Success

I'm not going to go to the mat on this one - everything you say here is essentially correct. The only thing I might counter with is that I don't care that much how our defense looked against teams like the Jags and Titans. I think our D feasts on teams like that, and they're not the teams we will see in January and hopefully February. It's those teams I'm concerned about - and combined w/ our D's disappearing act in some previous notable playoff games, recent performances aren't giving me a lot of confidence. I still believe in the old adage that "defense wins championships." And we have a defensive HC. Thinking back on starting this thread, it was probably less than a minute after that last onside kick from the Lions. I was incredulous that I just watched a QB play the kind of game I thought we'd never see in Buffalo again after Kelly - just jaw-dropping - and it was still down to the wire. I heard a few pundits this week compare it to something like a senior playing against the JV. And here we are, at the end of a brilliant performance like that, biting our nails about a final onside kick. I was just frustrated about that. And maybe a Lions fan could say the same thing about Goff putting up 500+ and still losing, but man, it just seems like such a consistent theme w/ Allen.

I appreciate this response, but I'm still surprised that many took the title of the OP completely literally. Yes, of course - the O-line played well. Cook had a great game. It was Brady's best game (imo). There were some great catches. But Allen is the one who still has to play near-perfect. Even one INT in that game, and the outcome is in doubt. Anyone who watched that game nationally basically watched the Josh Allen show. And this was on the heels of another game where we had to put 40+ on the board (and still lost that one). Maybe we focus too much on Bills games. When I watch the Chiefs, I see games where the defense carries the team, or special teams makes a huge play. I can't think of any other team that week in & week out is so dependent on one guy playing near-perfect.

It's probably fairly rare that a top-tier team has a stat like that. I wonder what the pool of teams looks like that has that stat, and could also legitimately be considered SB contenders when that happened.

The bolded isn't that credible in light of your contributions to this board.

Allen also played better than Mahomes in the 13 seconds game, and last year. You know - "the big stage." Allen is a better QB than Mahomes. It should be irrelevant to any professional athlete for a playoff game.

I don't know how he can be evaluated at this point. They really have almost no talent.

I think the 1 seed is going to be in play as we enter the final week of the season.

I like his game, too. But nothing about what he's doing right now is above the expectations anyone had for him, or even shows that he'll be a top 5 or 10 QB. It's just the way they're talking about him in New England. But I get that fans can be exuberant about finding a potential franchise QB. I remember hyping Tuel & many others.

Allen's passing has been amazing the past few weeks. I mean, it generally is - but some of the pinpoint long & intermediate passes he has made are really jaw-dropping. Love the protection he's getting. Give JA time, and he's going to find a guy and get the ball to him.

In New England, the Drake Maye hype is kind of ridiculous. He has shown some nice ability so far, but we knew he had skills coming into the league. He has really done nothing yet to warrant some of the glowing praise he's received (imo).

I think it has to be good for Allen's MVP case to have more games in the late afternoon like this, when more of the country watches. He's been lighting it up in every one of these.

That was a rough miss in those circumstances - mainly because we should have easily scored a TD there, so coming away w/ no points at all was a setback. But in general, he seems to be back in a pretty good groove. I don't think he'll ever be a top 5 or 10 kicker, but he's solid enough right now. Kickers seems to be missing a lot of kicks every Sunday around the league.

I feel bad for Detroit. So many injuries - they might have a tough time in the playoffs now. On the flip side of that - this feels like the best chance we've had yet. There are simply no teams that are measurably better than us. I wouldn't have said that in the past. There are teams that CAN beat us, but no one that should beat us.

Our defense feasts on the more average teams of the league. When it comes to the better teams, we give up 90 points in 2 weeks. That really isn't sustainable - or explainable. We have better personnel than that, and a defensive HC. I hope they can figure it out, because in the playoffs, we'll get more teams like the last 2 weeks than the ones we see in the AFCE and in most of the rest of the season.

I disagree. There is a ton of "we got the W - no complaining allowed" on this thread.

Not in so many words. We weren't that far away from Allen having the kind of game he had today, and somehow losing. Just like last week. I've been a defender of this coaching staff more often than not. But they haven't built up this huge reservoir of good will. The defense in particular has let this team down again & again & again in the playoffs. It's okay to notice that they have had 2 weeks in a row giving up 40+ points and being a weak point.

Why are fans so accepting of the fact that Allen has to be amazing for us to beat good teams - every time? Because we got the W?

Nah, you're right of course. I'm getting defensive because some of the reactions on this thread have been so over the top. I didn't think this would be a controversial take, at all. Of course I'm happy about the win. It's huge. And other guys played great. But there is TOO MUCH ON ALLEN, as there is week after week (imo). I just watched him play the kind of game that should be a "rocking chair game" for him in the 4th.

This isn't the first few years of Allen being good. There is a different standard now. This team has one of the best QB's in history - the expectations NOW are a title. Look at the responses on this thread. Like people are incredulous there is any criticism after we beat a great team - like it erases everything else from the game. The bar needs to be higher. Or we can just be happy getting big regular season wins, and divisional round extis.

I'm happy about the win. But do you know what you're saying here? Because we got the W, everything is perfect, and there are no concerns.

Well articulated. You've convinced me that we win today if Allen had been just really good instead of amazing.

If Allen isn't all-world today, we lose.

I don't "hate" McDermott. I've been a supporter. This game shouldn't have been close, Period.

The coaching was WAY below Allen's level today. If you want to take the W and not care about what that means when we have to beat 3 or 4 good teams in a row, have at it.

You are being entirely too cavalier about this. We can just rejoice in the win, and ignore everything else. I'd love to do that.