It is no secret that the Buffalo Bills are facing immense pressure every season. When you have one of, if not the best player in the NFL, with Josh Allen, your inability to win a Super Bowl is deemed a failure. However, this season feels a little different. With some of their familiar adversaries missing the playoffs, the 2025 season has turned into an “if not now, then when affair.”
Bills’ Postseason Success/Failure in Allen Era
Since drafting Allen back in 2018, the Buffalo Bills have been one of the more interesting teams in the NFL. The team has gone through its share of ups and downs, much like Josh. Buffalo has had numerous chances to break through and reach the Super Bowl for the first time since 1994. This season might be their best season of this iteration of the team.
In 2019, the Bills would make the playoffs for the first time with Allen, only to lose to the Houston Texans in an AFC Wild Card matchup. That would be their first taste of the postseason, and they wouldn’t look back. The following season would be where Buffalo would anoint itself one of the best teams in the NFL. With a record of 13-3, the Bills would meet the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship game for the first time. They would be defeated 38-24 in the first round of the Chiefs-Bills rivalry.
In 2021, it would be the culmination of the Bills’ postseason woes. Allen would play as flawlessly as a QB could in the postseason. He completed 27/37 passes for 329 yards and 4 TDs. With 13 seconds left in an AFC Divisional contest. Allen would connect with Gabe Davis for the go-ahead touchdown, or at least that’s what it would seem. It would take Mahomes two plays and 10 seconds for KC to set up a game-tying 49-yard Field Goal. The Chiefs would get the ball in overtime, and Buffalo never got the opportunity to see the rock.
After that, the NFL would change the overtime rules so both teams would have the opportunity to possess the ball in the postseason. Just one season too late. Then, in 2022, Buffalo was blown out at home by the Cincinnati Bengals, 27-10 in an AFC Divisional affair—another wasted 13-win season.
The following two seasons would follow the exact blueprint of the 2021 postseason, with the Chiefs facing them once in Arrowhead and once in Highmark Stadium. In 2023, Tyler Bass would miss the game-tying field goal with 1:47 left, and the Bills wouldn’t get the ball back in another divisional tussle.
In 2024, it was supposed to be the year of the Bills. Finally getting past their vaunted rival and breaking through. Allen finally won his first MVP award and appeared to be unstoppable. Fate, however, would tell a different story. Buffalo would claw their way out of a 21-10 hole and find themselves with a 22-21 lead late in the 3rd quarter. With 3:33 left in the game, Allen would get the ball back, trailing Mahomes 32-29. With the ball in the MVP’s hands, there was still a chance to win the AFC Championship and move on to the Super Bowl.
KC’s defense would only allow 17 total yards and force a turnover on downs. Then the Chiefs would pick up a first down and ice a win. So, in the Allen Era, the Bills have made the playoffs in six straight seasons, and the Chiefs have ended their playoff hopes in four of them. If there was ever a postseason hurdle Buffalo couldn’t get over, it’s KC.
What Does the 2025 Postseason Mean?
When a team’s “Boogey Man” isn’t in the dance, it’s time to get the job done. With the Chiefs not making the Playoffs, who will be Buffalo’s most prominent opponent? The Patriots? You mean the team that just blew a 21-point lead to the Bills last weekend? It could be the Texans; they have historically given Allen hell, but it would take a Cinderella story for Houston to face them in the AFC Championship Game. It could be the Denver Broncos, but with Bo Nix having immense pressure on his shoulders for the first time in his career, it’s a tall task.
Final Thoughts
As a football fan, I would love nothing more than to see the Bills break through. Allen is an all-time great player and needs to make the Super Bowl and win it this season. This might be the easiest playoff field they may ever see. If they can’t rise to the challenge, then I fear they never will. This team made four consecutive championship games in the ’90s and lost each. If the best player in franchise history, Josh Allen, never gets a ring, maybe the team is cursed.
As always, thank you so much for checking out my thoughts on the pressure the Buffalo Bills are facing this postseason and why it’s now or never! Be sure to check out our other amazing content here at New Leaf News! We hope you’re enjoying your day, and we look forward to seeing you all again soon.
