CBS Sports

‘The Bills had the second-best scoring offense in the league this year with Brady as the full-time play-caller. He took over 10 games into last season after head coach Sean McDermott fired Ken Dorsey, and the offense flourished under Brady to end the season.’

‘You’ll hear it a lot from football fans outside of Kansas City: “ABC. Anyone but the Chiefs.” The Chiefs are in their seventh straight AFC Championship game and if they advance, it would be their fifth Super Bowl appearance in six years. If you’re thinking it’s time for someone else to get a chance to play on the biggest stage in American sports, you’re not alone.’

‘Josh Allen had a better 2024 regular season than did Patrick Mahomes. He averaged more yards per attempt, threw for more touchdowns and fewer interceptions, took fewer sacks, created more explosive plays and added more expected points per dropback, via TruMedia. And yet … there is no possible way that one can say any other QB in this league is better than Mahomes. Not given what we know about Mahomes, what he’s capable of, what he does on a weekly basis in the playoffs and even what he’s done against this specific Bills team.’

‘Counting the playoffs, Cook has had 15% of his runs go for zero or negative yards, the 11th-lowest rate among the 46 running backs with 100-plus carries. Fascinatingly, nine of the 10 backs with a lower rate in that advanced stat also had a lower percentage of eight-plus defenders in the box on their respective runs this season. The only back with a lower rate of runs that have gone for no gain or lost yardage and a higher stacked-box rate is Derrick Henry.’

‘While Allen wasn’t nearly as prolific as, say, Baltimore Ravens star Lamar Jackson in the MVP race, there’s a reason he’s drawn plenty of support for the NFL’s top individual honor: Not only has the Bills’ leader remained dynamic as a dual threat, ranking second only to Jalen Hurts in rushing scores, but he’s significantly cut down on untimely turnovers, enjoying his most efficient run since 2020, when — not coincidentally — he also led Buffalo to an AFC Championship clash against the Chiefs.’

‘Specifically, sales for this Sunday’s AFC Championship are 50% higher than final sales for 2023’s divisional-round matchup in Buffalo, where Tyler Bass missed a would-be game-winning field goal for the Bills. They’re also 155% higher than sales for their 2021 showdown, in which Mahomes needed just 13 seconds at the close of the game to engineer an overtime-inducing scoring drive; and 140% higher than sales for the 2020 AFC Championship, which the Chiefs won 38-20.’

‘”Offensive linemen don’t have awards for being great,” Dawkins said, via the Batavia Daily News. “There’s not a Protector of the Year award. I’m knocking at so many doors now to get this award going. I’m gonna [spearhead] it and make sure that this gets done before I’m done playing. Because there’s so many greats. There’s so many greats. If we have great quarterbacks, we have great running backs, we have rushing titles, we have quarterback passing titles. All those titles are reflections of the O-linemen, which are the protectors.”‘

‘”The biggest thing is not to fight the temptation to try to think about what you’re doing in regards to the other quarterback,” Cowher told CBS Sports regarding Allen. “This is your team, stay in your zone.”‘

‘That term means something different to everyone, both good and bad. My interpretation of the “Patriot Way” is the ability to beat teams with complete rosters rather than top-heavy ones, do the little things right, not beat yourself and capitalize on an opponent’s mistakes.’

‘Bills Mafia has a long history of supporting players on other teams. In 2018, Buffalo’s passionate fan base donated over $250,000 to then-Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton and his wife’s foundation after Dalton helped Buffalo clinch a playoff berth by leading a game-winning drive that knocked Baltimore out of the playoffs.’

‘”Great players recognize greatness,” Jackson said, via Sarah Ellison. “And we both recognize each other, but I told him, ‘Man, go get something. Go win something.’ MVP or Super Bowl, do something. I want him to be successful.”‘

‘Let’s go through each of the previous six playoff games between these two teams, starting with their first matchup.’

‘According to the GoFundMe summary, the initial goal was to raise $5,000 for Andrews’ charity. Nearly $40,000 had already been donated as of Tuesday night.’

‘Through two games in the playoffs, the Bills have utilized six (or more) offensive linemen on 28.5% of their 80 rush attempts. That’s six more than the team — ironically the Ravens — in second in the usage of that jumbo set. On those plays, the Bills have averaged 4.9 yards per carry with seven rushing first downs.’

‘The Bills and Ravens will play in frigid temperatures on Sunday night, so Hollins dressed for the occasion. He arrived to Highmark Stadium wearing a floral shirt, a beach hat, beach towel and bathing suit. Of course, he was again barefoot. Hollins even wore sunglasses, sported sunscreen on his nose and brought a mini football to toss around with his friends.’