The Buffalo Bills headed to the Acrisure Stadium and walked out with a firm 26-7 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers. But the scoreboard was not the headline. Instead, Bills’ quarterback Josh Allen and Steelers’ defensive lineman Cam Heyward went at each other for most of the night. Their back-and-forth grew louder as the game went on. And now, Allen is finally speaking up about it.

“Maybe a little bit,” he said when asked whether the exchange with Heyward got him going in the second half. “I love the competitiveness in this game.

“[Heyward] is such a great player, sometimes you need fire like that to get you going,” Allen said in a post-game conference.

But the whole situation did not suddenly explode in the second half. It brewed from kickoff. Allen came into this matchup with extra spark. He exchanged words with Heyward early, and the energy never dipped. Every drive had noise, and every snap carried tension. Both players kept their edge while the crowd at Acrisure Stadium watched the fire build.

However, things heated up once Pittsburgh started to crumble.

Heyward’s emotions rose after the Steelers gave up two quick touchdowns in the second half. Buffalo struck first after picking off Aaron Rodgers at 14:44 in the third quarter. Then Bills’ wide receiver Keon Coleman pushed the margin wider with another score under nine minutes later. The Bills stretched the lead to 16-7, and the game began slipping away from the home team.

Then it boiled over. Heyward approached Josh Allen after the QB threw his first touchdown of the night.

The Steelers’ defensive tackle clashed helmets with Allen as they shouted at each other. Teammates rushed in. Officials stepped between them. The moment ended with a flag on Heyward for taunting and a 15-yard penalty.

The Steelers captain also drew an unsportsmanlike conduct call. Now he faces possible punishment from the league, turning a heated exchange into a costly night for the Steel City. But if Heyward is to be believed, he had a good reason for going after Allen.

Cam Heyward blames Josh Allen for the heated exchange

During the game, it looked like Cam Heyward was the one pushing the heat every time he crossed paths with Josh Allen. However, after the loss, Heyward gave a very different version of the story. He said Allen sparked the whole thing.

In his words, the Bills star intentionally kneed him in the stomach.

“Being kneed in my stomach?” Heyward asked the reporter. “And then jawing back and forth, and I’m ticked off the entire game. Because as a quarterback, they are protected, and I’m not? It just pisses me off.

There was no clear view on the CBS angle. Nothing showed whether a knee actually landed, as claimed by Heyward. It left the whole thing unclear for anyone not on the field. However, the incident likely took place late in the second quarter when Allen finished a run, and Heyward fell on top of him.

“He even said after, ‘I had to do something to get you off me,’” Heyward added. His thoughts after the game have been very different from those of Allen’s.

Now the league will dig into camera angles and check the footage. They will check if the clash needs discipline for one or both players. The NFL officials will also check how the tension built throughout the night.

Regardless, Heyward may receive a fine as well. As per the NFL rulebook, taunting is a type of unsportsmanlike conduct. The league charges $11,593 for a first offense and $17,389 for a second. If they decide to punish him, the decision will be announced by the NFL’s gameday accountability report, which is published every Saturday.

Back in 2014, Heyward was fined $22,050 (unsportsmanlike conduct) for verbally abusing a referee.

Still, no matter what the NFL finds, the Steelers have more than one reason to be frustrated after that tough loss in the Iron City.