As the NFL playoffs begin this weekend, the Buffalo Bills welcome the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday evening, just hours after the Miami Dolphins visit the Kansas City Chiefs.
Josh Allen, quarterback of the Buffalo Bills, has intimated that he feels the Miami Dolphins will defeat the Kansas City Chiefs in the wild-card round this weekend.
After leading the Bills to a 21-14 victory over their AFC East opponents in the regular season finale, Allen, 27, expressed this notion with Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. This victory gave Buffalo their fourth consecutive division title.
It also insured that they would be the AFC’s second seed and would face the seventh-seeded Pittsburgh Steelers rather than the Chiefs on Sunday afternoon. Despite being the defending champs and the third seed behind the Bills, Allen does not expect Kansas City to make the playoffs.
The quarterback appeared bullish about both teams’ chances in the postseason after the game, while remaining on the Hard Rock Stadium pitch after their 21-14 comeback win on the road in Miami.
“We’ll see you guys again, huh?” he remarked in a postgame embrace with Tagovailoa. “Always fun competing against you, brother,” the Dolphins quarterback responded, before Allen emphasized, “I’ll see you in a couple of weeks, yeah?”
Despite his opponent’s urging, Tagovailoa did not respond to the comments. Allen made it clear that he expects Miami to beat the Chiefs on Saturday night because if both the Bills and Dolphins win in the wild-card weekend, they will face each other again a fortnight after last week’s divisional round matchup.
The Bills are heavy favorites to win the Steelers, especially with Pittsburgh’s injured standout pass rusher T.J. Watt out. However, given their injury issues, backing Miami is a risky bet.
Due to injuries, running back Raheem Mostert and wide receiver Jaylen Waddle are both uncertain to play. The Dolphins have now lost back-to-back games without those offensive weapons, including a 56-19 loss to the Baltimore Ravens.
Meanwhile, starter Xavien Howard has been ruled out with a foot ailment. Tagovailoa acknowledged the team’s unexpected drop in performance this week, telling reporters, “I think a lot of the guys, we all want to do it right.” It just stinks when we can’t finish the work we put in.
“But it is a new season, and that is how we see it.” New season, new opportunities, and we can still get there after this week.”
In contrast to his on-field comments, Allen is far more reserved while speaking with reporters. “At the end of the day, this is fun, this is cool, and never say no to winning a division, but the only thing that it solidifies is a home game and one more game,” he went on to remark.
“So it doesn’t mean anything if we go out there next week and don’t do our job, so we got to find a way to put our best foot forward and go find a victory next week.”
