ORCHARD PARK - The only thing that matters in the NFL postseason is that you don’t have to return to the facility the day after your game and clean out your locker.

The goal is to survive and advance and live to play another day during the month of win-or-else and that’s what the Buffalo Bills did Monday night with their 31-17 AFC wild-card victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers.

There was no doubt which was the more talented team; the Bills had the edge in so many areas across the board, especially at quarterback, but sometimes that doesn’t matter in the postseason. Ask the Dallas Cowboys about that, a 12-win, No. 2 seed team that was launched into the uncertainty of the offseason by the No. 7 Packers Sunday.

Crazy things happen in the postseason and it’s not always the better, more talented team that wins, which is why this victory was impressive for Buffalo, especially in light of all the defensive injuries it incurred during a rugged game played on a frigid night at Highmark Stadium.

Of course, as coach Sean McDermott said, the Bills have some lengthy experience to draw from in these situations, having qualified for a fifth straight season for the playoffs and sixth in his seven seasons as coach, and that helped Monday.

“Yeah, I think that fabric, you kind of draw from that, right?” McDermott said. “When you’re building that fabric during the season through different challenges, adversity, the journey, that’s what you lean on in situations like we had tonight, and we’ll have to do it going forward quite honestly.”

Steelers coach Mike Tomlin tipped his hat to the Bills, but as he always does, Tomlin did not mince words. His team simply wasn’t good enough and made too many mistakes against a quality opponent and that, more than anything tipped the scales.

“I’m appreciative of the efforts, but it’s not mystical; we didn’t do what was required to win tonight,” he said. “We didn’t take care of the ball. We didn’t get the ball from them enough in this environment and thus the score.”

He was right, and no one could argue.

Here’s how I graded the Bills:

PASS OFFENSE: A-

It wasn’t a mind-melting performance from Josh Allen, but it was rock solid and perhaps most important, it was turnover-free. Allen completed 21 of 30 for 203 yards and threw TD passes to Dalton Kincaid, Dawson Knox and Khalil Shakir.

He executed three excellent drives that ended in TDs - the throws to Knox and Kincaid, plus his own 52-yard scramble to the end zone. And along the way, he made some decisions with the ball and for the most part, took what was available. There were a couple plays at the end of the first half where he didn’t do that, and it wound up costing the Bills points and a chance to blow the game wide open.

Stefon Diggs was reliable when Allen needed him and caught seven passes for 52 yards, and the Kincaid TD was gorgeous - a seam route down the middle on the first play after the Bills’ defense forced a turnover at the Steelers 29. Perfect throw, great route, nice catch. That’s what the Bills need more of from Kincaid, big shots like that. And Shakir's TD in the fourth quarter was a magnificent individual effort, just the latest critical play from him.

As for the offensive line, all in all a pretty good night against a tough Steelers’ front, but it certainly was a little easier with star edge rusher T.J. Watt not in the game.

RUN OFFENSE: A

James Cook had been scuffling a bit the last three weeks but he gave the Bills nice balance in their offense as he carried 17 times for 79 yards, a nice 4.4 average per carry. The offensive line did a good job creating creases up the middle and Joe Brady knew that was the way to attack because the Steelers have excellent speed getting to the perimeter and it was going to be tough to run outside.

Allen is just a force of nature with the ball in his hands. His 52-yard touchdown run was simply a remarkable play, especially one for a QB. He scrambled out of the pocket on third-and-7, got the first down and rather than slide, he just kept going and no one could catch him.

On the drive that ended with Shakir’s putaway TD, Allen made a great decision on a read-option to keep the ball and he ran 13 yards for a first down. The Bills finished with 179 yards and a 5.3 average per attempt.

PASS DEFENSE: B

Mason Rudolph wasn’t as helpless as many probably thought he would be as he completed 22 of 39 for 229 yards. He made several big throws as he rallied the Steelers from down 21-0 to within 24-17 in the fourth quarter, and also showed great escapability in the pocket and was sacked only once, that by Greg Rousseau.

George Pickens made a couple nice catches but finished with a mundane 50 yards and he lost a fumble at his own 29 that led directly to Kincaid’s TD catch. Diontae Johnson managed 48 yards and scored a touchdown, and Calvin Austin had the other TD, but the Steelers have struggled all season to have impactful passing games and in the end that bit them in this game, as did two turnovers.

In addition to the Pickens fumble in the first quarter that was recovered by Terrel Bernard, Rudolph threw an end zone pick to Kaiir Elam early in the second quarter that took points off the board for Pittsburgh.

With all the challenges the Bills defense had, it was a commendable performance to prevent any of the deep shots that the Steelers had been hitting the past few weeks. Players like Elam, Dane Jackson, Cam Lewis, AJ Klein, and Dorian Williams all had to play significant roles once the injuries started happening.

RUN DEFENSE: B+

The Steelers figured to need a big night running the ball to win the game, and that did not happen. Falling behind so quickly and deeply took them out of it a bit, but they finished with just 106 yards on 23 attempts with Najee Harris gaining just 37 and Jaylen Warren 38.

Klein was fantastic after he replaced Spector early in the game. He wasn’t even on the team as of Tuesday, but he wound up making a team-high 11 tackles. That was some kind of performance. And Williams also acquitted himself well when he had to replace Bernard in the second half and finished with seven tackles.

Up front, Rousseau and Leonard Floyd set their edges well and had four tackles, while Ed Oliver had one tackle but also had three QB hits.

SPECIAL TEAMS: D

Near the end of the first half, the Bills had a disastrous sequence take place. Tyler Bass had a 49-yard field goal blocked and it bounded all the way to the Buffalo 33 before the Steelers recovered. And in that madness to chase the ball down, punter Sam Martin pulled up lame with what looked like a hamstring injury. Fortunately for the Bills, Martin was able to gut it out and continue. His only punt after the injury was a 45-yarder, and he continued to hold in placements.

Late in the third quarter, Bass drilled a 45-yard field goal which stopped the bleeding for the Bills who had seen a 21-0 lead cut to 21-10, but then he shanked a chip shot 27-yard field at the two-minute warning. It was his first miss inside 30 yards in hs career. These are the types of things that can lose playoff games and the Bills need to clean it up.

Early in the game, Deonte Harty made a very good decision to run up on a short Steelers punt and make a fair catch, likely saving the Bills a good chunk of field position. And Andy Isabella had a kickoff return of 19 yards.

COACHING: A-

Joe Brady put together a diverse game plan that utilized both the run and pass almost 50-50. The Bills had 34 running plays and Allen had 32 dropbacks that were either pass attempts or sacks. A few of his runs were pass plays that became scrambles. The point is, Brady had nice balance and it kept the Steelers off balance and the result was 31 points, 24 first downs, 368 yards, and more than 33 minutes of possession.

On defense, McDermott did a tremendous job navigating all the injuries and there really weren’t many communication breakdowns. That’s a testament to the system and structure he has in place. Also, you had to love his decision to have Allen sneak for a fourth-down conversion in the third quarter near midfield after the Steelers had gotten within 21-10. That led to a Bass field goal.

Again, the Bills overcame some adversity with the game being pushed back, and they were ready to play and took care of business against an inferior, yet still tough and gritty opponent.

Sal Maiorana can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana. To subscribe to Sal's newsletter, Bills Blast, which comes out twice a week during the season, please follow this link: https://profile.democratandchronicle.com/newsletters/bills-blast

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Bills report card: Josh Allen leads Buffalo through adversity to beat Steelers