{"id":100122,"date":"2020-12-19T22:22:16","date_gmt":"2020-12-20T03:22:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=100122"},"modified":"2020-12-19T22:22:16","modified_gmt":"2020-12-20T03:22:16","slug":"buffalo-bills-win-afc-east-for-first-time-in-25-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2020\/12\/19\/buffalo-bills-win-afc-east-for-first-time-in-25-years\/","title":{"rendered":"Buffalo Bills Win AFC East for First Time in 25 Years"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 2017, the first year of the respective tenures of head coach Sean McDermott<\/strong> and general manager Brandon Beane<\/strong>, the Buffalo Bills<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n

The Bills knocked off the Denver Broncos<\/a> 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<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n

Buffalo Bills Win AFC East for the First Time Since 1995<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Josh Allen<\/a><\/strong> 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<\/a><\/strong>‘s single-season franchise record of 33 set in 1991.<\/p>\n

Saturday’s decisive victory showed how complete this team is on both sides of the football. Rookie Zack Moss<\/a><\/strong> and second-year man Devin Singletary<\/a><\/strong> 149 yards rushing with the latter finding the end zone. And veteran defensive lineman Jerry Hughes<\/a><\/strong> returned a fumble for a touchdown which turned the game into a rout.<\/p>\n

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<\/a> 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>, a team that still has playoff aspirations of their own.<\/p>\n

Embed from Getty Images<\/a>