly down to James Cook, who is much better integrated into the offense, but also to Allen, who has contributed a total of 524 yards and 15 touchdowns on the ground. That’s why the odds on him scoring a touchdown between the Bills and Steelers only reach manageable heights.

Between Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

In the passing game, Allen’s genius and madness are still close together. He put up 29 touchdowns, which is fifth best in the league, but 18 of his passes were intercepted by the opponent. Only one playmaker in the NFL has had more interceptions this season. Nevertheless, his starters – Stefon Diggs, Khalil Shakir and Dalton Kincaid – should be fit and ready to go for the home game in the wild card round. Only Gabe Davis is likely to miss the game against Pittsburgh.

The defensive side of the ball should be praised in Buffalo, because despite a few absences, this unit is – over the entire season – top-10 in terms of yards allowed, passing yards and points per game for the opposition. Rasoul Douglas has four interceptions so far, but is still questionable after his injury against Miami.

Key Players:

• QB: Josh Allen
• RB: James Cook
• WR: Stefon Diggs
• TE: Dalton Kincad
• K: Tyler Bass

Pittsburgh Steelers – stats & current form

Year after year, it’s amazing what Mike Tomlin accomplishes with this franchise. In his 17th year with the team from Pennsylvania, the head coach remains without a negative record at the end of the regular season, and that 9-8 record was good enough for seventh place in the AFC and the final playoff spot.

Let’s turn our attention to the quarterback position: After Kenny Pickett and Mitch Trubisky, it’s Mason Rudolph who gets to try his hand as a playmaker in Pittsburgh. The success speaks for itself: In the last three games, the 28-year-old led the offense onto the field and the Steelers won each of these games. Last but not least, they defeated the Ravens, the best team in the AFC, on the final day of the season, even though the Ravens were not at their best. Since the third-round pick from 2018 took over the helm of the offense, it has scored an average of 27 points over three games.

Rudolph’s most important target in offense, especially in his first two appearances, was George Pickens, who caught balls for 195 and 131 yards. According to our prediction, the offensive output of the guests in the Bills vs. Steelers duel will depend on his performance. The number two wide receiver is Dionte Johnson, who decided the game against Baltimore with his 71-yard touchdown

Weather forecast puts running game in the spotlight

However, the run game could become more important due to the predicted freak weather with snow and sometimes extreme gusts of wind. It is mainly Jaylen Warren and Najee Harris who have an impact there. The latter has run for at least 78 yards in the last three games – twice even over 100 – and has scored four of his eight touchdowns this season! He is a very hot candidate for a player bet

It was announced on Tuesday that the superstar on defense – T.J. Watt – will not play due to knee problems. This absence darkens the forecast between the Bills and Steelers for the visitors, who can otherwise call a very solid defense their own. This only allows a very solid 19.1 average, which is a top-8 value in the league. However, offenses can usually move the ball consistently, as both the run and pass defense were always vulnerable. In addition to the Watt injury, the potential loss of safety Minkah Fitzpatrick is an additional downgrade for the passing defense.

Key Players:

• QB: Mason Rudolph
• RB: Najee Harris
• WR: George Pickens
• TE: Pat Freiermuth
• K: Chris Boswell

Buffalo Bills – Pittsburgh Steelers head-to-head / H2H record

Buffalo vs. Pittsburgh is one of three games in the wildcard round that have not yet been played in the 104th NFL season. Accordingly, we can only look at older games in the H2H comparison. Josh Allen has already faced the team from Pennsylvania four times since 2019 and celebrated three victories with his Bills vs. The odds that number four will follow on Wildcard Weekend are not really worth mentioning due to the lack of value. For Rudolph, it’s his first game against the New York franchise and first appearance in the NFL postseason.

Buffalo Bills – Pittsburgh Steelers Tip

In the end, however, we move away from the favorite in the game between the Buffalo Bills and Pittsburgh Steelers with our main betting tip and place a bet on the guests. Of course, the Tomlin team’s offense doesn’t have anywhere near the firepower of the home side, but the provider we tested, bet365 – where no betting tax has been payable since January – offers attractive odds if the Steelers only put eleven points on the scoreboard. As mentioned, they have scored an average of 27 points recently and Buffalo has conceded at least 14 points five times in the last six games. That’s why we’re defying all the predicted capricious weather conditions and making this recommendation.

It was interesting to see how the over/under line changed over the course of the week, especially after the weather forecast was announced. From over 40 points, the line has now moved to just over/under 36 points. However, the handicap on the markets became even greater in the same period and now stands at ten points. We still don’t recommend this option, as Buffalo games have too often been close for a long time this season due to unnecessary mistakes

Due to the low point limit, the variant on at least four touchdowns already offers correspondingly attractive value and this bet can be played with the bookmaker betano, for example.