It's been a tale of two halves in Buffalo. Despite early dominance by the Steelers, the Bills were able to move the ball through the air - and occasionally on the ground - against Pittsburgh. Of course, the Steelers weren't helped by some dubious penalty calls. Another personal foul on outside linebacker James Harrison maintained a late Buffalo drive, then a ticky-tack pass interference call on cornerback Keenan Lewis gave Buffalo the ball near the goal line. Fortunately, the Pittsburgh defense tightened up and kept Ryan Fitzpatrick and company out of the end zone.
Pittsburgh's next scoring drive was characterized by big plays - a long completion to tight end Heath Miller, a 21-yard scamper by Rashard Mendenhall - but wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders made a rookie mistake on 3rd & 9, dropping a pass that Ben Roethlisberger placed right in his hands, forcing the team to settle for a Shaun Suisham field goal. The silver lining is that Suisham was clutch in regulation, connecting on all three of his attempts.
Later, a Troy Polamalu interception off of a deflected pass looked like it would seal the win for the Steelers, but Pittsburgh couldn't maintain the following drive. While they were able to weather the two-minute warning and consume all three of Buffalo's time outs, bonehead penalties on Chris Kemoeatu (holding), who was outclassed all afternoon by Buffalo's defensive linemen, and Jonathan Scott (false start) gave the Bills new life.
Kicker Rian Lindell eventually made Pittsburgh pay, drilling a 49-yard field goal and sending the contest into overtime. Buffalo won the coin toss and will receive in extra innings.