Plays that shaped the game: Khalil Shakir TD helps clinch Bills win over Steelers
Khalil Shakir is a mere 23 years old and might have a decade of NFL games in his future.
Yet no matter how long the Buffalo Bills’ receiver plays, his big touchdown Monday night surely will rank among his career highlights.
Here’s a closer look at key plays that shaped the Bills’ 31-17 wild-card playoff victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Great balance
What made Shakir’s 17-yard catch and run for a touchdown so great was he beat the Steelers’ best defensive player, star safety Minkah Fitzpatrick.
With the Bills clinging to a 24-17 lead and facing a second-and-9 situation, Josh Allen recognized a Steelers blitz and showed a quick trigger in throwing to Shakir on a shallow crossing route at the 15.
Fitzpatrick closed fast and hard and wrapped both arms around the Bills’ receiver. But Shakir bent forward and spun out of the tackle.
“Just a shallow cross,” Shakir said. “My job is to get across the field and show eyes if they do bring any sort of blitz. Josh put it right on me. I don’t know. Dude hit me and I was able to stay up and make a play from there.”
Shakir reversed field to the right, made a great cut inside linebacker Mykal Walker and outran linebacker Myles Jack and defensive tackle Cam Heyward to the end zone.
How did Shakir manage to keep his feet after the Fitzpatrick hit?
“I don’t know,” he said. “We practice a ball-security drill once a week. It’s called stumble bump or something. Hold the ball and put your hand down and someone’s punching at the ball. I guess repetition and doing what you practice shows up in games.”
The TD gave the Bills a 14-point edge with 6:27 left.
“He’s been playing his tail off,” said tight end Dawson Knox of Shakir. “It seems like it was almost impossible to bring him down. I had a little under route ao I was coming into where he had the ball, and there were two or three guys on him. He just refused to go down.”
The 17-Wheeler TD
Damontae Kazee felt the brunt of “the Josh Allen Experience” on the Bills’ quarterback’s 52-yard touchdown scramble in the second quarter.
The Steelers brought a six-man blitz on a third-and-7 play. Running back Latavius Murray picked up blitzing linebacker Myles Jack.
That allowed Allen to step up in the pocket and break free. Kazee, the deep safety, closed on Allen and had a clean shot at the 38. Most quarterbacks would have slid at that point. Allen ran through him and cruised into the end zone to give the Bills a 21-0 lead.
“Plays like that, he’s just a freak of nature,” Shakir said.
Safety Micah Hyde admitted he was hollering on the sideline for Allen to slide.
“Yes I was,” Hyde said. “When he got to the sideline, I said, ‘Hey man, you need to slide.’ He looked at me like I was crazy. That’s JA. He’s able – how big he is, he’s actually really elusive.”
Spread attack
The Bills went to an empty backfield formation and went for the jugular on the first play after the first turnover of the game.
The Steelers were in a two-deep zone coverage, and tight end Dalton Kincaid ran straight up the middle of the field against a linebacker, Jack. It was no contest. Kincaid blew past Jack and caught the pass from Allen at the 4-yard line, splitting the safeties. Easy touchdown.
“I saw the safeties go apart, and the mike backer was dropping in Tampa 2,” Kincaid said, referring to a two-deep coverage where the middle linebacker runs to the deep middle. “That’s exactly how we had it schemed up this week in practice. A.J. Klein actually was running the scout team as the backer for this week. He was like, it was cool to see it translate over.”
It was no surprise the Bills attacked the Steelers’ linebackers. Starters Cole Holcomb and Kwon Alexander both went on injured reserve in the middle of the season. Jack, 28, announced his retirement in August after being released by the Eagles. The Steelers signed him on Nov. 20. He was elevated off the practice squad for Monday’s game.
Blitz beater
The Bills’ first touchdown came when Allen beat a blitz and hit Knox for a 9-yard touchdown pass.
The Steelers had just a single safety, Eric Rowe, in the middle of the field, and Knox was lined up next to the left tackle. James Cook sprinted to the left flat, which drew the attention of cornerback Patrick Peterson on that side of the field. That left Rowe all alone to chase Knox to the left corner of the end zone. He didn’t come close.
