Stock up, stock down following the Bills' preseason win over the Steelers
The Buffalo Bills (1-1) came into Saturday's preseason game against the Pittsburgh Steelers (0-2) looking to have a much better showing that they did in their first preseason game last week against the Chicago Bears. Despite star quarterback Josh Allen not playing in the game along with the rest of the starters, the Bills were able to win their first game of the preseason and looked better doing it than they did against the Bears.
The Bills defeated the Steelers 9-3 on Saturday at Acrisure Stadium and while Buffalo eventually emerged victorious, it was mostly a combination of the weather along with the defense stifling Pittsburgh's offensive unit. Kicker Tyler Bass scored all nine points for a Bills team that ran for 167 yards, but only passed 78 yards between former Steeler Mitchell Trubisky and Ben DiNucci.
While the passing offense was mostly nonexistent for both teams due to the weather as well as both squads trying to get their retooled offensive schemes on track, the defense was there for both teams with a lot of players having signature moments. Here is the Bills' stock report following Saturday's win over the Steelers:
Stock Up: K Tyler Bass
After going 3-for-3 in this game with his field goals, Bass is now 5-of-5 and has shown the consistency of one of the better kickers in the NFL. As mentioned above, the Bills could not get much going on the offensive end outside of the running game and with the weather being as bad as it was in Pittsburgh, Bass making his kicks was something that Buffalo needed from him if they were going to score any points.
Stock Down: Backup Quarterback
Trubisky was far from terrible in this game as he finished 9-of-13 passing for 86 yards on a day where he was the surprise starter following Josh Allen never making it onto the field for precautionary reasons. He did throw an interception and also left the game early with a knee injury, meaning that Ben DiNucci had to step in to finish the game for the Bills. Trubisky is most likely going to be the primary backup to Allen so the hope is that his injury isn't too serious.
Stock Up: DE Greg Rousseau
Rousseau was a man on a mission on Saturday as he racked up 2.5 sacks, including a nice play where he split two offensive linemen to get Russell Wilson who tried to throw the ball away to avoid the sack. With Leonard Floyd no longer on the team, Rousseau will have to step up for a Buffalo team that has to be able to get to the quarterback and he is slowly looking like he is up to the challenge.
Stock Down: Passing Game
Bad weather aside, the Bills' passing game did not look good against the Steelers. For the passing game to rack up just 78 yards while allowing three sacks in just 18 attempts is something that leaves a lot to be desired for a team that is depending on replacing the production of Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis with a committee approach.
Stock Up: Joe Andreessen
Andreessen came into the NFL as an undrafted free-agent and he is playing like he wants to prove doubters wrong as he picked up 12 tackles with seven being on his own and two being for losses. Andreessen grew up in Buffalo and played his college ball at Buffalo University so if he could continue to have performances like he did at Pittsburgh, he might be able to eventually say that he is playing professional football for his hometown team.
Stock Up: Running Game
Unlike the passing offense mentioned above, the running game gave a lot for Bills fans to be proud about given how much difficulty the team had moving the ball through the air. Four different running backs gained at least 25 yards on the ground and the star of the show was rookie Ray Davis, who had himself a day with eight carries for 58 yards (7.3 yards per carry) and his longest play was a 19-yard run that could have been a touchdown for him.
This article originally appeared on Bills Wire: Stock up, stock down following the Bills' preseason win over the Steelers