Buffalo Bills: Nyheim Hines caps off the season in a perfect way

When the Buffalo Bills dealt for former Indianapolis Colts running back Nyheim Hines this season, I don’t think anyone anticipated him having the type of impact he had in Week 18.

It took a few weeks before Hines made a real imprint on this team, but he did so in extraordinary fashion as the Bills sent the New England Patriots home for the year on Sunday.

Buffalo was playing in their first game since the scary injury suffered by Damar Hamlin last Monday night, and on the very first snap since that moment, Hines did something special.

Fielding the ball at the 4-yard line on the opening kickoff, Hines took it all the way back for a touchdown — on the first play since we last saw the Bills, when they were huddled together in prayer for their brother.

Then, a little while later, Hines took it back to the house again on a 101-yard return.

What better way to begin the first play of football the Bills have taken the field for since Hamlin’s injury?

The way the season was set to end was a little bittersweet, considering the Bills involuntarily lost control of the AFC’s top seed which now means they’re without a bye week. In canceling the game between Buffalo and Cincinnati, the NFL made an unprecedented decision which would affect several teams in the AFC, but most notably the Bills.

Buffalo had gone a few weeks in control of the no. 1 seed in the AFC, but because of playing one less game, they handed it over to the Kansas City Chiefs in the final week of the season.

Although Buffalo dropped to the second seed, this was more than any ending they could have hoped for considering the last week of their lives. In a moment where a human life mattered far more than football, the Bills went out and played for number 3.

It was a heartwarming, exhilarating effort from Hines and the Bills who roll into the postseason having won seven games in a row now.

Buffalo will host Miami this weekend in the AFC Wildcard Round, and should they end up in the Championship with Kansas City, by now most of us know they’ll be at a neutral site. Buckle up, the playoffs are here.