Break the Door Down

History hasn’t been kind to the Buffalo Bills.

Jim Kelly and Co. made it to the Super Bowl four straight years in the 1990s and don’t have a single Lombardi Trophy on their mantle to show for it. Funny enough, Josh Allen only wishes he had that kind of misfortune.

Allen is the only player in NFL history with at least 200 passing touchdowns and 50 rushing touchdowns. His three seasons with at least 25 passing touchdowns and 10 rushing touchdowns are the most in NFL history. As one anonymous NFL general manager told ESPN, “(Allen) is the most singularly unstoppable player at the position

when you get his A-game.”

And yet, despite being one of the most consistently great players on one of the most consistently great teams of the decade, Allen’s first Super Bowl appearance still eludes him. And it’s not because he’s come up small in the biggest moments. On the contrary, Allen has played incredibly well during his postseason career. Problem is, he seems to keep running into Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs dynasty. Teams that score 3+ touchdowns in turnover-free games are 140-19 in NFL playoff history; Allen has three of those losses – all against Kansas City. What’s more, during his four playoff runs that were eventually ended by the Chiefs, Allen averaged 301 total yards per game, accounted for 28 total touchdowns and just one turnover… and it still wasn’t enough.

Allen is convinced it’s only a matter of time until he final breaks though. “You knock enough at the door, it's going to open at some point. And that's just what we have to keep doing is keep knocking on that door and giving ourselves chances to be in that

situation again,” he said.

If Allen is going to fulfill his Super Bowl promise, there’s never been a better time than the present. The innovative offensive mind of Joe Brady has replaced the uber- conservative Sean McDermott as head coach. Since Brady took over playcalling duties late in the 2023 season, the Bills have ranked first in EPA per play (0.14) and second in points per game (29.1). Last season, Buffalo had nine games with 30-plus points this season, tied with the Rams for the most in the NFL. The year before, the Bills broke records for most points (525) and touchdowns (65) in a season in franchise history en route to Allen’s first MVP award.

DraftKings currently has Buffalo favored in 14 of their 17 regular-season games and posted as the odds-on favorite to win the AFC – and for good reason. The Chiefs missed the postseason for the first time in the Mahomes Era last year and their all-world signal caller is coming off a torn ACL. Lamar Jackson had his worst individual season in years and he’s breaking in a new head coach in Baltimore. Joe Burrow is still trying to overcome the historically bad defense in Cincinnati that has kept the Bengals out of the playoffs the last three seasons. With the three other members of the Tier 1 group of NFL quarterbacks all facing uphill battles, Buffalo’s path to a Super Bowl appears more wide-open than ever.

The door to the Super Bowl has been closed in Buffalo for over 60 years. Forget knocking, it’s time for Allen and Co. to break that thing all the way down.