The Buffalo Bills closed out a perfect preseason Thursday night, rallying for a thrilling 28-27 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers and giving rookie head coach Joe Brady one final confidence boost before the games start counting.
For Brady, the night offered more than just another preseason win. The 36-year-old, who enters the season as the NFL’s youngest head coach, had the opportunity to get valuable input from quarterback Josh Allen while calling plays with the game on the line.
For a moment, however, Brady could simply enjoy the comeback.
Trailing 27-20 late in the fourth quarter, Buffalo put together a game-winning drive that culminated with Ian Wheeler scoring on a 2-yard run with 1:06 remaining. The Bills then went for two, with quarterback Steve Buechele scrambling backward under pressure before finding Dante Pettis open along the left side of the goal line for an off-balance completion.
The successful conversion put Buffalo ahead 28-27. Brady said he welcomed having Allen on the sideline and on the headset, particularly during the decisive moments.
With Allen sharing his perspective, Brady was able to hear the thoughts of the franchise quarterback while navigating a close game. It was another valuable experience for a coach preparing to lead a team with legitimate Super Bowl aspirations.
The Bills finished the preseason 3-0, providing Brady with a perfect start to his first preseason as Buffalo’s head coach. The Steelers, meanwhile, finished 1-2 and left the game with several injury concerns.
Second-year quarterback Will Howard started for Pittsburgh but was being evaluated for an undisclosed injury and was not made available to reporters afterward, according to the team.
Special teams standout Ben Skowronek also appeared to suffer a head injury during the first half while tackling Mecole Hardman on a kickoff return. Skowronek was escorted up the tunnel, and Steelers coach Mike McCarthy did not have an update on his condition after the game.
With veteran Aaron Rodgers back home resting in Pittsburgh and Mason Rudolph watching from the sideline, Howard and rookie Drew Allar received extended opportunities to make their cases in the competition for Pittsburgh’s third-string quarterback job.
Neither quarterback was able to completely separate himself. Allar finished 9 of 18 passing for 88 yards and directed one touchdown drive. That possession ended with Elie Heidenreich scoring on a 9-yard run to open the second half. The rookie’s night ended on a sour note, however.
With Pittsburgh holding a one-point lead and looking for a chance to regain possession, Allar’s pass on fourth-and-7 from the Buffalo 38 sailed behind tight end Lake McRee with 44 seconds remaining. The incompletion effectively ended Pittsburgh’s final opportunity.
Allar’s performance came as he attempted to gain ground in the battle for the Steelers’ third-string role. Howard, a sixth-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, started and completed 9 of 15 passes for two touchdowns and an interception over seven first-half possessions.
Both of Howard’s touchdowns came on drives that began inside Buffalo’s 30-yard line. He opened the scoring with a 13-yard touchdown pass to Germie Bernard before connecting with McRee for a 5-yard touchdown later in the first half.
The interception, however, continued a difficult preseason for Howard. It was his third pick of the exhibition schedule after he was intercepted twice in Pittsburgh’s 17-0 loss to the New York Jets last weekend.
Pittsburgh appeared to have the game in hand after Kaden Wetjen provided a major special-teams spark. Wetjen returned a punt 45 yards for a touchdown, putting the Steelers ahead 27-17 with just four minutes gone in the fourth quarter.
Buffalo refused to go quietly. The Bills chipped away at the deficit before Wheeler’s late touchdown brought them within one. Brady then trusted his offense to go for the victory, and Buechele delivered the decisive two-point completion to Pettis.
Kyle Allen appears to have secured the primary backup quarterback job behind Josh Allen, leaving Buechele to handle much of the quarterback work Thursday.
Buechele completed 26 of 38 passes for 196 yards and engineered the late comeback. For Buffalo, the victory provided a fitting conclusion to a preseason in which Brady got an extended look at his roster and his team finished undefeated.
Now the preseason is over, the stakes are about to change dramatically. Brady will enter the regular season under the spotlight as the NFL’s youngest head coach, tasked with guiding a talented Bills roster that expects to compete for the Super Bowl. His perfect preseason provided a promising opening chapter, but the real test begins when Buffalo’s regular-season schedule arrives.
