The final week of the 2025 regular season has been filled with will-he-won’t-he debates on whether or not the reigning NFL MVP, Josh Allen, will play in the Buffalo Bills’ final game of the season against the New York Jets.
The Bills stand to gain nothing in the Week 18 contest, aside from a little bit of seed shuffling. But even that is not an exact science, as the AFC North champion is yet to be crowned, and the AFC South could see their favorite drop from the three seed to the seven seed with a single loss.
Above all the playoff talk is a debate on the health of quarterback Josh Allen. Allen is dealing with a lingering foot injury that has hurt his play in the last two weeks.
He practiced for the first time all week on Friday, and head coach Sean McDermott told reporters that his quarterback will be “good to go” on Sunday.
But how much the starter will play remains to be seen.
Is Allen’s Triple-Digit Start Streak The Only Reason He’s Playing
Bills fans have seen this before, albeit under much different circumstances.
Last season, Allen “started” the Week 18 game; however, he only played one single snap. The New England Patriots ended up winning that game and playing themselves out of the first overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.
The difference is that last season, the Bills were 13-3, the Kansas City Chiefs were 15-1. Buffalo had locked up the two seed and the home-field advantage over the rest of the field. This made the game against the 3-13 Patriots as inconsequential as an NFL game could possibly be.
Still, Allen got the start to protect the third-longest start streak in the league.
“However, Allen has started 121 straight games — 134 in a row, if you include playoffs,” NFL writer Grant Gordon said. “There’s also the added factor of saying goodbye to ‘The Ralph,’ otherwise known as Highmark Stadium, as Sunday will mark the Bills’ final home game there, barring some postseason upsets.”
This time around, that is not the case. While there is nothing quantifiable at stake, there are several question marks floating around the AFC Conference playoff picture. The only way to guarantee you are not hurting your team is to beat the 3-13 Jets.
Gordon expects this Allen start could play out more like last season’s.
“Chances are Allen’s start will essentially be a cameo before handing over signal-calling duties to understudy Mitchell Trubisky,” Gordon concluded.
McDermott Says Josh Allen Will Play Week 18 Despite Lingering Injury