The Buffalo Bills have entered a realm that was once considered nothing short of a pipe dream. This team is a Super Bowl contender.
And we don’t mean in the future, either (although, that’s likely, too.) Buffalo is a Super Bowl contender right now, as you’re reading this. They have what it takes to do it and have continued to make connections to the last time they were in the title discussion, week in and week.
The latest is their win against the Pittsburgh Steelers (11-2). Buffalo is now 10-3 following that 26-15 victory. It’s the first time the team has had a 10-3 record since 1991 in the midst of their four-straight Super Bowl run.
That year, the Bills made it to Super Bowl XXVI and running back Thurman Thomas won the NFL MVP Award. Better yet, that crew was one-upped by the 2020 Bills. According to Nick Veroncia from The Process Podcast, the Bills won back-to-back primetime games by double-digit points for the first time ever over the Steelers and 49ers in their past two outings.
Due to the changes in the modern-era of the NFL where stats on offense are inflated, the Bills likely don’t have the 2020 MVP on their roster. But they certainly have some franchise ones.
Quarterback Josh Allen already broke the team record for total touchdowns in a season against the Steelers. He’s up to 35. Allen’s also got a look at breaking Jim Kelly‘s passing touchdown record, trailing that record of 33 by five with three games to go. Allen’s successes have been greatly helped by wide receiver Stefon Diggs, who’s in the record books already. Diggs’ 100 catches on the year ties Eric Moulds‘ franchise record. Diggs’ 1,1167 receiving yards is already the most in team-history through 13 games played as well.
While the Bills do not have a record-setting defense, that unit has more recently looked even better than the guys who are setting the records. Their run defense, once embarrassing a few months ago, has kept four of the past five opponents under 100 yards on the ground in a game. In that same time span, Buffalo’s defense has 11 total takeaways as well, most recently via interceptions from cornerbacks Taron Johnson and Levi Wallace against the Steelers.
Still, we knew the Bills defense was improving over the last few weeks. We should have expected this again, right? Well the NFL is a week-to-week league and the entire team could look terrible next week. It’s what makes the league so popular. But if you’re in this type of pessimistic camp, there’s still another latest improvement the Bills can hang their hat on now.
How about them second-half apples? Typically a struggling team in the third quarter, the Bills looked nothing like that in Week 14, putting up 23-straight points and killing the clock for the final seven minutes of the game after Wallace’s game-sealing interception. Those adjustments came after Buffalo’s first six drives on offense lasted five plays or fewer. A completely different team.
With this latest positive update to the team, what more do you need to see to be convinced this team could go the distance? It might be their time.
That is, unless the Kansas City Chiefs have something to say about it…
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