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After a 17-year drought between playoff appearances finally ended in 2017, the Buffalo Bills have met in the postseason in two of the past three years.
While the Bills are still looking for their first playoff victory since 1995, the team is better positioned now to legitimately compete than they have in a long time. Josh Allen’s progression in the second year coupled with a formidable defense made the Bills a fighting team last year. Now, with Tom Brady out of the division, the door may be ajar for the Patriots to be dethroned as the AFC East’s annual bell cow.
Bills quarterback Josh Allen wants to help the team regain some of the enthusiasm in Buffalo that existed during the team’s run to four consecutive Super Bowl appearances in the early 1990s.
“I hear it all the time about the early 90s when JK (Jim Kelly) and Andre Reed and Thurman (Thomas) and Bruce (Smith) had that city vibrating,” Allen said in an interview with Sirius XM NFL Radio. “That is really the feeling that we are trying to go back, that we are trying to go back to Buffalo. You know, our team has the right mindset to do it here very soon. We are looking forward to playing this year. “
Allen represented 29 touchdowns last year combining passes and runs along with nine interceptions. He threw for 3,089 yards and saw an increase in both his completion percentage (58.8 percent) and passer rating (85.3). However, those particular numbers could still use some more significant improvement to get Allen to jump into the top-tier quarterback conversation. Having Stefon Diggs to throw passes for this season could go a long way towards helping those numbers.
While Allen is aware that Brady’s departure from New England could present a greater opportunity for the other three teams in the division, Allen knows that nothing will be given to the Bills.
“With Tom’s disappearance, everyone sees that there is an opportunity, but I still see the Patriots as the best team in the division right now,” Allen said. “They’ve been in the playoffs for the last 20 years basically. Just because they lose a boy, I don’t think it’s going to make much of a difference. I know Tom is arguably the best quarterback of all time, but they also have one of the best coaches of all time. So we are not taking that differently. It will be one game at a time. I definitely think our team has the right mindset about it. I don’t think we are waiting to be the favorites, waiting to go out and win all the games. It will be a dogfight each and every game and we are working hard right now. “
