Buffalo Bills star quarterback Josh Allen isn’t doing too much out of the ordinary based on his career successes. He’s keeping the Bills in the thick of the postseason race, like usual. He’s in the MVP race, like usual.
But that certainly doesn’t change the fact that the 2025 season has played out wildly different than anyone expected. The Bills played their role, facing down a likely second-place finish in the AFC East after winning it the past five seasons. Then there’s the teams like Kansas City, Buffalo, and Cincinnati, whose under performance this season has translated into pressure for Allen to finally get over the hump in the playoffs to reach a Super Bowl.
It’s a reality that blindside the entire NFL community, but once the shell-shock of the Chiefs being officially eliminated from the postseason wore off, all of the attention on the AFC playoff race shifted to Allen.
Adam Schefter frames Josh Allen’s playoff path as easier but far more unforgiving
As ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter put it, Allen is in a more precarious position than anyone could have anticipated.
“Well, this is a year in which Josh Allen faces his easiest test, but his hardest test,” Schefter said on his podcast Wednesday morning. “It’s the easiest test because all the great quarterbacks like Mahomes that blocked his path to a Super Bowl are not going to be in the postseason and still fighting to make it now. But on the other hand, he’s going to have to win, in all probability, three road games to get to the Super Bowl.”
Still, the quarterback field is as favorable as it can possibly get in the AFC these days. The only quarterback with more playoff experience currently in the field is 42-year-old Aaron Rodgers, and the only quarterback who can join the field with more experience is 44-year-old Philip Rivers. Otherwise, Allen is set to face off against young, largely unproven quarterbacks in postseason play unless Jackson and the Ravens sneak in past Pittsburgh.
“So now Josh Allen has a chance in the postseason to go up against Bo Nix, Drake Maye, C.J. Stroud, Trevor Lawrence, Justin Herbert, Aaron Rodgers, whoever it is,” Schefter said. “Is there any quarterback that I mentioned there, in a matchup, a playoff matchup with Josh Allen, that you wouldn’t give the advantage to Allen to?”
It’s easy for Bills fans to answer Schefter with a confident ‘No,’ but it shouldn’t be much different for anyone else looking at the field, either.
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To Bills fans, it’s hard to imagine that any of these potential opposing quarterbacks could undo the near-perfect performances Allen has had wiped away by the likes of Mahomes and Burrow in past postseason efforts. And if any could, their entire career would be framed in a brand new light.
But the same goes for Allen. Fall to one of these quarterbacks, and at least a portion of the conversation won’t consider the lacking support system around Allen this season. Succeed with easier odds, and a portion of the conversation will place an asterisk on the effort.
Of course, in Buffalo, the only thing that matters is making the most of the opportunity presented to them and finding a way to reach the goal of playing in Super Bowl LX.