“It was a simple corner route,” Knox said. “The safety came over to match me. Josh put it on the money. The corner flew out with the running back. It was a very simple flag route. I was surprised it was that open. ... I was basically just running away from him.”
Key turnover
The Steelers looked like they were going to cut into a 14-0 Bills lead in the second quarter when they marched 89 yards in 10 plays to the Buffalo 3.
Quarterback Mason Rudolph had picked on cornerback Kaiir Elam on a second-down play from the 11, throwing for Diontae Johnson near the goal line. The pass was off target but Elam needlessly interfered and was flagged for a penalty.
Rudolph went back to Johnson two plays later on a quick out on the left sideline. But Elam stayed tight to Johnson’s hip and looked up at the last second as the ball arrived. He made the catch in front of the receiver and before going out of bounds.
Observations: Bills take next-man-up mentality to the next level in win over Steelers
Even the punter got hurt.
That’s not to minimize the position that Sam Martin plays for the Buffalo Bills, but rather to properly put into perspective just how badly the injury bug bit the team during a 31-17 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday in an AFC wild-card playoff game at Highmark Stadium.
The Bills will need to find some healing crystals with the Kansas City Chiefs coming to town for a divisional-round game at 6:30 p.m. Sunday. Not surprisingly, head coach Sean McDermott didn’t have many updates immediately following his team’s win, but here’s a rundown of who went down.
- Second-year cornerback Christian Benford appeared to suffer a knee injury on a first-quarter catch by Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth. Benford did not return and was replaced by Kaiir Elam.
- Second-year linebacker Baylon Spector suffered a back injury in the first quarter and did not return. He was replaced by A.J. Klein. Spector was in the starting lineup because the Bills were without both Matt Milano, who is on injured reserve, and Tyrel Dodson, who did not play because of a shoulder injury suffered in Week 18 against Miami.
- Martin suffered a left hamstring injury chasing the blocked 49-yard field goal attempt by Bills kicker Tyler Bass late in the first half. Martin returned to punt in the second half, but clearly wasn’t 100%.
- Wide receiver Stefon Diggs (undisclosed) was injured on his 5-yard catch late in the second quarter when he was tackled by safety Minkah Fitzpatrick. Diggs was able to jog to the sideline and returned to the game.
- Second-year linebacker Terrell Bernard (right ankle) was carted off the field with 13:10 left in the third quarter on a tackle of Steelers receiver Diontae Johnson. Bernard did not return. A league source told The Buffalo News after the game that X-rays on Bernard’s ankle were negative, but that he will have an MRI exam Tuesday. Klein moved over to replace Bernard, with rookie Dorian Williams then coming into the game.
- Left guard Connor McGovern (ribs) was shaken up on a James Cook 1-yard run with 4:10 left in the third quarter. He missed one play.
- Cornerback Taron Johnson (head) was in the medical tent as the fourth quarter started to be evaluated, replaced as the Bills’ nickel by Cam Lewis. He did not return.
That’s a long list with the Bills having a short week to prepare.
“It’s tough to see your brother go down, but you know they want the best for the team,” Williams said. “If they can’t go, they want next up, so you’ve got to come in, you’ve got to be able to produce, you’ve got to be able to help the team. There shouldn’t be no dropoff.”
Against the Steelers, that proved to be the case. Klein finished with a team-leading 10 tackles. Williams was next with seven. Elam had five tackles and a big interception.
“It’s football,” said defensive end Leonard Floyd. “You can’t really stop injuries, you’ve just got to keep fighting through it and playing through it. We did a good job as a team, not letting it bring us down. We put the next guy in and he came out and played great. It shows how deep of a team we’ve got. Next-man-up mentality.”
While every injury is impactful in its own way, losing Bernard in the third quarter looked to be the worst-case scenario. He has been a revelation in his second season, coming into the season as a virtual unknown and blossoming into one of the team’s best defenders.
Before getting Hurt, Bernard had a dynamite first half, with two passes defensed and a fumble recovery.
“His play speaks for itself, and the year that he’s had as a young player stepping in with basically no experience and leading our defense, not only being productive, but also the leadership aspect of the job at the middle linebacker position,” McDermott said. “He does a lot for our defense.”
You can bet on one thing: Even if Bernard isn’t ready to go against the Chiefs, the Bills won’t make any excuses.
