5 Bills who deserve the most credit for spectacular 2024 season

While it remains to be seen whether this is the year the Buffalo Bills finally hoist the Lombardi Trophy, a journey that continues this Sunday in the Wild Card Round against the Denver Broncos, it shouldn't go overlooked that this was one of the greatest regular seasons this franchise has ever experienced.

For starters, the Bills won the AFC East for a fifth consecutive year, a new team record, one of many franchise marks this team either set or tied this season, a list that includes a record-tying 13 victories.

Buffalo scored a franchise-record 525 points and 65 touchdowns in the regular season. And with 30 passing touchdowns and 32 rushing touchdowns, the Bills are the first team in NFL history with at least 30 of each in a single season.

Buffalo also became the first team in league history to defeat two teams with 14 or more wins in the same season, besting both the 15-2 Kansas City Chiefs and the 15-2 Detroit Lions.

If the Bills want to win that first Lombardi, they might just have to beat both teams a second time. But let's not jump too far ahead just yet. For now, let's look at a few of the players that have helped Buffalo get to this point, starting with the obvious.

Josh Allen, QB

While the others on this list are important to the success of this team, the Bills will only go as far as Josh Allen will take them. And the arguable NFL MVP frontrunner has obviously taken this team to new heights thus far.

Despite losing his top two receivers from a season ago, Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis, and losing several of his top targets to injuries at various points throughout the season, a list that includes Dalton Kincaid, Amari Cooper, and rookie Keon Coleman, Allen still managed to throw for 3,731 yards and 28 touchdowns in 16 games.

Perhaps just as importantly, given his past issues with turnovers, he only threw six interceptions, three fewer than his previous career low of nine in 2019 and a full dozen fewer than he threw last season.

Allen also added another 531 yards and 12 scores on the ground, making him the first player ever to record 40-plus total touchdowns in five consecutive seasons. He also has the most wins of any quarterback in his first seven seasons and has the most combined passing and rushing yards by a player in his first seven seasons in league history.

Those are only a few of the many, many records Allen set this season, but it's now time for him to prove he has what it takes to finally lead the Bills to a Super Bowl.

James Cook, RB

One of just 16 players this season to reach 1,000 rushing yards, James Cook, who rushed for 1,009 yards on 207 carries, is the first Buffalo running back with back-to-back 1,000-yard campaigns since LeSean McCoy accomplished the feat in 2016 and 2017.

And with a 1-yard rushing score in the Bills' loss to the New England Patriots in Week 18, the third-year back ended his season with 16 such touchdowns, tying O.J. Simpson for the most in a single campaign in Buffalo history and tying Derrick Henry and Jahmyr Gibbs for the most in the NFL this season.

In addition to his rushing totals, Cook also added 258 yards and two scores on 32 receptions, thus giving him 18 total touchdowns on the season, good for a tie for the second-most in the league alongside Henry. With four TDs on Sunday night in the Lions' win over the Minnesota Vikings, Gibbs took the title with 20.

Khalil Shakir, WR

Despite the aforementioned injury issues the Bills were forced to deal with this season, the one constant Allen could count on all year long was Khalil Shakir.

Shakir may not have put up mind-blowing stats like those of Ja'Marr Chase or Justin Jefferson, but the third-year wideout led all Buffalo pass-catchers in targets (100), receptions (76), and receiving yards (821) and tied for second in receiving touchdowns (4) alongside Keon Coleman, trailing only Mack Hollins (5).

All of these were career-bests for Shakir, who will undoubtedly be looking for a big game against the Broncos.

Greg Rousseau, DE

On the defensive side of things, fourth-year edge rusher Greg Rousseau was one of Buffalo's most dominant players.

And like Shakir, Rousseau, who was the highest-graded Bills defender at Pro Football Focus with an overall rating of 83.1, good for 12th among all edge rushers in the league, set career bests in several categories, including sacks (8.0), total tackles (53), solo tackles (36), assists (17), tackles for loss (16), quarterback hits (24), and forced fumbles (3).

Christian Benford, CB

lt might surprise some to know that the second-highest-rated defensive player on the Buffalo roster during the regular season was Christian Benford, who ranked fourth among all cornerbacks at 82.6, trailing only Patrick Surtain II (85.6), Trent McDuffie (83.1), and Cooper DeJean (82.7).

Like many shutdown corners, Benford's stats, which include two interceptions and 10 passes defended, aren't gaudy. But the coverage he's provided has been nothing short of spectacular — he also ranks fourth in that department at 82.8 — and if you go a little deeper and look at things in terms of cornerback coverage DVOA (Defense-Adjusted Value Over Average), Benford ranks second behind only Surtain.

Yes, he's been that good, which is what makes him one of the biggest Pro Bowl snubs in the eyes of this writer. But if he can continue the elite play and lock down some of the game's best wideouts in the postseason, he'll open some eyes.