Josh Allen’s brilliance is fueling resilient Bills run that represents its fan base

The Bills perfectly resemble and represent the region in which they play. Why? Resilience. There aren’t many more resilient communities than Western New York, where the Bills reside and, more often than not, lift spirits on Sundays. That resilience was evident 12 games into a season that looked like it was going off the rails with head coach Sean McDermott’s status in question, the offensive coordinator fired, killer injuries and some player discord.

The Bills entered Week 14 at 6 6 with a 5 percent chance of making the playoffs, according to analytics. Left for dead, they won their final five regular season games to overtake Miami, win a fourth consecutive AFC East title and snatch the No. 2 playoff seeding. That resilience was on display as Buffalo was assaulted by a blizzard that dropped some 40 inches of snow over the weekend and postponed Sunday’s AFC wild card game against the Steelers to Monday.

At game time, because there wasn’t manpower nor hours in the day to shovel the seats and aisles clean, most of the seats were covered with snow. The temperature at kickoff was 15 degrees and that dropped as the game wore on. No matter. The Bills would make it all worth it for the hardy home crowd, defeating the Steelers 31 17 to earn another home game next Sunday night, against the defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs in the divisional playoff round.

It was all made possible thanks to the Josh Allen Experience. It’s real, and it’s spectacular. The Bills’ dynamic quarterback accounted for all four Buffalo touchdowns when he threw for three and ran for another and, as usual, was the best player on the field. By a lot. That should surprise few people considering that Allen produced 44 TDs on his own during the regular season.

Allen finished the game 21 of 30 for 203 yards with the three TDs through the air and added 74 rushing yards and the scoring run. When the game was over, Allen typically deflected praise and pushed it toward his teammates. “We’ve got a resilient group,” he said. “The veteran leadership that we have I really think is unmatched in the league.

I just appreciate the guys.” Probably not as much as they appreciate him. Allen gave the Bills a 7 0 lead on Buffalo’s first offensive possession of the game on a 9 yard scoring pass to tight end Dawson Knox with 7:02 remaining in the first quarter. After a fumble by Steelers receiver George Pickens that gave the Bills the ball at the Pittsburgh 29 yard line, Allen wasted no time making the Steelers pay, on the next play connecting with tight end Dalton Kincaid for a 29 yard scoring strike and a 14 0 lead.

Then, after a killer interception in the Pittsburgh end zone by Kaiir Elam, Allen again made the Steelers pay. This time it was with his legs as he burst through the Pittsburgh defense on a 52 yard scoring scramble to make it 21 0 with 7:01 still remaining in the first half. “I found a lane, got 15, 20 yards down the field and there were a lot of guys screaming, ‘Slide,’ and I didn’t slide,” Allen said.

Of course he didn’t. After the Steelers, a resilient bunch themselves, cut the Buffalo lead to 24 17 in the fourth quarter, Allen again saved the day, connecting with Khalil Shakir for a third TD pass with 6:27 remaining in the game to make it 31 17. That would seal the fate of the Steelers and send the Bills to the divisional game against the Chiefs, who eliminated them in Kansas City in the 2020 and 2021 postseasons.

This time, the Chiefs will have to go through the Bills at their place. The Bills earned this. They earned it with their resilience. Fittingly, Allen began his postgame press conference thanking the people of Western New York for their efforts to make the stadium playable after the storm. “The fans that came out and shoveled through last night and this morning, that speaks volumes about our community and how much support that we have from our fans,” he said.

“We just loved that we came out and were able to give them that [win].” And there may be more for the hottest team in the league that plays in the coldest climate. “I’m not going to say we got hot at the right time, but we started winning at the right time,” Bills receiver Stefon Diggs said before the game.

“Things happened throughout the season that kind of shows you the will to win is real.” After last week’s win at Miami in the regular season finale, a win that clinched the division, the No. 2 seed and these home playoff games, Diggs said to Allen: “Four more,” referring to the number of postseason wins needed to win the Super Bowl.

One down, three to go..