Getty Bills fans celebrate during Buffalo's first playoff victory since 1995 on Saturday in Orchard Park.
The Buffalo Bills have plenty of weapons, but throughout this season they’ve been playing without their biggest one.
Arguably the best fan base in the NFL, Bills Mafia, has been on the sidelines all season long as the coronavirus pandemic has kept fans at home as cases have sky-rocketed around the country. But on Saturday, for the Bills’ first home playoff game since 1996, fans were allowed inside of Bills Stadium.
It was only 6,700 fans, but afterward, head coach Sean McDermott and other Bills players swore that the stadium was full.
“For the fans and how much noise they made today, even at 6,700, it was incredible,” McDermott said during his post-game video conference call. “You could feel it air, just in the atmosphere and the environment, it was almost like it was full, especially down the stretch there. It was just special. Only in Buffalo.”
GettyBuffalo Bills fans hold up a sign during their Wild Card matchup against the Indianapolis Colts.
The Bills produced a nerve-wracking performance that had four lead changes in the first half and the Colts coming within a hail mary pass of delivering another heartbreaking playoff loss. Bills quarterback Josh Allen threw for 320 yards and two touchdowns and also won the first playoff game of his career. Although the win meant a lot to him and his teammates, he was glad he could deliver it for Bills Mafia.
“It was crazy, for the fans to be loud and experience it with the team, it would’ve been a shame if we couldn’t have done that,” Allen said during his post-game video conference call. “It was only 6,700, but that’s more than zero. I’m super excited for the fan base here.”
In the victory, Allen became the first player in Bills history to throw for two touchdowns and rush for another in a playoff victory.
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Allen Continues to Create Classes of His Own
Throughout this season, Allen has been creating classes of his own. Just last week, Allen became the first player in NFL history to throw for 4,500-plus yards, 35-plus touchdowns, and rush for 5-plus touchdowns in the same season.
On Saturday, after he recorded his ninth game with 300-plus passing yards this season, Allen became the first player in NFL history to throw for 300-plus yards, complete at least 70% of his passes, and rush for 50-plus yards in a playoff game.
List of #NFL players to ever throw for 300+ yards, tally a 70+ completion percentage and rush for 50+ yards in a playoff game:
🏈 Josh Allen
It was another standout performance by Allen, as he continues to solidify himself as one of the best quarterbacks in the league. But the Bills did get off to a slow start offensively and while it’s nothing new, they were able to recover and show a different level of patience than they have in previous seasons.
Could Running Back Antonio Williams Make Another Appearance?
After running back Zack Moss injured his ankle and was then carted off the field, his status for future postseason games is unknown. According to ESPN’s Mike Garafolo, Moss is set to miss time and could possibly be done for the rest of the postseason.
#Bills RB Zack Moss is expected to miss time with an ankle injury suffered today, source says, adding his the fear is his postseason could be over. But let’s see how far Buffalo goes and how he recovers.
If Moss is out, the Bills will need more depth at running back and just a week ago, undrafted rookie Antonio Williams carried the ball 12 times for 63 yards and two touchdowns. He also caught one pass for 20 yards. So, don’t be surprised if Williams gets the call later this week and is elevated for their second-round AFC matchup next week.
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