The Buffalo Bills just accomplished their winningest season since 1991, and this Saturday will be their first home playoff game since the 1995 season against the Miami Dolphins. The Colts head coach is former Buffalo Bills quarterback Frank Reich, who led the most remarkable comeback in NFL history in the 1992-93 playoffs against the Houston Oilers. Buffalo came back to win 41-38 in overtime after trailing the entire game, which looked to be an easy victory for the Oilers after dominating the game early. But history had other plans – the Bills were not letting them get out of Rich Stadium with a win, and a large part of that is due to the leadership of Frank Reich, Thurmond Thomas, Darryl Talley, Andre Reed, Don Beebe, Bruce Smith, and Jim Kelly on the sidelines.
Due to COVID restrictions, the state of New York is allowing only about 7,000 fans into Bills Stadium on Saturday. These fans, Bills Mafia, truly deserve to see this Wild Card game in person. The Mafia has not seen Stefon Diggs play live this season, and most of all, many members of Bills Mafia, which was officially coined in 2010, have never seen a playoff game at all in Orchard Park. The last Bills playoff win was in 1995 against the eastern division rival Miami Dolphins, which would also end up being the last game that Don Shula would ever coach.
Buffalo closed out the 2019 campaign with a loss in the AFC Wild Card round against the Houston Texans last year. The game was a tale of two halves after Desean Watson led a Houston comeback as the Bills offense fell apart. In my opinion, Buffalo has used that game to make sure that they close every game out both on offense and defense. Early in the season Leslie Frazier took some heat for how the defense was playing, but I think he has done a great job turning the unit around in the second half of the year. They have played a lot better since the letdown against the Cardinals.
The Colts are well-coached, and they have a veteran quarterback in Phillip Rivers, an excellent game manager, and weapons in T.Y. Hilton, Michael Pittman Jr., and Jonathan Taylor, who I will keep my eye on all day. I expect Brian Daboll, who has head coach interviews looming, to have the a similar game plan to what we have seen in recent weeks for Josh Allen and he offense. I expect a lot of Stefon Diggs, Devin Singletary, and Dawson Knox.
There has been a lot of craziness this past year; the state of New York has followed the guidelines and there have been no fans in Bills Stadium all season. I feel this week will feel different with signs of life in Bills Stadium. There is no fanbase more deserving of being there than the most passionate fans in the NFL: Bills Mafia.
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