Sean McDermott speaks to reporters following the Bills' win over the 49ers Sunday night.
Josh Allen is a lot of things - recently engaged, quarterback, face and pulse of the Buffalo Bills and top candidate for NFL MVP - but Snow Angel Guy is not one of them.
But when coach Sean McDermott asked him to hit the turf to celebrate a fifth consecutive AFC East title, he did it.
"Anytime Coach asks you do something, you do it; I'm a good soldier," Allen said after Sunday's 35-10 win over the San Francisco 49ers. "I'm not the biggest snow angel fan because it can get cold down there. My toes are freezing. But it was fun."
Everything is fun these days for the Bills.
They score points - 30 or more in nine of their 12 games. Fun.
They create turnovers - at least two in eight games and 24 total. Fun.
And they win - they are 10-2 and on a seven-game heater. Fun.
People are also reading... The snow has arrived and some of Western New York is preparing for more. Much more The snow is coming. When, where and how much? That depends ... First big snow of season pounds Southern Tier, with more on way for Buffalo's Southtowns Updated snow totals as of Sunday evening: As much as 37 inches in parts of WNY Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen is engaged to Hailee Steinfeld 3 up, 3 down for the Bills coming off their bye week Brendan Mehaffy, Howard Grynspan out in shakeup of city's development efforts Snow threat to hang around WNY 'for quite a while.' And this time, the Northtowns will be included. San Francisco 49ers at Buffalo Bills: How to watch, weather, latest line, everything you need to know Inside the Bills: With Matt Milano's return imminent, Dorian Williams' future as a starter is unclear Don Paul: Wintry weather and its lake effect arrive in stages Scanlon, Poloncarz criticize regional land bank they control over size and cost of houses Lake-effect storm will affect delivery of Monday's Buffalo News Longtime UB physician jumps into action to save concertgoer. Now, the two are bonded Buffalo driver with infant in car charged with DWI and killing pedestrian on Thanksgiving
Add it all up and playing in a winter wonderland/massive snow globe, the Bills made sure it was a T-shirt-and-hat night.
On Dec. 1.
With five games remaining.
Before any other team in the league.
They are proud to be one of the surprise stories in the league this year, but in the same break, know this is just the first step. We know it, too.
Led by Allen, the Bills aren't in the business of merely winning the division.
"This one feels a little bit different (because it's this) early in the season," Allen said after he became the first player in league history to have touchdowns passing, receiving and rushing in the same game. "It's going to be fun to go out there and play free and play relaxed and play loose."
Add it all up, Allen concluded: "That can be a dangerous team."
Observations: Buffalo Bills' offense shows it's built for any conditions in 35-10 rout of 49ers
As a steady lake-effect snowstorm pounded Orchard Park, the Bills did the same to the visiting San Francisco 49ers. Led on the winter-white ground by running back James Cook, the Bills piled up 141 rushing yards in the first half of a 35-10 wipeout. The win improved the Bills to 10-2 and clinched their fifth straight AFC East championship.
The Bills are dangerous because they can win in different ways - via Allen's arm or tailback James Cook's running ability or the post-catch yards by receiver Khalil Shakir or because of a takeaway-hungry defense.
Listen now and subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | RSS Feed | SoundStack
And the Bills are dangerous because they can do it in any kind of weather condition. See Sunday night.
Left tackle Dion Dawkins cupped the snow and threw it in the air as he ran to the locker room at halftime.
Center Connor McGovern celebrated Cook's 65-yard touchdown run by sliding into the end zone ... and landing on top of right tackle Spencer Brown.
Tight end Dawson Knox celebrated a fourth-quarter catch by doing a snow angel.
And Allen and McDermott did the same after their on-field network interviews.
(If you had "Sean McDermott Snow Angel" on your Bills Bingo Card, log onto your favorite betting app pronto because you're headed toward a good run of great luck.)
It was south-of-downtown-Buffalo weather. It was Bills weather. It was playoff weather. Winter had finally arrived.
Everything seemed so calm in the early-to-late afternoon hours around the stadium. In the hours leading into the 8:20 p.m. kickoff, it snowed kind of, sort of. Flurries for a few minutes at a time. Nothing too annoying. When the tarps were removed from the turf at 5:30 p.m., it appeared the worst had arrived and departed.
Wrong. Never argue against Mother Nature in general and Mother Nature's grip on Lake Erie and Lake Ontario in particular. The snow became heavy and really annoying.
Fans who were in the stadium, the Bills felt your presence ... and saw some of your actions.
"How loud and rowdy it was - they were throwing snow balls, throwing stuff in the air," McGovern said. "I saw a couple of beers fly down (after a touchdown) and the security guys kicked them (against the wall). They were fired up tonight."
Said defensive end A.J. Epenesa: "Any night game, you feel the crowd's energy. But a game like this, when the elements are involved, they're extra energized and we were extra energized. It just added a little something to it, for sure."
And, for sure, winning five straight division titles is impressive. Not even the four-time AFC champion core of players did it and that was a team anchored by eventual Pro Football Hall of Famers Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas, Bruce Smith and Andre Reed.
In Bills history, the Dec. 1 clinch date the earliest since the 1965 team clinched on Nov. 28. In the Allen Era, the first four clinch dates were Dec. 19, Jan. 9, Dec. 24 and Jan. 7.
Takeaways, game balls from the Buffalo Bills' rout of the San Francisco 49ers
Takeaways, game balls, etc., from the Bills' game Sunday night against San Francisco.
A year ago, the Bills were 6-6 and going nowhere fast. They couldn't stop anybody and their offense was turnover-prone. But they won their final five in the regular season and combined with this year, they are 15-2 in their last 17 regular-season games. Impressive stuff.
But the real work now begins. They have disposed of their incompetent division rivals so early that we're still nibbling on Thanksgiving leftovers and thinking about what kind of Christmas tree to get.
The next two games will be difficult - another West Coast trip to face the Rams, followed by a hop over to Detroit and the class-of-the-NFC Lions. But after that, the Bills wrap up with Patriots-Jets-Patriots. Go 4-1 and I think the Bills are the AFC's top seed and the playoffs go through Orchard Park.
The Bills' next target is obvious.
"We're chasing the 1 seed," Allen said. "We understand that. We know that."
And if that happens, the AFC should understand and know the Bills will be an ultra-tough out in the playoffs.
0 Comments Get in the game with our Prep Sports Newsletter
Sent weekly directly to your inbox!
Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Ryan O'Halloran
Sports Reporter
Author email Follow Ryan O'Halloran Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification.
{{description}}
Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.
Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today