Bills’ Diggs among elite receiving company this weekend
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) » With his name plastered on election campaign-style lawns signs — “Allen-Diggs 2020” — popping up across Buffalo, receiver Stefon Diggs requires no further introduction.
And yet, cornerback Tre’Davious White playfully decided one was necessary upon ending his Zoom call with reporters, and Diggs waiting in the wings.
“The next person that is coming, y’all know who it is,” White began on Wednesday. “Rolls’ Royce-driving, private jet-flying, All-Pro first team. The most receptions, the most yards in Buffalo Bills’ history. The first receiver to go first-team All-Pro in the organization’s history: Stefon Diggs.”
The receiver could be heard off camera laughing and jokingly saying “Get out of my seat.”
In his first season in Buffalo, and after five in Minnesota where he played mostly a secondary role behind receiver Adam Thielen and running back Dalvin Cook, Diggs has indeed arrived.
Acquired for a first-round draft pick in a trade in March, Diggs has become the main focus of a dynamically productive Josh Allen-led offense that had Buffalo setting team records in yards passing, points and touchdowns, while winning its first AFC East title in 25 years.
On Sunday, the Bills (15-3) make their first AFC champion
ship game appearance since 1994 in traveling to face the top-seeded Kansas City Chiefs (15-2).
For Diggs, it will mark his second time playing for a conference championship after the Vikings lost to Philadelphia in 2018, but the first in which he is his team’s top threat.
“I ain’t one of those people who’s going to lie,” Diggs said, dismissing a question of this being just another game.
“For me, I know it’s a big game,” he added. “Come out and give it everything you’ve got.”
Diggs has done a fine job so far in a season in which he led the NFL with 127 catches and 1,535 yards, and followed that up with 14 catches for 234 yards in two postseason victories. He joined Hall of Famer James Lofton in becoming Buffalo’s second player with consecutive 100-yard-receiving games in the same playoff year.