Bills' Josh Allen, Sean McDermott fire up locker room ahead of epic Chiefs playoff clash

The Bills are on a roll, and it's a testament to the leadership of Sean McDermott and Josh Allen.

By Week 12, the Buffalo Bills were in a precarious spot, falling to 6-6 after a loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. Since their bye week, however, Josh Allen and the Bills hit their stride and have not looked back. They proceeded to win five straight regular season games, including a crucial Week 18 win over the Miami Dolphins to steal the division crown from under their noses, and they continue to fire on all cylinders, taking care of business against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the NFL Wild Card round with a 31-17 victory.

Favored as the Bills may have been in their 2-7 matchup against the Steelers, anything can happen in a single-game playoff format. A lack of execution here and there on either side of the ball and the Bills players could have been headed to their respective homes. But the team's star quarterback credited his team for leaving it all out there on the field as they prepare to face the Kansas City Chiefs in the Divisional Round — their third playoff battle against Patrick Mahomes and company in four years.

“Talk about guys stepping up, man. That's f*ckin impressive, AJ, that's hard to do. That's not easy man,” Allen said in a spirited postgame speech in the Bills locker room, via the team's official Twitter (X) account. “We stayed together, we keep going, you see the results we get. We're taking it one game at a time, Sunday, 6:30.”

Stay together. 👊#PITvsBUF | #BillsMafia pic.twitter.com/eyjK80sm5C

— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) January 16, 2024

Josh Allen shouted out linebacker AJ Klein after the 32-year old had to play heavy minutes due to the Bills' plethora of injury woes. Klein then helped Buffalo hold the Steelers offense in check, and in the playoffs, the contributions of unsung heroes should never go unnoticed.

Meanwhile, Bills head coach Sean McDermott applauded his team for pulling out a difficult win, with every playoff victory always hard to come by in the unforgiving NFL postseason gauntlet.

“That's a big-time win, man. First playoff round right there. I know we got some things to work on. We know that. But these are hard to come by, playoff wins,” McDermott said.

What's something that's even harder to come by for the Bills is a playoff win over the Chiefs, having lost to them in 2021 and 2022 in the championship game and in the divisional round, respectively. Can Josh Allen and company finally exorcise their Patrick Mahomes-shaped demons?