With five minutes left in the third quarter, there hadn’t yet been any scoring in the second half. The Steelers’ most recent drive ended with a Ben Roethlisberger punt attempt – Pittsburgh’s field position would have left it with a very long field goal, so the Steelers had Roethlisberger set up in shotgun on 4th-and-4, and he made a surprise punt, hoping to pin the Bills near their own goal line. Unfortunately, Emmanuel Sanders couldn’t get to the ball before it landed in the end zone.
One of the best stories today has been the very welcome big game by Hines Ward, who now has seven receptions for 107 yards. Rashard Mendenhall currently has 21 rushes for 83 yards against the Bills’ weak rush defense. Roethlisberger has good numbers but, as Pete says below, he’s waiting too long and has made several dubious passes, including a strange one into coverage to Mewelde Moore on the Steelers’ last drive. The Bills might have held Moore, but it was a dangerous pass nonetheless.
As I was typing this post, Fred Jackson caught a screen pass from Ryan Fitzpatrick for a long touchdown pass, putting the Bills on the board. It’s now 13-7.