Super Bowl Prediction: Bills Represent AFC?
Is this the year the Buffalo Bills finally get the job done? Peter King has them getting as close as they've been in recent years.
King released his predictions in his Football Morning In America column for the upcoming season and had Buffalo reaching the Super Bowl for the first time since 1994. King predicted the Bills would lose to the Philadelphia Eagles, 30-26.
"I say Allen returns to more efficient form, Von Miller provides a late-season defensive boost and they finally get off the schneid in Kansas City in the playoffs," King writes. "Allen’s too good, and too determined, to let the end of 2022 leak into 2023."
Even with the high expectations, King still has his questions surrounding Josh Allen and Stefon Diggs. He also acknowledged that Buffalo's last outing, a 27-10 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC Divisional, could be skewing people's perspective.
"Stefon Diggs is great, but will he be all-in for 17 weeks, which is essential for this team?" King writes. "Will Josh Allen rein in his uncharacteristic Red Zone mistakes from last year? I think the football world looked at the 27-10 divisional playoff loss to Cincinnati as the beginning of the end for a team with looming cap issues. I looked at it as a bad day to have a bad day, and give credit to a great gameplan by defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo of the Bengals."
© Rich Barnes, USA TODAY
Buffalo's path to the Super Bowl wasn't a smooth one. The Bills got in as a wild card as the No. 5 seed and had to go on the road for every game.
King had the Bills avenging their playoff loss to the Bengals last season, then beat the No. 1 seeded Jacksonville Jaguars. In the AFC Championship game, King predicted Buffalo gets over the hump and beats the Kansas City Chiefs, 27-25.
There's no questioning the Bills' potential to make a run with Allen leading the charge. It's also fair to note they've fallen short each of the last four seasons and in an improving AFC, the margin for error is as slim as it's ever been for Buffalo.
If the Bills can withstand the gauntlet that is the second half of their season and get hot at the right time, they can compete with the best of the best and have a Super Bowl run in them.
Buffalo begins its season on Monday, Sept. 11 when they head to MetLife Stadium to face the New York Jets at 8:15 p.m. ET.
