BY JOSHUA BRILL, CONTRIBUTING WRITER
photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Many national media members claim that the Buffalo Bills’ Super Bowl window is closed. Known Bills hater Nick Wright said there is no chance that this Bills team will be as good as last season’s team. However, I’m here to tell you that this claim is unfounded for a variety of reasons. Sure, the Bills had an embarrassing loss to the Bengals to end their season, but to say that means the Super Bowl window is closed is an overstatement.
The biggest reason the Bills Super Bowl window is not closed is one man: Josh Allen. As long as Josh Allen is the quarterback of the Buffalo Bills, their window is not closed. Now, I’ll be the first to admit: I’m a Josh Allen superfan. I will defend him at all costs, even when he has bad games. I think it is undeniable that his highs are as high as any other quarterback in the league, as we saw in the postseason performances Allen put on against New England and Kansas City in the 2022 playoffs.
Earlier this offseason, many media members predicted this year’s Bills defense to be a shell of the steady force it had been.
The Bills were going to lose Tremaine Edmunds, Jordan Poyer and Damar Hamlin. Sure, the Bills did lose Edmunds, but Poyer and Hamlin are back.
This was then compounded with the news that Leslie Frazier would take the year off of coaching. This was overblown in my opinion. Frazier has coached good defenses in the regular season, but don’t let that disguise the fact that the Bills have given up 27, 42 and 38 points in their last three playoff losses.
For every mention of how the Bills were going to lose players, the media failed to mention players that would be returning.
While the Bills safety group was spread very thin last year after Hamlin’s injury, the week 1 starters from last year should be ready for this season. Micah Hyde missed almost all of last season with a neck injury, and Poyer played the whole season banged up. Together, they arguably make up the best safety duo in the league. Von Miller isn’t expected back by week 1, but he will be ready sometime next season. The drop off in the Bills’ pass rush was tremendous after he went down with injury.
The only reason I will accept that the Bills Super Bowl window might be closing (not closed) is because of their failure to get significant contributions from their draft picks. Rookie contracts are the best value in the NFL, and unfortunately, the Bills have not hit on those draft picks.
If the Bills don’t start hitting on their draft picks, their odds to win the Super Bowl will start to slim, but they’ll never close. As I said earlier, as long as Josh Allen is their quarterback, the Bills will always have a chance to win the Super Bowl.
brilljm@bonaventure.edu
