Bills look to take control again in young, new-look AFC East

NEW YORK (AP) >> Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills stormed to the top of the AFC East — unfamiliar territory for anyone other than the New England 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 Kansas City 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 New England for most of the last two decades.

Buffalo’s division title was its first since the 1995 season — a few months before Allen was born. 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 general

manager Brandon Beane said. “We’re 0-0.”

Just like every other team. But Buffalo has 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 quarterbacks. 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 Miami. Meanwhile, Zach Wilson, the No. 2 pick this year, is the guy for the New York Jets. And with New England 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. But get this: With all four of the projected starting QBs 25 or younger, it marks the first time there have been that many in any division since 1985 — when the AFC East had Dan Marino (Dolphins), Ken O’Brien (Jets), Tony Eason (Patriots) and Art Schlichter (Colts).