Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills. (Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images)
The Bills are good? The Bills are good. Though the Buffalo Bills are a good football team, are they good enough to be a serious Super Bowl contender?
You are what your record says you are. If you apply that logic, then the 5-1 Buffalo Bills are a very good football team. They have one of the best defenses in the NFL this season and always have a chance to win under head coach Sean McDermott. Buffalo got its fifth win Sunday at home against the dreadful division-rival Miami Dolphins, 31-21.
Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen outdueled the legend that is Ryan Fitzpatrick in this AFC East rivalry game. Miami isn’t expected to win quite literally any games this year. Buffalo has thus far asserted itself as a legitimate playoff team in the AFC. While they may not catch the New England Patriots in the AFC East, can we say the Bills are now a serious contender for Super Bowl LIV?
It’s a tad too early to say the Bills are legitimate Super Bowl threats coming out of the AFC, but they have the recipe for success to maybe get there. Buffalo wins by playing punishing defense and running the damn ball with conviction. This Bills coaching staff has done a marvelous job of putting Allen in positions to succeed in what is his second year out of the University of Wyoming.
At some point, Allen will have to win a game with his arm, but the Bills are built to win a few games in the AFC Playoffs this year. The biggest problem for them is they play in the same division as the Evil Empire. Buffalo’s only loss this season was to New England at home.
Not being a division winner will make things hard for the Bills, but not insurmountable. Buffalo can win on the road playing outstanding defense with a ground-and-pound approach offensively. That team philosophy can definitely win on Wild Card weekend and might even get the Bills to the AFC Championship Game if everything goes perfectly for them in January.
That said, the Bills won’t beat the Patriots in Foxborough in the AFC Championship should these two rivals meet for a third time this season. Patriots head coach Bill Belichick will now exactly what to do to get past McDermott for a theoretical chance of getting to the Super Bowl.
However, Buffalo can get to the Super Bowl if they don’t have to play the Patriots in Foxborough. So there is a chance the Bills can play in their fifth Super Bowl in franchise history if some other AFC can slay the Evil Empire for them. While the Bills aren’t a serious threat to reach Super Bowl LIV at this time, that doesn’t mean they won’t’ be in a few weeks’ time.