The Buffalo Bills know all about the pressure to reach the Super Bowl. This season shouldn’t be much different than the past few in that regard, but the perspective on the postseason has changed with the makeup of the AFC field being what it is.
Undoubtedly, Josh Allen is the best quarterback remaining in the AFC, and normally, that would be an edge Buffalo could confidently carry through the postseason. But Allen hasn’t won a road playoff game in his illustrious career, either, and now he has to do so at least twice to even reach the AFC Championship, which would likely be a road game too.
In a postseason that, from a broad scope, should appear to be easier for the Bills, few seem to have the confidence that Allen and the Bills can overcome the team’s deep-rooted flaws that have been on display all season long. Between general manager Brandon Beane struggling to find Allen competent receivers to Sean McDermott’s defense showing heavy inconsistencies brought on in part by injuries, the Bills’ somewhat advantageous postseason outlook only seems to dim into a pressure-filled void where hope might seem fruitless.
Josh Allen and Sean McDermott dismiss the weight of past playoff failures as Buffalo Bills begin their postseason run
Still, that broad scope isn’t the same lens Allen and his head coach are looking through as the postseason begins. Both were asked about the pressures of finally getting over the hump and reaching Super Bowl LX, but neither bit at the broader implications this postseason carries.
“I think we’re taking it one game at a time,” Allen said. “We’re not focused on what’s happened in the past. We’re a completely different team than we were last year and the year before that, and so on and so forth. So, again, our job is to play the Jacksonville Jaguars at 1 o’clock on Sunday, and that’s what we’re going to do.”
“We’re really focused on this game. And today, quite honestly. Being present today, improving where we need to improve, making sure we’ve got the right game plan, getting the first chance for players to come out and execute today, and see where we go from there,” McDermott said on Wednesday, the first day of practice ahead of their playoff game against the Jaguars.
The past keeps creeping in on the current Bills’ postseason hopes. Without Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, and Lamar Jackson in the playoffs, few are leaving room for excuses for this year’s Bills team to fall short again. If Buffalo does fall short, folks around the league are already preemptively considering what ramifications that has for McDermott’s job security as head coach.
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On one hand, Allen and McDermott’s answers are typical of men in their position in the NFL. But on the other hand, they’re absolutely right that what happened in January in the past several years has no bearing on what will or can happen in Jacksonville this Sunday.
Regardless of who is or isn’t in the playoff field, the Bills face a tough challenge ahead - and their own shortcomings should be taken into consideration in the difficulty of overcoming that challenge. Because while Allen hasn’t enjoyed a playoff field without those three quarterbacks to compete against, he also hasn’t entered a postseason with so little help from his passing targets.
While everyone seems focused on what the conversation will be if the Bills can’t get over the hump (again), there’s something to be said that if the Bills can do so with this team, it should be all the more impressive for Allen and McDermott’s resumes. And if they can’t, well, it probably won’t be because of some insurmountable external factor named Lawrence, Nix, Maye, or Herbert rather than the Bills’ own glaring issues.