Bills close preseason with 28-27 win over Steelers on Buechele's late 2-point conversion

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — Ian Wheeler scored on a 2-yard run with 1:06 left, Steve Buechele completed an off-balance pass to Dante Pettis for a 2-point conversion and the Buffalo Bills beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 28-27 in the preseason finale for each team Thursday night.

The Steelers' last chance to pull ahead ended with Drew Allar's pass sailing behind tight end Lake McRee on fourth-and-7 with 44 seconds remaining. It was a disappointing finish for Allar in an outing the rookie was attempting to separate himself from Will Howard in the competition for the Steelers' third-string job.

In squandering a 10-point lead over the final seven minutes, the Steelers closed the preseason 1-2. Buffalo was 3-0.

With Kyle Allen appearing to have locked up the primary backup job behind Josh Allen, Buechele handled the quarterback duties in finishing 26 for 38 for 196 yards. The go-ahead score was set up by a 42-yard pass interference penalty against Tamon Lymum on Pettis that gave the Bills the ball at the 7.

After Wheeler scored on third down, the Bills elected for the 2-point conversion. Buechele was back-pedaling in the face of pressure before getting off a pass to Pettis, who was open along the left side of hte goal line.

Frank Gore Jr. scored on a 1-yard run for Buffalo, and receiver Skyler Bell also found the end zone on a 28-yard scamper off a reverse. Bell, a rookie fourth-round draft pick, also had seven catches for 49 yards.

The only major concern to come out of the game was Pittsburgh special teams ace Ben Skowronek appearing to hurt his head while tackling Mecole Hardman on a kickoff return in the first half. Skowronek was escorted up the tunnel and did not return.

The outing featured mostly backups in what was regarded as the final chance for players to showcase themselves before NFL teams begin making cuts to establish their 53-player rosters by Sunday evening.

In Pittsburgh, the preseason-long question has revolved around how many quarterbacks the Steelers will keep — especially with Aaron Rodgers already announcing this will be his final season.

Rodgers wasn't spotted on the sideline, and with primary backup Mason Rudolph watching from the bench, Howard and Allar finished with mixed results against Buffalo.

Howard, a sixth-round pick in 2025, started and went 9 of 15 with two touchdowns — both on drives starting inside Buffalo’s 30 — and an interception on seven possessions in the first half. The interception was Howard’s third of the preseason, after being picked off twice against the Jets.

Howard completed a 13-yard touchdown pass to Germie Bernard to open the scoring, and also hit McRee for a 5-yards touchdown.

Allar finished 9 of 18 for 88 yards and oversaw one touchdown drive that was capped by Elie Heidenreich scoring on a 9-yard run to open the second half. On the drive, Allar completed three of four attempts for 34 yards — including a 25-yarder Heidenreich.

Kaden Wetjen also scored on a 45-yard punt return that put the Steelers ahead 27-17 four minutes into the fourth quarter.

Bills edge rusher Michael Hoecht made his preseason debut in marking his return to competitive action some 10 months after tearing his right Achilles tendon. Hoecht’s recovery is considered ahead of schedule as the sixth-year player was cleared for the start of training camp.

Hoecht signed with Buffalo in March 2025 and was expected to play a hybrid role in the defense because of his versatility in pass-rushing and pass-defending abilities. He missed the first six games of serving an NFL suspension and hurt in his second outing.

Steelers: Open regular season hosting Atlanta on Sept. 13.

Bills: Open regular season at Houston on Sept. 13.

See AP’s full NFL coverage here

Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Kaden Wetjen (10) returns a punt for a touchdown as Buffalo Bills' Jimmy Ciarlo (35) and Cornell Powell (85) look on in the second half of a preseason NFL football game in Orchard Park, NY., Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Buffalo Bills running back Ian Wheeler (27) recovers his own fumble as Pittsburgh Steelers defensive tackle Kyler Baugh (65) and Cole Holcomb (55) move in to make the stop in the second half of a preseason NFL football game in Orchard Park, NY., Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Jeffrey T. Barnes)

Buffalo Bills quarterback Shane Buechele (6) throws a pass in the second half of a preseason NFL football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Orchard Park, NY., Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Jeffrey T. Barnes)

Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy, left, talks with quarterback Drew Allar, right, in the second half of a preseason NFL football game against the Buffalo Bills in Orchard Park, NY., Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Buffalo Bills quarterback Shane Buechele (6) runs the ball for a short gain in the second half of a preseason NFL football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Orchard Park, NY., Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

A federal judge on Thursday halted — at least for now — attempts to implement President Donald Trump’s executive order limiting mail voting.

The move stalled the directive for a second time only about a week before the first mail ballots are due to be sent out for the rapidly approaching midterm elections. U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani blocked the government from implementing the order for two weeks.

The case could soon be appealed back to the Supreme Court, days after the justices handed down a procedural decision that allowed the the administration to move ahead.

The ruling Thursday came after Democrats and voting rights groups refiled their lawsuits to comply with the recent Supreme Court decision. The high court's conservative majority did not rule on the legality of Trump’s executive order, instead saying Talwani had acted too soon.

Now the administration has issued a formal rule governing whether the U.S. Postal Service will deliver states’ mail ballots, effectively restarting the legal fight.

The whipsawing legal battle has major ramifications for the midterms. Nearly one-third of Americans vote by mail and election officials contend there isn’t enough time to revise their systems to comply with the new Postal Service directives.

The Postal Service says it won’t deliver mail ballots unless states provide a list of voters who should receive them and format the envelopes in a certain way.

“Plaintiff states have neither time nor funds to design new mail ballots, seek approval of the new designs, order production of mail ballots, update their own election management systems, train election officials to use the USPS portal and upload citizen data to the portal, all before the midterms," Talwani wrote Thursday.

The White House did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment. A hearing in the case is set for Sept. 3.

“This rule is a clear attempt by the federal government to interfere in elections it has no power to control. Today, a federal court halted it before this administration could wreak havoc on our elections,” New York Attorney General Letitia James, one of two dozen Democratic attorneys general who filed one of the suits, said in a statement after the order.

Democrats and voting rights groups contend the Postal Services' demand is unconstitutional. The Constitution, they note, grants states and, in some cases, Congress the power to make election rules — not the president or Postal Service.

That reasoning led courts to block Trump’s first executive order, issued last year, that sought to change election procedures, such as requiring documentary proof of citizenship to register.

The president has long targeted mail voting, which he falsely blames for his 2020 election loss even though he himself uses it to cast his ballot.

A report by the Brookings Institution published in 2025 found that mail voting fraud occurred in only about four cases out of every 10 million mail ballots cast.

Trump issued the executive order targeting mail voting, his second one related to elections since he returned from office, in March.

Opponents quickly sued, but the administration argued the claims were premature because it hadn’t issued rules outlining how it would implement the order. The administration won an initial case in Washington, D.C., with that reasoning, but Talwani placed injunctions against implementing the order for the November midterms in two separate cases she heard in Boston.

The Supreme Court’s conservative majority on Monday struck down one of those holds.

Talwani, nominated to the bench by President Barack Obama, reluctantly removed the second injunction shortly after. The plaintiffs then moved to refile their cases, citing the Postal Service’s publishing of its final rule, in hopes of winning a more durable victory.

An election worker sorts vote-by-mail ballots at the Miami-Dade County Supervisor of Elections Office for the Florida primary election in Doral, Fla., Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)