Upsetting the Buffalo Bills won’t be easy. When two teams are similar, riding the wave of an up-and-down season, it’s easy to give the tiebreaker to the team with the better quarterback. There’s no question the Bills have that advantage with Josh Allen. So if Pittsburgh is going to beat Buffalo, they’ll have to find the winning edge elsewhere. That “elsewhere” is special teams.

The proof of that comes from Pittsburgh’s last win over Buffalo in 2021—a season-opening upset, with the game’s turning point coming on football’s third unit.

In a 13-10 nailbiter, Miles Killebrew blocked a fourth-quarter punt that LB Ulysees Gilbert III recovered for a touchdown. A momentum-swinging play that put Pittsburgh up two scores and part of 17 fourth-quarter points to finish the game strong.

That’s what Pittsburgh needs. Special teams splash that hasn’t been there enough this season. Chris Boswell has been excellent, the kick coverage teams have been solid, and the Steelers forced and recovered a fumble in Week 1. Since then, things have gone quiet.

Blocks and high-impact plays won’t happen every single week. But 2025 saw more blocked field goals than any time in recent memory, though things have calmed down as special teams coordinators have course-corrected. Still, it’s an area the Steelers have taken great pride and success in over the years, getting their hands on kicks and punts.

It’s not for a lack of trying. Pittsburgh has put its best options on the field goal block team. Nearly 6’7 TE Darnell Washington is a regular on that unit in the hopes of swatting one. Last week, rookie Yahya Black and Cam Heyward came oh-so-close to tipping a Chicago Bears’ extra point attempt.

Of course, “oh-so-close” means he didn’t do it. These are pass/fail plays.

But these aren’t accidents, either. Those moments are schemed and planned. Coaches study the tape and chart where a team is weak on the punt protection unit. What the operation times are. If there are injuries or backups to exploit. What gap a kicker likes to kick over so the block team can put its best guys in that space—all purposeful planning to win on Sunday.

Pittsburgh needs that plan to come to life tomorrow. That’s how the Steelers will gain an edge on the Bills. On special teams, it can come in any form. A turnover, a block, a big runback. Even an A-plus punt that pins Buffalo deep. Make one (or two) of those, and the scale will tip in Pittsburgh’s favor to win.