It's safe to say if there was ever a year the Buffalo Bills will finally reach the Super Bowl, let alone win it, this is the year. No Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs, no Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals, and no Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens to stand in their way.
Of the Bills, and quarterback Josh Allen's, list of immediate rivals, none survived the regular season to qualify for the playoffs. Minus Aaron Rodgers for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Allen entered as the elder statesman of the AFC bracket.
Buffalo bested the Jacksonville Jaguars 27-24 in the Wild Card Round after a whiplash fourth quarter where it appeared the Bills may have seen their long-awaited quest for a Lombardi come to a stunningly premature end yet again. Now, Allen and Co. will travel to Denver to face the No. 1 seed Broncos in the Divisional. It certainly feels like Super Bowl or bust from this point on.
Josh Allen's legacy hinges on Bills winning a Super Bowl with its weakest roster in years
It would certainly be fitting for Buffalo to somehow find a way to win a championship in a year outside the window of rosters that featured offensive weapons such Stefon Diggs, LeSean McCoy, Kelvin Benjamin and defensive stalwarts like Matt Milano and Von Miller. This 2025-26 team feels like the weakest the franchise has fielded in the Josh Allen era.
The offense has essentially run, literally, through running back James Cook while Khalil Shakir of all people has turned into WR1. In fact, two tight ends — Dalton Kincaid and Dawson Knox — trail Shakir on the team's receiving yards list before another receiver appears.
It's this band of — not necessarily misfits -— but unlikely heroes that gather under Allen's super human abilities to take on what is the most wide-open AFC playoff field in recent memory.
The Bills are already one step closer to the ultimate goal and are rewarded with having to conquer the new generation of stars like Bo Nix and Drake Maye to finally reach immortality. When one slate of stars go down, another just rises in its place, and Allen now represents the veterans looking to hold claim as the faces of the NFL.
If Allen can't get it done this year, the questions will swirl over whether he ever can. It would be a shame if he winds up in the same category as Pro Football Hall of Famer and Bills legendary QB Jim Kelly: The "Almost Got it Done" category. But even Kelly reached the Super Bowl — a painful four consecutive times.
Allen needs to at least get there this season, with this playoff field, to stave off discussion of his legacy being tarnished. With guys like Nix and Maye appearing to be the real deal and others like Jayden Daniels and Jaxson Dart looking to rebound next year, Allen may not get a better chance ever again.