The Steelers will wear their Color Rush uniforms Sunday night when they host the Bills.
Given the style both teams like to play, particularly on defense, they might be better suited wearing their throwback uniforms.
The Steelers and Bills both play a throwback style of football. Forget the bells and whistles. Forget the high-flying passing attacks. Forget the old axiom of the best defense being a good offense. In this game, the best defense will be, well, the best defense. This will be a game played and won in the trenches, more akin to a game played 20 years ago than in the wide-open, high-scoring games of today's NFL.
"I’ve always felt good about good defenses controlling the outcome of significant games," Mike Tomlin said. "I believe that is an axiom of football. I think that is never going to change. I think if you have a good defense, you have a chance in any circumstance."
The Steelers (8-5) and Bills (9-4) are living proof of that. Both teams are in the bottom half of the league in scoring offense, with only Buffalo's running game, which ranks fifth in the NFL, being among the league leaders in any positive way. But those defenses, well, they're a different story altogether. They're the driving force as to why these two teams currently hold down the fifth and sixth spots in the AFC playoff race.
And it's hard to decipher which one is playing better, even for the guys involved.
"We talk about it every day. I try to tell him our defense is top notch," said Steelers safety Terrell Edmunds of his brother, Tremaine Edmunds, who is a middle linebacker for the Bills. "He’ll say, ‘Our defense is top-notch, too.’ I guess we’ll see Sunday night. Both defenses are going to put it on the line. You know who I’m rocking with, though."
Both can make a solid argument.
The Bills rank third in the league in total defense and second in scoring defense, but the Steelers are fifth and sixth in those statistics, respectively.
Buffalo is slightly better in pass defense at third overall, compared to the Steelers' ranking of fifth. But the Steelers are better against the run, have 10 more sacks with a league-best 48 and have forced 17 more turnovers with their league-high 33.
They won't take the field at the same time on Sunday, but the two defenses will be keeping a keen eye on what their opposing unit is doing in this game.
"Absolutely. It’s like offense, you want to outperform the opposing team," Steelers cornerback Mike Hilton told me. "They’ve got a great defense coming in. It’s going to be a slugfest. It’s an opportunity to show we’re the best defense in the league."
Over the past 10 games, that argument could certainly be made for the Steelers. Over that period, the Steelers have allowed an average of 250.9 yards per game and 15.7 points.
During that same span, the Patriots, who currently have the No. 1 defense in both total yards and scoring, have allowed an average of 284.5 yards and 15.1 points per game. The 49ers, the league's No. 2-rated defense has given up 262.6 yards and 17.5 points per game. The Bills are at 295.9 yards and 16.5 points.
The argument could be made that the Steelers, since acquiring free safety Minkah Fitzpatrick, have had the league's best and most consistent defense.
Not that they're thinking about that right now.
The Steelers have already played the Patriots, 49ers and Chargers, three of the teams whose defenses have allowed fewer yards this season than them. They've also played the Ravens and Rams, two defenses just behind them in the rankings.
They've gone 2-3 in those games, though the only game in which they were clearly outplayed was in the opener against the Patriots -- before the arrival of Fitzpatrick.
"I think we’re kind of over the whole comparison thing, comparing us to other people," outside linebacker T.J. Watt told me. "We’re our own defense. We just know we can be a really great defense. We’ve just got to go out and execute and focus on ourselves."
But it will be hard not to keep an eye on the defense on the other side of field working on Sunday, as well.
"They’re playing great," Tomlin said. "They make splash plays. They challenge you, in terms of being able to move the ball fluidly via the run. They challenge you if you’re trying to move the ball via the pass. They’ve got quality men and a bunch of people that they play upfront. They get production from a lot of places."
He just as easily could have been speaking of his own defense.
"I think it will be a really good matchup. You’ve got two offenses that can definitely move the ball, but the focal points of both teams are definitely the defenses," Watt said. "They run the 4-3 and we run the 3-4, so it’s kind of cool to see both styles of defenses both being effective. I think both defenses have a lot of great players, and they have a lot of skill sets and work well together, so it will make for a really good game Sunday night."
