Their 9-3 preseason victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers certainly wasn’t a work of art Saturday night, but it was certainly a better top-to-bottom performance by the Buffalo Bills on the heels of their dud a week earlier against the Chicago Bears.

“I thought the guys played extremely hard,” coach Sean McDermott said. “They were having fun out there, physical … they were pulling for one another out there, playing for one another and I felt that. So, that’s really where it started.”

Offensively it was mostly a mess but that’s because quarterback Josh Allen was held out of the game, so the first unit was being led by unimpressive Mitchell Trubisky. And when he got hurt late in the second quarter, newly-signed Ben DiNucci had to play the rest of the game so, yeah, if you didn't watch, consider yourself fortunate.

Sign up for the Bills Blast newsletter Delivered straight to your inbox, additional Bills analysis, insight, stats, quotes and team history from Sal Maiorana

But defensively, the Bills were outstanding as the first-string dominated the Steelers and overall, Pittsburgh managed just one field goal, 13 first downs and 219 yards.

Just one more exhibition game to go, Saturday afternoon at Highmark Stadium against the Carolina Panthers.

Three Buffalo Bills players who saw their stock rise

Linebacker Joe Andreessen

There were 91 players who came to St. John Fisher University to open training camp three weeks ago, and perhaps the only one with lesser odds to make the 53-man roster than Andreessen was wrestler-turned-defensive-tackle Gable Steveson.

But Andreessen - who grew up a Bills fan in Lancaster and played at the University at Buffalo - opened some eyes with a superb performance as he recorded a game-high 12 tackles, two for lost yardage. One of those was a key play late in the third quarter when he and JaMarcus Ingram dumped Steelers’ QB Justin Fields for a seven-yard loss on a fourth-and-2 play from the Bills’ 9. I’m not sure why it wasn’t scored as a sack, but the stat guys must have decided Fields was running a designed keeper. Regardless, it was a terrific play and may have been the difference between winning and losing.

“When a young guy gets an opportunity and he makes the most of it, it’s just fun to watch a young man like that, especially a local guy,” McDermott said.

Andreessen remains a longshot, but if nothing else, he may have locked up a spot on the 17-man practice squad and even that didn’t feel realistic when he originally joined the team.

Running back Ray Davis

The rookie fourth-round pick had an excellent night as he gained 58 yards on eight carries and also had a 13-yard run wiped out by a ticky-tack holding penalty.

What was impressive is that six of Davis’ carries came in the second half and totaled 49 yards including a 19-yarder at a time when DiNucci was in the game and the Steelers knew the Bills were going to run the ball.

That also shone a complimentary light on the backup offensive linemen who provided some openings against stacked boxes, but Davis made smart decisions and showed the ability to break tackles which was one of his calling cards in college.

“Very impressed,” McDermott said. “Yeah, you could feel him. Offensive line was coming off the ball and Ray was making some big-time runs and they were physical.”

Cornerback JaMarcus Ingram

Like Andreessen, he played some of his college career at UB, and he may have solidified his roster spot as the fourth corner with another solid effort.

Ingram was in on eight tackles including that big one with Andreessen against Fields, and he also had a special teams tackles which is vitally important for him.

“He practices the same way,” McDermott. “His teammates love him, they respect him for the way he works and all the work he puts in physically, all the work he puts in on the mental part of the game and I’m just real proud of him.”

Three Buffalo Bills players who saw their stock dip

Defensive end Javon Solomon

This has nothing to do with how he played because the rookie fifth-round pick flashed again as he was in on two tackles and had four QB hits on 24 defensive snaps, plus a special teams tackle on 13 snaps.

However, he suffered a calf injury in the second half and could not finish, and depending on the severity, this could mean Solomon is about to get the redshirt treatment, meaning the Bills might ease their roster crunch at edge rusher and put him on injured reserve for the season.

They have Greg Rousseau, AJ Epenesa, Von Miller, and probably Dawuane Smoot locked in as the every game four players in the rotation. They will likely keep five on the 53-man roster and they like both Kingsley Jonathan and Kameron Cline.

Thus, if Solomon’s injury costs him weeks instead of days, it would be a bummer for him, but it might enable the Bills to keep Jonathan or Cline, and stash Solomon away for a year and let him learn and grow. Remember, he’s trying to make a big leap from Troy University to the NFL.

Wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling

It just hasn’t been happening for the veteran who won a Super Bowl ring with the Chiefs each of the last two seasons. He’s been inconsistent in practice, he had a bad drop in the loss to the Bears, and then in this game he suffered a neck injury after making his only catch for an eight-yard gain.

There was a lot made of the Bills signing Valdes-Scantling and Chase Claypool as free agents, and they’ve both come up small. Claypool is already off the team because he missed almost all of camp with a toe injury, and now Valdes-Scantling could miss time.

If he does, the Bills might decide to move on in the form of an injury settlement which is what they did with Claypool, but Valdes-Scantling will cost significantly more.

Wide receiver KJ Hamler

After fumbling a kickoff and dropping a pass against the Bears, Hamler was not used in the return game against the Steelers, and he played only seven snaps on offense. His only path to a roster spot is to be the clear-cut choice as the punt and kickoff return man, but in this game, rookie cornerback Daequan Hardy was deep on punts and Andy Isabella was back on kickoffs.

Hardy ripped off a 31-yard return, but he also caught three punts inside the 5-yard-line, on top of doing that once against the Bears. That can’t happen in a regular-season game, though at least he made amends on one with that 31-yard return and that play alone could have pushed Hamler off the roster.

Isabella returned two kickoffs for 35 yards, but he doesn’t look the part, so Hamler may not be dead yet, especially if Valdes-Scantling is going to miss significant time, but the clock is ticking for him.

Sal Maiorana has covered the Buffalo Bills for four decades including 35 years as the full-time beat writer for the D&C, and he has written numerous books about the history of the team. He can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com, and you can follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana. https://profile.democratandchronicle.com/newsletters/bills-blast

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Buffalo Bills depth chart watch: Valdez-Scantling down, Ray Davis up