Josh Allen: How the Steelers fueled Bills to a win

The Bills had their back against the ropes heading into a Week 13 road matchup with the Pittsburgh Steelers at a point in the season where every game for them is a 'must-win".

Even though depleted, Buffalo delivered, leaving Pittsburgh with a 31-17 victory over the similarly dinged up Steelers. Things were a little chippy between the clubs, and in particular, Steelers defensive vet Cam Heyward and QB Josh Allen.

A late hit by Pittsburgh linebacker Patrick Queen, and some verbal sparring and taunting by Heyward, proved to light a fire in Allen and company that burned during a cold afternoon in the Steel City.

Head Coach Sean McDermott said the late hit on Allen caused a spark among the Bills.

“You hit our quarterback like that, you’re going to spark our team a little bit.”

Pittsburgh's defense challenged the Bills' short-handed offense, and the Steelers' excessive approach defensively backfired in fueling Buffalo's drive to win.

"Maybe a little bit," Allen said about whether his exchange with Heyward got him fired up. "I love the competitiveness out of this game, he’s such a great player, you know, sometimes you need fire like that to get going.”

Heyward would claim dirty play from Allen, though a replay shows that the Pittsburgh defensive tackle, who has a history of taking shots at QBs when they are down, pulls at Allen's arm and then attempts to push himself up off him while pinning the QB with his weight, when Allen uses his knee to push and shove him away and off of him.

At the end of the day, Allen and the offense got the best of the hot-tempered defender.

Winning at the line of scrimmage proved to be a difference maker for the Bills on both sides of the ball as the game progressed. The offensive line did enough to give QB Josh Allen some pocket protection and keep lanes open for the ground game.

On the defensive side, the Buffalo pass rush made QB Aaron Rodgers' pocket a pressure cooker, and McDermott noted Buffalo vet Shaq Thompson stood up to speak to the defense on Friday before the matchup, motivating them in squaring off against the Steelers.

“He’s a dawg… He leads with his voice.”

The Bills will look to keep their winning ways going in NFL Week 14 as they take on an AFC club that's been a tough one for them to beat in recent seasons, the Cincinnati Bengals.

This article originally appeared on Bills Wire: Josh Allen: How the Steelers fueled Bills to beat them