Though the NFL season is just four weeks old, it’s not a stretch to say that the game of the year thus far took place at Highmark Stadium in the opening Sunday Night Football game of the season. It was a game in which the visiting Baltimore Ravens led the Buffalo Bills by at least 10 points on five different occasions, including with under five minutes to play.
Impressively, the Bills were able to take every single Ravens punch on the chin and keep moving forward. Never quitting, never losing faith, never blinking until the moment that Matt Prater‘s 32-yard kick sailed through the uprights with no time left, giving Buffalo a miraculous 41-40 win in front of an hysterical home crowd in Western New York.
Yes, the Bills needed to catch some breaks along the way just to remain within striking distance. A deflected ball that ended up in the hands of Keon Coleman being one, but most notably, a rare Derrick Henry fumble that gave Buffalo the ball back with favorable field position with just over three minutes left in the game.
But as the saying goes, fortune favors the bold, and the Bills were bold enough to believe they could win this game even when conventional wisdom and the odds said otherwise.
It turns out, Buffalo’s ability to get back in this game was due in part to a team-wide mindset that reigning league MVP Josh Allen and the Bills have learned to adopt. He explained it during a recent sit-down with NBC Sports’ Devin McCourty.
“It was a good welcoming to some of the new guys. How we act on the sideline, how calm and steady we wanna be. We have this don’t blink mindset,” Allen told McCourty. “It doesn’t matter, we can be down two scores in the 4th quarter with four minutes left. We’re still gonna play our game, nobody is gonna try to force anything or push. And ultimately, we’re gonna rely on each other. It took every single guy, offense, defense, special teams to win that game, and I think it gave us some confidence moving forward.”
Josh Allen went onto explain that it was veteran linebacker Von Miller — now a member of the Washington Commanders — who introduced this mindset upon his arrival in Buffalo in 2022.
“Some of the talks that we had, and visions that we had for this team, still kind of speak to me,” Allen added. “He was the one who brought that over.”
Miller came to Buffalo with hopes of being the missing piece that would help the Bills get over the hump. It didn’t happen in his three years with the team, but if the Bills do end up making their first Super Bowl in over 30 years this year and any time within the next handful of seasons, his contributions will certainly be remembered.
Josh Allen Talks About the Tight-Knit 2025 Buffalo Bills
If you’ve played any kind of team sport at any point in your life, it’s likely that the first team you’ll remember when you think back on all of those seasons you played is one that felt the most like a family. Whether that team won at a high level or not ends up becoming a footnote in that conversation, though I’d be willing to bet, that team likely overachieved because of the closeness of the group.
You can’t possibly overstate how vital it is for a team to be aligned with a shared mindset — in Buffalo’s case, it’s that ‘don’t blink’ mindset that Josh Allen mentioned. When you’re aligned like this, when the vibes are immaculate and the culture is clearly defined, it gives the team a greater purpose.
“People have really bought into the culture that we have here. It’s a family-like atmosphere,” Allen said. “Guys live no more than 10 to 15 minutes from each other. Guys are hanging out with each other. Guys are doing position dinners together. Guys who have kids, they’re like ‘Hey, that’s Uncle Josh. Go say hi to Uncle Josh.’”
Allen says that numerous vets on the team have commented that the atmosphere in Buffalo is different than in previous stops, and that, maybe above anything else, should give Bills fans hope that this year will finally be the year that things fall into place. Having the best quarterback on the planet and the AFC’s reigning Offensive Player of the Month certainly helps matters.
Of course, the Bills have something of a secret weapon in this regard… a loyal, rowdy group of fans known as Bills Mafia that will brave snowstorms, freezing cold temperatures and folding tables to watch their team win at the highest level.
I truly believe they are the best fanbase in the entire world,” Allen said of Bills Mafia. “I feel like I try to play the game the right way and give back to the community, but they’ve given more to me than I can give back.”
If Josh Allen finally delivers Buffalo a Lombardi Trophy, we can probably call it even.
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