CLIFTON PARK, NY – The Buffalo Bills are in the playoffs.
The drought is over.
Happy days. Happy days.
Bills playoff predictions have been one of the staples in my weekly columns since I started writing here while I? was in college.
And every time I? was mocked. Every single time. Even when included them in my 12 Taeks of Christmas column, the first comment by our own Ben Whitney was that Buffalo wouldn’t make the playoffs.
Well look where we are now. And this was the season I felt least confident about compared to the last few years.
But to be honest, I? don’t think it stops here.
The Jacksonville Jaguars don’t scare me anymore.
Sure, their defense is legit. But their offense? Not so much.
Blake Bortles has fallen off – at the surprise of no one – and because of it teams have loaded the box and have been able to slow down Leonard Fournette.
While Buffalo’s run defense is really bad, they have the talent in the secondary to shut down Bortles and turn their attention solely to the run game.
Oh, and Doug Marrone is the Jaguars’ head coach. Yeah, that very same guy who walked out on the Bills after a 9-7 record with things pointing up.
It just makes too much sense, right?
One of the best parts about Buffalo making the playoffs?
Kyle Williams, Buffalo’s best player during the drought, is playoff bound. He even scored on Sunday.
It doesn't get any better than this.
Kyle Williams, you're headed to the playoffs. #GoBills pic.twitter.com/SBQHGyPZGT
— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) January 1, 2018
https://twitter.com/TitanicTD/status/947629758430498817
No more “Tyrod Taylor isn’t a playoff caliber quarterback” talk, either. Is he the answer? Probably not, but he did lead the Bills to the playoffs.
Tyrod Taylor in the locker room: THEY WROTE US OFF
— Matthew Fairburn (@MatthewFairburn) January 1, 2018
There are a lot of things that bring my family close. The Bills are near the top of the list.
When I? was in college I? would call home every NFL Sunday to talk about the Bills game. Usually it was after a loss and they would revolve around me convincing my dad that Buffalo still had a shot to make the playoffs. I can’t imagine what Sunday’s phone call would have been like.
So every weekend when the Bills aren’t on TV locally, or they’re on a winning streak, we go to this local sports bar called The End Zone. But every year we’d stop going after Week 17. You know, because that’s when the Bills’ season would end. Until now.
When we go on Jan. 7, it’ll be for a playoff game.
Let that sink in.
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