BUFFALO, N.Y. — After the first 13-game stretch, the Bills were sitting just one game above .500, and the narrative around the team was that they were bad at running the ball, and the offensive line was extremely shaky.
It was simple: The Bills were not playing good enough football to win games,. In fact, they were labeled as one of the most inconsistent teams in the history of the league, given their Super Bowl expectations.
But here we are, AFC divisional round on tap, with a shot to head to back-to-back AFC championship games. How did the Bills get here?
Bills tackle Dion Dawkins said the coaching staff told the team in meetings earlier this year what the media and outside world was calling their team. Dawkins said it inspired them to take accountability for their jobs and turn the season around.
Turn it around is exactly what they did, as the Bills went on a five-game winning streak and magically found success on the offensive line and running the football. Devin Singletary has eight touchdowns in the past five games, playing night-and-day different from the first 13 games of the year.
The Bills are no longer focused on the roller-coaster year. Instead, they understand how truly special and difficult it is for a team to be in this position.
Veteran Bills center Mitch Morse said: "I want this game for my team so that we can take that next step. We have a bad taste in our mouth, not so much from this game last year against this team, but we feel these moments are fleeting for every player, and you ask the veterans, it's true, so when you have opportunities like this in the divisional round, you want to take advantage."
Buffalo knows it all too well after sitting out of the postseason for nearly two decades. I think if there's one franchise that wouldn't take it for granted, it would be the Bills.
Josh Allen also commented on the importance of this special moment in franchise history.
"We have given ourselves an opportunity to accomplish what we want to accomplish. Now it is up to us to go execute and try and put our best foot forward against a great team," Allen said. "We know that they know that. It will be a dog fight, as playoffs games always are, so we are excited to go play another game. Not many people are playing football this late, and we know that so we are not taking this opportunity lightly."
Many see this game as the two best teams in the AFC, the winner would play the Tennessee Titans or Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC championship game But after both the Bills and Chiefs won in blowout fashion on wild card weekend, if either team was to win convincingly, like Buffalo did in Arrowhead in Week 5, I would expect them to be favored to go to the Super Bowl.