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As of 2021, the Buffalo Bills are one of 12 unfortunate NFL franchises never to have hoisted the Lombardi trophy.
The Detroit Lions, Carolina Panthers, Atlanta Falcons, Minnesota Vikings, and Arizona Cardinals are the teams yet to taste Super Bowl glory in the NFC.
Along with the Bills in the AFC, the Los Angeles Chargers, Jacksonville Jaguars, Houston Texans, Cleveland Browns, Cincinnati Bengals, and Tennessee Titans have yet to carve their franchise names into the annuals of history.
But do Josh Allen's Buffalo Bills have what it takes to win the Super Bowl in the next few years?
The Buffalo Bills could be the first team to end its Super Bowl drought
In Josh Allen, the Buffalo Bills have a QB capable of winning the league MVP award someday and carrying the entire franchise to Super Bowl glory: 4,544-yards passing (5th in NFL), 37 TD passes (5th in NFL), and a QB rating of 81.7 (3rd in NFL) are impressive, but Allen also tallied up 421 yards on the ground and 8 rushing TDs to boot -- the stats don't lie.
Unfortunately for Allen, after dominating the AFC East, losing only three games during 2020, and ending the regular season on a six-game winning streak, the Bills came up just short of a Super Bowl appearance. They went down to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Conference championship, 38-24. But fans will be buoyed by what was the Bills' best statistical season in recent memory.
A big reason for Allen's improved numbers in 2020 was the fantastic form of receiver Stefon Diggs, who joined the Bills from the Vikings during the offseason. Diggs was underutilized in Minnesota but wasted little time in showing former coach Mike Zimmer exactly what he was missing, notching 288 yards receiving and 2 TDs by Week 3! Diggs finished the year with 1,535 receiving yards, leading the entire NFL. Any team that boasts players of this caliber has a chance at the Super Bowl.
Sean McDermott's team was also dominant in pass coverage (T-3rd in the NFL with 15 picks; T-7th best coverage grade on PFF): Tre'Davious White continued to dominate and was one of the best outside corners in the league. PFF ranked White in eighth place overall in both the coverage grade and forced incompletion rate (21.1%). Jordan Poyer and Micah Hyde proved once again to be one of the top safety pairings in the NFL, too.
To take the next step and win a Super Bowl (not just appear in the final 4x and lose each time, as they did in the early 1990s) the Bills will likely need to add a more physical running back to the offense to compliment the light-footed ingletary (there are plenty available in the draft and on free agency this spring; imagine Aaron Jones at the Bills?
The Bills should probably look to upgrade at the TE position. Dawson Knox has also proven to be a steady option but, if coach McDermott is to guide his talented roster all the way to a Lombardi trophy, Allen needs the creme de la creme to aim at. I think there are better options available to the Bills than Knox in free agency.
That being said, there's no doubt that Buffalo is the best placed of all 12 teams to have never won a Super Bowl to finally do so.
What do you think of our selection? Have your say in the comments section below:
