'The Tipping Point' How the Bills’ Run Game and Physicality Up Front Could Decide the Divisional Round

Why NFL GM, Thurman Thomas, and others think this could be Josh Allen's best chance yet at Super Bowl glory

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In recent years, Josh Allen's heroics and the potential MVP quarterback's ability to single-handedly take over a game have been tied to the Buffalo Bills’ postseason hopes and their Super Bowl aspirations.

This season, though, as the Bills prepare to take on Lamar Jackson, Derrick Henry, and one of the most physical teams in the NFL, the Baltimore Ravens, with a trip to the AFC Championship Game at stake, Buffalo has become a physical juggernaut in their own right.

“I think the biggest difference has been that the offensive line has stayed healthy throughout the year,” Hall of Fame running back Thurman Thomas tells me. “And, they’re comfortable with all three running backs, Reggie Gilliam doesn’t get enough credit.”

The Bills no longer have to rely on Allen’s brilliance alone to fuel their postseason runs. This season, they’ve evolved into a well-rounded, physical team that can win in a variety of ways. With a healthy offensive line, a deep stable of running backs led by the explosive James Cook, and a commitment to complementary football, the Bills have become a team capable of dictating games in the trenches. Against a Ravens squad rewriting the definition of physicality and explosiveness both on the ground and through the air, it’s Buffalo’s ability to balance brute force with dynamic plays that could define their path to the AFC Championship.

“They play a solid brand of team football,” a current NFL general manager tells me, on the condition of anonymity to speak freely about another team.

As the Ravens arrive in frigid Western New York, fresh off a systematic dismantling of the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC Wild Card, it’s the Bills’ dominance up front and a running game that’s helped complement Allen’s big-play ability that gives Buffalo a chance to advance.

Bills’ Physicality and the Run Game a ‘Tipping Point’

The Bills entered these playoffs, bringing the NFL’s ninth-rated rushing offense with them, but completely flipped the script against the Denver Broncos in what became a relatively leisurely stroll through Orchard Park.

Buffalo’s running game broke out, gashing the vaunted Broncos defense for 213 rushing yards, including Cook running roughshod for 120 yards and a touchdown with a healthy 5.2 yards per carry average in a 31-7 victory.

"The running game and the physicality up front make the Bills so difficult to beat,” former Bills linebacker Lorenzo Alexander tells me. “It's going to be the tipping point this week."