Sometimes, I still can’t believe it: The Buffalo Bills have a franchise quarterback. We have a franchise quarterback. Sunday afternoon’s masterful display of precision, force, improvisation and tenacity shed any doubt, once and for all.
Josh Allen is a legit superstar quarterback. An era-defining, franchise-altering player. An agent of chaos, equipped with a bazooka on his right arm, escape pads on his feet and an ever-evolving rolodex between his ears. A $250-million man worth every penny. A slayer of defenses who gets hype to Frank Sinatra.
A forgotten prospect, poised to lead a forgotten city to the place it’s never been before.
The Bills walked into Gillette Stadium marred in a jumbled AFC playoff picture. A win would catapult Buffalo into the AFC East driver’s seat. But a loss would drop the Bills into a four-way tie for the final wild card position, triggering a convoluted series of tie-breaking procedures with middling, inferior competitors.
I would have had no faith in the Bills I used to know. The Bills who suffered through a 17-year playoff drought. The Bills who hadn’t won consecutive games in Foxboro since the turn of the century. The Bills who squandered a 16-point, second-half lead to the Texans in the 2020 postseason.
As New England cut Buffalo’s lead to five points midway through the fourth quarter, two decades of evidence suggested the Bills’ drive would stall, and an inevitable punt would signal their demise.
But these Bills aren’t those Bills.
These Bills didn’t punt — the first time any team has done so against Bill Belichick’s Patriots — and they didn’t lose. These Bills have a franchise quarterback.
“I don’t know who the fuck they thought I was, Harry!” Allen yelled in the tunnel, speaking literally of Patriots players and fans, and metaphorically of people like me.
Despite their 9-6 record, the Bills appear to be every bit the preseason Super Bowl contender many expected, leading the NFL in point differential. They ranked third in DVOA and fifth in weighted DVOA entering Week 16.
Allen ranks second in the league in total yards and touchdowns. His consecutive seasons with at least 34 passing touchdowns and 4,000 passing yards, while arbitrary, place him in the exclusive company of Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers.
This is not the Bills team that lost in Arrowhead Stadium last postseason, nor the one who throttled Kansas City in a Week 5 rematch. These Bills don’t have star cornerback Tre’Davious White or a star pass rusher. They don’t have a fully vaccinated receiving core or an elite offensive line.
But they do have Josh Allen. And that might be all they need.