Long playoff drought ends with win and help

BILLS 22, DOLPHINS 16

MIAMI GARDENS, FLA.» Amid the dancing and screaming and hugs and highfives in the Buffalo Bills’ locker room, defensive tackle Kyle Williams watched his two young sons climbing around in his stall.

“What do you think, boys?” Williams shouted. “Where are we going? The playoffs?! Yeah!”

His sons are 6 and 4. For their dad and most Buffalo fans, Sunday was a long time coming.

The Bills snapped the longest current nonplayoff drought in North American pro sports, making the postseason for the first time since 1999. They avoided elimination by beating Miami 22-16, and clinched an AFC wild-card berth minutes later when Cincinnati rallied past Baltimore.

The Bills watched the dramatic finish of the Bengals game on locker room TVs, and then erupted.

“Everybody went crazy,” said Williams, who is in his 12th and perhaps final season with the Bills. “I’ve been a wreck for 10 to 15 minutes.”

His voice choked with emotion, and he wasn’t the only one.

“Well, I started crying, if that’s a good reaction,” former Bills running back Thurman Thomas said in a text to The Associated Press.

Buffalo (9-7) will travel to face Jacksonville and former Bills coach Doug Marrone on Sunday. Marrone resigned as Bills coach three years ago Sunday.

The Bills’ joy was tempered by the loss of 1,000-yard rusher LeSean McCoy with a right ankle injury. He was carted off the field in the third quarter and was in a walking boot after the game.