Bills bullish on chances
Allen & Co. appear ready to take the next big step
NEW YORK — Josh Allen and the Bills stormed to the top of the AFC East — unfamiliar territory for anyone other than the Patriots — and kept going last season.
Nearly all the way to the Super Bowl. Now comes the encore, and the expectations remain just as lofty.
“If the team’s not looking to win the Super Bowl,” Allen said, “they’re doing it wrong.”
The Bills lost to Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs in the AFC championship game last season, falling just short of reaching the Super Bowl. And the first step in that journey was winning the AFC East, which had been locked down by the Patriots for most of the last two decades.
The Bills’ division title was their first since the 1995 season. It also snapped the Patriots’ 11-season division winning streak, and ended a stretch during which Bill Belichick’s bunch had won 17 of the last 18 division crowns.
“I think our guys understand, and we’ve stressed that all year and all offseason, is what we did last year was really good but it means nothing,” Bills GM Brandon Beane said. “We’re 0-0.”
Just like every other team. But the Bills have some history to conquer just to win the division again.
The last time a non-Belichick coached team won consecutive AFC East titles was when the Patriots did it under Bill Parcells (1996) and Pete Carroll (’97). And the last time a team other than the Patriots finished first in the AFC East in back-to-back seasons: the 1988-91 Bills.
“The ultimate goal is to make the playoffs and give yourself a chance for a world title,” Allen said, “and that’s what we’ve got to do.”
Old man Allen
Entering his fourth NFL season, the 25-year-old Allen is the dean of the AFC East starting QBs. And he’s getting paid like it, too, signing a six-year, $258 million contract last month.
Tua Tagovailoa, the No. 5 overall pick last year, will be under center for the Dolphins. Meanwhile, Zach Wilson, the No. 2 pick this year, is the guy for the Jets. And with the Patriots stunningly cutting Cam Newton, the starting gig goes to Mac Jones, who went 15th overall in April.
They’ll all be aiming for Allen and the Bills.
Changing of the guard
The Patriots’ 7-9 finish was their worst since 2000, when they went 5-11. That was Belichick’s first year as coach and the rookie season for Tom Brady, who appeared in only one game.
Belichick and Brady partnered on what became one of the league’s most successful runs, winning six Super Bowls together over the next 19 years.
The Patriots believe they found their next franchise QB and gave Jones some weapons in tight ends Jonnu Smith and Hunter Henry and receivers Nelson Agholor and Kendrick Bourne.
“I think any time you take a team like we had last year ... things were going to be different. And they’ve been different,” safety Devin McCourty said. “We got new players and we’ve just got to continue to build. I like what we have.”
Tua’s team
A 10-6 finish last season had Brian Flores and the Dolphins feeling pretty good about their future. But suddenly the person who’d be leading them at quarterback became unclear.
Tagovailoa was 6-3 as a starter as a rookie after replacing Ryan Fitzpatrick as the starter after six games. But he also ranked 26th or lower in several key categories, and was pulled in favor of Fitzpatrick in two games.
Taking flight
The Jets have the league’s longest playoff drought at 10 seasons, and it figures to continue through what is very much a rebuilding year.
New coach Robert Saleh has the franchise thinking optimistically about its future, and Wilson gives the Jets an exciting playmaker they hope can be a long-term answer at quarterback.
But Saleh is preaching patience for the long-suffering fans of one of the NFL’s youngest teams.
“We embrace the urgency at which everybody wants to win, but that can’t affect your decision making for the long haul of the goal of winning championships for extended periods of time,” Saleh said.