PITTSBURGH -- Pittsburgh Steelers star defensive end T.J. Watt was dumbfounded after his team was demolished by a record-breaking Buffalo Bills run game on Sunday night.
The Bills ran for 249 yards against a Steelers defense that was allowing only 84 yards per game on the ground in their six previous home games this season. Buffalo set an Acrisure Stadium record on Sunday as no team has ever rushed for more yards against Pittsburgh in their house. It's the most against the Steelers at home since 1975, when, coincidentally, the Bills ran for 310 yards.
What perplexed Watt after the game was how the Bills went about gashing the Steelers. They just kept running the same play over and over again.
And the Steelers couldn't do anything to stop the Bills.
"I've never seen a team run the same play as much as they ran it today and have as much success as they had," Watt said. "I mean, I'm out of words for it."
Watt was visibly frustrated and called what the Bills did to the Steelers defense an "a** kicking in all areas."
It was another superstar performance for Bills running back James Cook, who posted his seventh 100-yard rushing game this season. Cook's 1,228 rushing yards this season rank second in the NFL behind only Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor.
"We knew that 4 was a hell of a runner," Watt said. "I think number one or two rushing offense in the National Football League. Knew that he liked to bounce outside. Knew he was an elite running back. Weren't able to stop it tonight."
Cook said the Bills had a specific game plan on how they wanted to attack the Steelers' rush defense. Buffalo found a weakness and they unleashed Cook to try and exploit it.
"Just watching film and knowing how their corners tackle," Cook said. "Coming into the game, we leaning on them. They're one of the worst tackling corner (groups) in the NFL. Just try to get the ball on the edge and (test) those guys. We did a pretty good job today."
Bills coach Sean McDermott said that the Bills knew it would be tough to set the physical tone against the Steelers, who pride themselves on playing great defense.
"I know Mike (Tomlin). I've known him for a long time. He takes a lot of pride in that, and I respect it," McDermott said. "But we're not going to be outphsysicaled. Our guys know that. They know what we stand for as well and what Buffalo Bills football is about also, that came out in our football team tonight and it was good to see."
Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady hasn't been shy about finding a play that he likes and running it over and over again. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it has caused issues for the Bills' offense. Brady was heavily criticized last week after a loss to the Texans for the constant use of a mesh passing concept.
This week, Brady refused to get away from the same two run calls: duo run and a zone run concept.
The Bills wanted to limit hits on quarterback Josh Allen, so they leaned into a run-heavy game plan. According to NFL Next Gen Stats, the Bills called a run on 63.5% of their plays against the Steelers. That's Buffalo's fourth-highest rate of run plays in a game since drafting Allen in 2018. Cook gained 130 yards on under-center run plays, the sixth-most of any player in a game this season.
"(We) Won first down, the rushing offense was incredible, especially against that defense," McDermott said. "Well-coached team, tough front to run it against. We were able to stay in some positive third-down situations, where we were not in third and long."