David Benjamin De Cristofaro, Bills WireTue, December 2, 2025 at 3:15 PM UTC·2 min readThe Bills roasted the Steelers' defense 26-7 in an NFL Week 13 trouncing to improve to 8-4.
Buffalo did serious work on the ground, thanks in big part to RB1 James Cook, who attacked on the first offensive play of the game and kept going. He'd have 144 yards on a career-high 32 carries in the contest, and add 33 yards receiving on three catches.
Pittsburgh would allow 249 total rushing yards on the day, and Cook seemed to know why ahead of time.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“Coming into the game, we [were] leaning on them,” Cook said to the media. “They’re one of the worst tackling corner [groups] in the NFL. Just try to get the ball on the edge. We did a pretty good job today.”
He did have two fumbles, including one in the first half to give Pittsburgh a short field in the Bills' territory, where they scored their only points of the game. Still, Cook had a big day, and Buffalo set the record for most rushing yards by a road team at Acrisure Stadium, thanks to running the football on over half their offensive plays.
“A great effort,” head coach Sean McDermott said. “Certainly things we can work on, but good to come on the road and show our toughness.”
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe 2022 second-round pick has also now rushed for a career-best 1,228 yards through 12 games.
The 26-year-old Cook (1,228 yards) only trails Indianapolis Colts RB Jonathan Taylor (1,282) this season, and there are five games left to play. No Buffalo player has led the league in rushing yards since O.J. Simpson in 1976 (1,503).
This article originally appeared on Bills Wire: Bills' James Cook says flaw in Steelers defense allowed his big game
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