“I think everybody in the locker room understands the type of game that we play and what comes with it. It sucks, though,” quarterback Josh Allen said of the injuries. “When you got guys that are playing at such a high level, guys that are young, that are figuring things out and having injuries. We got to figure it out. … Guys are going to step up and, yeah, it takes everybody to win.”
The Bills advanced to the divisional round of the postseason for the fourth straight year. The Bills and Chiefs will meet for the third time in that span. It will be the first road playoff game in Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ career, not counting Super Bowls at neutral sites.
“That’s the kind of game we want, man,” Floyd said. “Playing against one of the top quarterbacks in the league in the playoffs when it all matters. It’s the type of game we look forward to. I look forward to us coming out and playing great on defense.”
2. Khalil Shakir stayed hot. The Bills didn’t put the game away until Shakir made a fantastic individual effort to score on a 17-yard reception with 6:27 left in the fourth quarter. According to NFL NextGen Stats, he had 0.7% chance of scoring when he caught the ball.
The touchdown continued a hot streak for the second-year veteran, who now has 16 catches on 16 targets for 220 yards over his past four games.
“He’s been fantastic and it’s not a secret anymore. Teams are starting to game plan for him,” Allen said. “The kid just works hard. He doesn’t ever complain about anything. He’s always where he’s supposed to be. You watch him when he’s not getting the ball, he’s following the ball, he’s getting downfield. He’s trying to make a block. He plays football the right way. When you do that, and you combine that with his physical talents, he’s very shifty, he’s very quick, his hands are fantastic. You put yourself in good positions to have success and he’s been making the most out of it. It’s been fun to see him grow as a young player.”
On Sunday night, Rams receiver Paku Nacua set an NFL record with nine catches for 181 yards and a touchdown. Nacua, like Shakir, was a fifth-round draft pick. Nacua fell in the draft because he didn’t test great. McDermott drew a comparison to Shakir in that way.
“If you measure Khalil by playing the game of football, I think he’s a pretty, pretty special player and person, for that matter,” McDermott said. “I think one feeds the other, so I think more people need to start measuring some of those things, as opposed to some of the measurables in a true football player.”
3. Both tight ends contributed. Dalton Kincaid, the team’s first-round draft pick, finished with a team-leading 59 receiving yards that included a 29-yard touchdown catch in the first quarter. Kincaid was targeted six times. Dawson Knox also came through with a 9-yard touchdown pass from Allen in the first quarter to open the scoring. It was Knox’s sixth career postseason touchdown, which ties him for second on the franchise’s all-time list with James Lofton and Gabe Davis, three behind Andre Reed with nine.
According to CBS Sports, the Bills became the first team in NFL playoff history to have two tight ends catch touchdown passes in the first quarter of a game. Neither will have much time to celebrate.
“We have the 24-hour rule, but when it’s a short week, it’s got to be quicker than that,” Knox said. “We’ll be getting in the training room even tonight to take care of our bodies. … We’ll be turning the page pretty quick.”
4. Tyrel Dodson and Rasul Douglas couldn’t go. The Bills ruled out their starting linebacker and cornerback 90 minutes before kickoff. Both players were listed as questionable on the final injury report. Dodson was a limited participant at practice Friday. Douglas, meanwhile, was unable to practice all week after hurting his knee against Miami. They joined wide receiver Gabe Davis (knee) and safety Taylor Rapp (calf), who were previously ruled out after also getting hurt against Miami. With Davis out, the Bills called receiver Andy Isabella up from the practice squad, and he was in the lineup against the Steelers. Isabella returned one kickoff for 19 yards and was targeted once in the passing game, but the pass fell incomplete.
5. Linval Joseph returned to the lineup. Facing a physical team that surely wanted to run the ball, the Bills activated Joseph for the first time since Week 16 against the Chargers. Joseph, 6-foot-4 and 329 pounds, was active in place of Poona Ford. Joseph teamed up with Ed Oliver to stop Steelers running back Najee Harris for a loss of 1 yard on a first-and-goal play from the Bills’ 3-yard line in the second quarter, setting up Elam’s interception on the next play.
The Bills’ other inactive players were offensive lineman Alec Anderson and defensive end Kingsley Jonathan.