NFL playoffs: Josh Allen, Bills dispatch Steelers 31-17

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — It made no difference to Josh Allen what day or time the Buffalo Bills faced the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The AFC wild-card playoff game could’ve been played Sunday as scheduled, in the midst of a lake-effect storm that dumped more than 2 feet of snow on the region, and the Bills were going be to ready.

They proved that on Monday, when Allen threw three touchdown passes and scored on a franchise playoff-record 52-yard touchdown run as Buffalo beat Pittsburgh 31-17 in a game that was postponed by 27 1/2 hours.

“People keep saying that’s what we wanted. We had no call in that,” Allen said about the postponement. “We would have played yesterday, would have played Saturday would have played Friday, it wouldn’t have mattered. We would have come out here and played when we were told to play.”

The game turned into a celebration of the elements. Snow blanketed a majority of the seats inside Highmark Stadium when the gates opened and was put to good use by fans, who tossed handfuls into the air like confetti to celebrate.

“We put on a show in the snow,” left tackle Dion Dawkins said. “We’re here. We got one more week.”

The second-seeded Bills (12-6), who closed the regular season with five straight wins, advance to host Patrick Mahomes and the No. 3 seed Kansas City Chiefs in the divisional round on Sunday night. Buffalo and its fans have longed for a home playoff game against the Chiefs after their 2020 and ’21 seasons ended with playoff losses at Kansas City.

“We’re a step behind already,” Allen said, noting the Chiefs will have two more days of rest after beating Miami on Saturday. “It’s going to take a team effort. We know the type of team that they are, obviously the type of quarterback that they have in Pat over there.”

Buffalo led 21-0 before Pittsburgh scored on three straight possessions to get within 24-17. Allen then sealed the win, throwing a 17-yard touchdown pass to Khalil Shakir with 6:27 remaining. Shakir caught the pass at the 10 over the middle, slipped Minkah Fitzpatrick’s tackle attempt with a spin move, and outraced the rest of the Steelers defenders into the end zone.

“Dude hit me and I was able to just stay up and make a play