Getty Buffalo Bulls defensive end and safety Jordan Poyer take down Colts tight end Mo Alie-Cox.
The Buffalo Bills went 13-3 during the regular season, captured their first AFC East title since 1995, and are heading to their first AFC Championship since the 1993 season which is when they went on to lose their fourth straight Super Bowl. They are arguably having one of the best seasons in franchise history, but the Bills are still finding a way to play as the underdog, which is exactly where they want to be.
“For me, that’s been the way the experts have always viewed the Buffalo Bills, they write us off and I think that’s perfect,” Bills defensive end Jerry Hughes said on a video conference call earlier this week. “Like I told the guys last week when Deion [Sanders] did his spiel about how we were going to give up points and we don’t play defense in Buffalo. These guys don’t watch. They don’t know anything about us, they just want to see what they want to see. They think Kansas City is the top dog and that’s fine. Let them have all that talk, let them take up all the airways.”
Heading into Sunday’s matchup with the Kansas City Chiefs, the Bills haven’t lost since Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray hit DeAndre Hopkins with a hail mary pass in Week 10. Before that, the Bills lost two games in Weeks 5 and 6 with a depleted roster and a lack of identity. But, since their loss to the Chiefs on Oct. 19 the Bills have found that identity and they are one of the hottest teams in the NFL.
Since that loss, they are scoring 32.4 points per game while only allowing 19.5 points per game. They’ve won their last eight games and with a win on Sunday the Bills would set a new franchise mark for wins in a season with 16 and although they are going up against the defending Super Bowl champions, the Bills aren’t afraid.
“Let them pump up Mahomes, Kelce, and Hill. Those guys are great players, so you can pump them up,” Hughes said on his video conference call. “Once it comes time for Sunday and the Bills Mafia knows who’s coming out there to play some football and it’s us. We pin our ears back and we get after it, we get after you for four quarters and that’s how it goes.”
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The Bills Are Still Searching for Respect
After losing four straight Super Bowls in the early 90’s the Bills haven’t been a team to garner much attention or respect. They’ve sat towards the bottom of the AFC for the past 25 years and they’ve been trying to regain that respect with their success the past two seasons. But, the Bills still haven’t received it, but they aren’t just going to give up.
They are using that disrespect as fuel for what they are hoping to accomplish this season.
“We like that the experts don’t respect us or acknowledge us, don’t want to give us credit, that’s fine,” Hughes said during his video conference call. “We’ll just keep punching people in the mouth until we get that credit. That’s just how it’s going to be.”
The Bills Are Hitting Their Stride at the Right Time
The Bills haven’t lost in eight weeks, but they are just starting to hit their stride as a complete team.
After giving up 472 total yards to the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC Wild Card game, the Bills put together one of their best defensive performances of the season this past Saturday against the Baltimore Ravens.
They limited the Ravens to just three points and held the top-ranked running offense in the NFL to 150 yards. Then, after Taron Johnson picked off Lamar Jackson at the goal line and returned it 101-yards for Buffalo’s third defensive touchdown of the season, the game never seemed in doubt.
They battled through a cold and windy night where wind speeds reached close to 20-mph and found other ways to score the football. But, the Bills will have one of their toughest matchups of the season on Sunday as they look to punch their ticket to the Super Bowl.
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Jerry Hughes Sounds Off On Bills Underdog Status Heading into AFC Championship