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The last tune up, the final dress rehearsal, final practice session...whatever you want to call the second-to-last preseason game, the Pittsburgh Steelers and Buffalo Bills starters will see their final significant playing time before the regular season.
With that said, plenty of questions arise as these two teams square off against one another at 4:00 p.m. EST Saturday. For the Bills, EJ Manuel will get the nod with the starters, but will be without several key offensive weapons including Sammy Watkins.
For the Steelers, will newly acquired Michael Vick see any playing time? Will the team limit Le'Veon Bell and Martavis Bryant's playing time as the duo will be missing all or part of the first quarter of the regular season and the team will surely be trying to get players like DeAngelo Williams, Dri Archer, Darrius Heyward-Bey and Sammie Coates increased reps with Ben Roethlisberger and the starting offense.
The Steelers stellar offense vs. the Bills stout defense. Should be a great matchup even as the back ups take over in the second half. So, who will come out victorious in this matchup? Picking any preseason game is difficult, but this would be the easiest of the 5 for the Steelers. The Steelers' offense is too good, and Manuel too sporadic for the Bills to keep pace, but will the Steelers' backups be able to hold down the fort when the starters exit stage left? I think they will.
Let us know your prediction below in the 'Crowd's Line' tool. The scores will be counted, tabulated and compared with Buffalo Rumblings (SB Nation's Buffalo Bills website) to see which fan base was the closest to the actual final score. Okay Steelers fans, time to prove your wisdom...
Jeff Hartman's (BTSC Editor) Prediction:
Steelers - 27
Bills - 16