Toronto Star

‘But in between, there was enough brilliance, recklessness, imagination and leadership by the 29-year-old Allen that the Bills carried the day. He still guides a Buffalo offence that, despite a lot of change, appears potent enough for the Bills to once again be a force in the AFC East.’

‘For Bills fans, heartbreak this time came at home, and with victory at their fingertips. At the two-minute warning, the Bills had second-and-nine at the Kansas City 26-yard line. It seemed a touchdown was very possible, or at the very least a tying field goal. Quarterback Josh Allen, patient and smart all night, missed two open receivers, forcing Bass — slightly dinged up from the previous playoff game — to keep Buffalo alive with his leg.’

‘“I think she’s a brilliant musician, businesswoman and role model, and I’ll always root for her in her own endeavours, but you won’t find me rooting for the Chiefs,” said Kelly Conlan, a longtime Bills fan from Toronto who added it’s finally nice to have a Bills-Chiefs playoffs game in Buffalo instead of Kansas City.’

‘“I don’t know about being a hero,” said Dedie, who drove 90 minutes from his home in Rochester, N.Y., to the stadium at around midnight on Monday to help shovel out the stadium of his favourite football team. “But I will say, I was frozen. I was completely and utterly frozen.”’

‘Sunday night was also, of course, another exciting episode of the Full Josh Allen Experience, and god, it’s the best when you’re not actually rooting for the Bills. On the first Bills drive, Allen got them to the five-yard line and hucked an absolute no-hope interception into the end zone. On Buffalo’s second drive, Allen started one of his signature plays: flushed out of the pocket, dodging defenders, creating time but running out of time, scanning downfield, the sideline and defenders and everything closing in.’

‘By the time the playoffs rolled around, the Bills just seemed to have lost their swagger. They seemed, well, tired. They blew a 17-0 lead to Miami and third-string quarterback Skylar Thompson and barely survived. Then against Cincinnati, they fell behind early 14-0, gave up 30 first downs and 400 yards of offence and went down rather meekly, 27-10.’

‘But then came a loss down in Miami, and then an injury to Allen’s elbow. The Bills won 11 and lost only two the rest of the way, but they never looked quite as offensively potent as they had in those early wins. Perhaps part of it was the departure of offensive co-ordinator Brian Daboll to become head coach of the New York Giants. Maybe it was Allen’s elbow, and perhaps teams just started finding new answers to Buffalo’s offence.’

‘That is what this season has always been about for the Buffalo Bills, don’t forget: Super Bowl or bust. Nothing less will do for a city that bases its collective mood on the performance of its beloved football heroes.’

‘The Bills Mafia Canada family stretches beyond the GTA as well. Out east in New Brunswick, Brian Pilling has transformed an entire section of his property into what he calls a free-standing headquarters for the East Coast Bills Backers. About 20 people from the area are regulars, but drop-ins are accepted too. Everyone in his family has been Bills fans forever. They would use vacation time in Peterborough (his father’s hometown) to drive down to Buffalo and catch a game.’

‘After a distressing week in which the Bills saw teammate Damar Hamlin suffer cardiac arrest on the field in Cincinnati, almost ending his life, there were an extraordinary number of moments in a 35-23 Bills victory that seemed to be delivered by some greater gridiron power, looking out for a team and a city that has been through more than enough grief in the past 12 months.’

‘Kansas City is a hurdle the Bills just can’t get over. Not yet, anyway. This game was much closer than last year’s one-sided defeat, but that almost makes it more painful for the loyal fans in western New York.’

‘Still, we get the rematch everyone wanted to see. From a Buffalo standpoint, it’s clear the defence is improved. Against the pass, it’s the best in football. Allen, meanwhile, may not have quite the numbers he had last year, but most believe he’s a more mature quarterback today and he certainly showed that last weekend against New England when he led his team to seven touchdowns on the Bills’ first seven possessions.’

‘Regardless of what happens, however, the 46-year-old Daboll can state with authority that nobody in the long history of professional football played at the highest level ever guided a team to a better offensive performance than the Canadian-born co-ordinator did with Josh Allen and the rest of the Bills on Saturday night against their archrivals from New England.’

‘The road in the AFC to the Super Bowl may end up going through Nashville, with the Tennessee Titans enduring the loss of their superstar running back to have a surprisingly strong campaign. But with all of their key players healthy, there’s nobody in the conference the Bills can’t beat despite being a little less than impressive in their final two games of the season.’

‘“Coming from a shaky start to the season, bouncing around, trying to get something to stick and then finally getting an opportunity here, it’s been really fun to just play football in its purest form again,” says Ankou. “It’s a shift in mentality as you grow into the game and grow into yourself. You make the mistake sometimes when you get into the pros and you make it about the superficial stuff.’