Bills Could Unleash Massive NT to Slow Down Steelers Offense

The Steelers will head to Buffalo to face a hot team. The Bills have won five straight, while Pittsburgh has won three straight. But it’s Buffalo’s run defense that will have to hold up. They have a leaky run defense and are just league-average there, allowing 110.4 yards per game on the ground. So, Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren will look to have a big day.

But the Bills could have a weapon to unleash in Lival Joseph. Buffalo signed Joseph midseason but has been inactive for the last two weeks. Before that, he had played at nose tackle as an up-and-down player, but the Steelers provide a unique circumstance where he could flourish.

Bills defensive line coach believes that Joseph could offer unique talents to this matchup and that giving him a helmet for the Wild Card Game would make some sense.

“It’s certainly possible,” Washington said to Bills media. “That situation, who dresses, the decisions are made as far as that’s concerned is fluid from a week-to-week basis. Some of it has to do with availability and some of it has to do with the style of offense that we will see with the next opponent, so that’s certainly a possibility.”

For the entire season, Joseph has just six pressures and 12 tackles. The Steelers have run the ball over the last three weeks more than anyone else in the NFL, registering in at 61 percent of their offensive plays. It makes sense to lean on that and give Mason Rudolph. Even more to the point, the Bills struggle mightily defending the run on first down. In that metric, they are the worst in the NFL. Pittsburgh can move the football if the Steelers can give Rudolph time and keep him ahead of the sticks through the ground game.

It just comes down to anticipating adjustments. The return of DaQuan Jones can add a new element, too, and a package with Jones and Joseph could work to slow down the run game. Of course, that would take more talented pass rushers off the field and give Rudolph more options in the passing game.