Steelers vs. Bills score, takeaways: Kenny Pickett shines again in win; Josh Allen gets first preseason action

Pickett and Co. have been unstoppable this preseason

The Pittsburgh Steelers' starting offense has yet to score a red zone touchdown this preseason. That's because each of the Steelers' starting offense's three drives this exhibition season have ended with long touchdowns. Two of those scores occurred in the first quarter of Saturday's game as Pittsburgh parlayed an early lead into a 27-15 win over the visiting Buffalo Bills. 

Jaylen Warren capped off the night's first drive with a 62-yard touchdown run. Pittsburgh scored again moments later when Kenny Pickett hit tight end Pat Freiermuth for a 25-yard completion. The Steelers' final score of the half was set up by rookie Joey Porter Jr. Playing in his first NFL game, Porter's pick set up Connor Heyward's short touchdown catch on a pass thrown by Mitch Trubisky. 

The Steelers' defense was just as dominant against Josh Allen and the rest of the Bills' starting offense, who punted on each of their three possessions. Allen, playing for the first time this preseason, went 7 of 10 for 64 yards in the first half. Two turnovers, a dozen penalties and poor field position plagued the Bills in the first half. 

Two Buffalo turnovers led to two Chris Boswell field goals in the third quarter. The Bills finally got on the scoreboard early in the fourth quarter on Jordan Mims' two-yard touchdown run that was set up by a bad snap on Pittsburgh's ensuing possession. Buffalo capped off the scoring on Kyle Allen's 17-yard strike to Justin Shorter with less than a minute left. 

Here's a closer look at what took place Saturday night. 

Pickett's promising start 

It's hard to imagine Pickett getting off to a better start than the one he has gotten off to this summer. Pickett went 3 of 4 for 43 yards in his two series of work Saturday night that included completions to Freiermuth, George Pickens and Allen Robinson. In three series this preseason, Pickett has gone 9 of 11 for 113 yards with two touchdowns, no interceptions and a 149.1 passer rating. 

How good was Pickett and the Steelers' starting offense on Saturday night? So good that Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin acknowledged that he would have liked to have given his offense more work, but decided to call it a night after the unit scored on its first two drives. The fact that the Steelers have a short week (Pittsburgh faces Atlanta in its preseason finale on Thursday night) also factored into Tomlin's decision. 

Bills offense out of sync 

Allen, who made his debut Saturday night after sitting out Buffalo's preseason opener against Indianapolis, spent a good portion of his evening looking like Fran Tarkenton as he tried to escape the Steelers' pass rush. Allen and the Bills' night was summed up on a second-and-24 play from their own 48-yard-line with 6:28 left in the first half, when a 35-yard completion from Allen to Gabe Davis was wiped out by a Spencer Brown holding penalty. Buffalo punted two plays later. 

All told, the Bills turned the ball over four times. Each of those turnovers resulted in points for the Steelers, starting with Porter's pick of Barkley. 

Young Steelers shine 

Along with Porter, Heyward and Warren, wideout Calvin Austin and rookie pass rusher Nick Herbig continued their impressive camps with big plays on Saturday night. Austin's 54-yard punt return set up Pickett's touchdown pass to Freiermuth. 

Herbig's sack of Matt Barkley midway through the third quarter set up Boswell's second field goal. On the sack, Herbig used a pass rush move that he practiced with T.J. Watt following a practice last week. 

Kincaid looks the part 

Bills first-round pick Dalton Kincaid had a solid night with three receptions for 45 yards. He had receptions of 21 and 14 yards on Buffalo's fourth drive that ultimately ended with a turnover in the red zone. 

The 6-foot-4 Kincaid arrived in Buffalo after a highly-productive career at Utah. He caught 106 passes for 1,400 yards and 16 touchdowns during his final two seasons with the Utes. 

Doyle carted off 

Bills offensive tackle Tommy Doyle was carted off the field during the third quarter after suffering an injury to his left knee. Doyle, who suffered a knee contusion last week against the Colts, had worked his way back from a season-ending ACL injury that was sustained during the Bills' third game of the 2022 season. 

Offensive tackle depth was already a concern for the Bills, who recently worked out two free agent tackles after Brandon Shell abruptly retired last week. One of those free agents, Garrett McGhin, broke into the NFL with Buffalo in 2019 and has since spent time with several other NFL teams as well as having a stint in the XFL. 

Homecoming for Hamlin 

Damar Hamlin's return to the football field had another milestone moment when he played in his first NFL game in his hometown. A Pittsburgh-area native who played college football at Pitt, Hamlin was one of the Bills' team captains on Saturday night.  

Prior to kickoff, Hamlin embraced with Tomlin, a tradition the two began prior to Hamlin suffering a cardiac arrest during Buffalo's game in Cincinnati last December. 

"We've played Buffalo each of the last two seasons, and he and I get to have a moment," Tomlin said a day after the Bills-Bengals game. "It's just cool to not only appreciate these guys in terms of where they are now, but to know them since they were younger people and to watch their maturation, their development, to watch them earn what they were chasing, it's just really a cool thing. He's an example of that. 

"I've got a lot of love for that young man. We lift him and that organization up in prayer." 

Eight months later, Hamlin and Tomlin were able to embrace again in a moment that both men surely savored. 

[Aug 19, 2023 at 8:57 pm ET · Bryan DeArdo]

Bills finally get on the scoreboard after Kendrick Green's bad snap. Jordan Mims scores from two yards out. 

[Aug 19, 2023 at 8:50 pm ET · Bryan DeArdo]

Steelers tack on a pair of Chris Boswell field goals to their lead in the third quarter. Both scores were off of Buffalo turnovers. 

[Aug 19, 2023 at 8:39 pm ET · Bryan DeArdo]

Two more big plays by Steelers rookies: Nick Herbig with a strip-sack, and Darrell Washington with a nice grab as Pittsburgh is threatening to add to its lead.