Bills Central

The Buffalo Bills bounce back win in Detroit tells us something important about this year's Bills team

Most of the national media picked the Detroit Lions to win, but the Bills showed us something special this week

Ronnie Eastham

Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen (17) celebrates his touchdown with teammates, during the first half at Ford Field in Detroit on Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024.
Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen (17) celebrates his touchdown with teammates, during the first half at Ford Field in Detroit on Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024. / Kimberly P. Mitchell / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
In this story:

Is this Bills team different?

For Bills fans that were around during the halcyon Bills Super Bowl years of the early '90s, you'll remember the teams being called "resilient" for their ability to withstand and recover quickly from difficult conditions. The 2024 version of the Bills may just be cut from the same irrepressible cloth.

Prior to the game against Lions, the odds seemed to be stacked against the Bills.
The team was only able to practice once during the week leading up to the Lions game due to poor Southtown's weather conditions. The injury updates were piling up with the BIlls set to go into the game with both starting safeties, and one of their top corners, out. The Bills were coming off a tough loss to the Rams and had to travel back across the country after a late Sunday game. As a result, many were picking the Detroit Lions to hand the Bills their fourth loss of the season.

Resilient

Resilient....what a fantastic way to describe this year's version of the Buffalo Bills. Albert Breer with Sports Illustrated spoke with Coach McDermott after the Lions game, and while he didn't use "resilient" specifically, he all but described this team in that way.

"Even now, he can’t explain exactly what went wrong early on in L.A. But the way the Bills reacted, even in the moment, made him feel a lot better about it. Buffalo was down 38–21 going into the fourth quarter, and the Rams might not have survived had the fourth quarter been 16 minutes instead of 15."

- Albert Breer, Sports Illustrated
Sean McDermott
Dec 15, 2024; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott / Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images

Breer continued: "When I asked McDermott what happened at the end of that third quarter, he joked, “Uh … Josh Allen?” And there was a ton of truth in that—Allen was a force of nature that could only be stopped by the expiration of the clock at SoFi. But there’s more to it, too."

Buffalo Bills
Buffalo Bills wide receiver Khalil Shakir (10) celebrates his touchdown, during the second half at Ford Field in Detroit on Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024. / Kimberly P. Mitchell / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Bills faced uncertainly before the season with several captains and key players leaving. During this season, they have had injuries and some questionable coaching decisions. This week the team traveled from Buffalo to Los Angeles, back to Buffalo, then to Detroit.

During this two week span, Josh Allen and the Bills piled up over 1,000 yards of offense and 90 points. It's a stretch you don't see every day, but this Bills team never quit and never gives up, no matter the hurdles they face.

They've overcome many obstacles, battled through injuries, beaten the best the AFC and NFC have to offer, and overcome miserable weather on and off the field, to become the hottest team in the league. In a year that required them to fill they void after several key leaders departed, and with most media predicting a down year, they've put all doubters to the side and risen to the challenge. The team's fifth straight AFC East championship is just the beginning.

Resilient is the perfect way to describe this Bills team.

Maybe Bills fans can start to Bill-ieve that this year might be different.

More Buffalo Bills News:

Published
Ronnie Eastham
RONNIE EASTHAM

Home/News