In 2017, the first year of the respective tenures of head coach Sean McDermott and general manager Brandon Beane, the Buffalo Bills ended a frustratingly long playoff drought that lasted 18 years. Fast forward to 2020 and another drought has come to an end under their leadership.
The Bills knocked off the Denver Broncos in rather dominating fashion on Saturday, winning by a 48-19 scoreline. In so doing, they clinched the AFC East, something they haven’t done in 25 years. To put that in perspective, the Indianapolis Colts had actually won the division more recently than Buffalo prior to Saturday. They did so in 1999 prior to the divisional realignment that saw them move to the AFC South.
Buffalo Bills Win AFC East for the First Time Since 1995
Josh Allen continued to make the case that he’s worthy of MVP consideration. The third-year quarterback accounted for 359 passing yards and four total touchdowns (two passing and two rushing) while finishing the game with a 114.5 passer rating. He’s now up to 30 touchdown tosses this season and with two games left, is just three short of tying Jim Kelly‘s single-season franchise record of 33 set in 1991.
Saturday’s decisive victory showed how complete this team is on both sides of the football. Rookie Zack Moss and second-year man Devin Singletary 149 yards rushing with the latter finding the end zone. And veteran defensive lineman Jerry Hughes returned a fumble for a touchdown which turned the game into a rout.
Buffalo has two winnable games to close out the regular season. If they do run the table, they’ll finish with a 13-3 record for just the third time in franchise history. They previously did so in 1990 and 1991. First up is a clash in Foxborough against the New England Patriots with the Bills having the opportunity to pull off a season sweep against them for the first time since 1999. Then they close the regular season out in Orchard Park against the Miami Dolphins, a team that still has playoff aspirations of their own.
