The Buffalo Bills signed Von Miller to a contract with $45 million guaranteed in the offseason because they believed he could take them over the top. As a pass rusher who will likely walk into the Hall of Fame one day, it wasn’t a bad bet that Miller would do for Buffalo what he already did for the Denver Broncos and Los Angeles Rams in helping those franchises win respective championships.
Unfortunately, the news of a torn ACL that will sideline Miller for the rest of 2022 puts somewhat of a damper on such plans in Buffalo. (At least for now in Miller’s individual case.) But never mind that. Even without Miller’s uncanny ability to be a living nightmare for every opposing quarterback, the Bills should still be a strong contender to win Super Bowl 57.
That’s because their chances at bringing home a title to Western New York start and end with the guy who can make these kinds of ridiculous plays — Josh Allen:
My mind: Josh Allen is gonna end up out of bounds.
Josh Allen: No.pic.twitter.com/RQdypeLnNi
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) December 2, 2022
Uh, yeah. I will not bet against that guy if he has even the slightest opening to vanquish someone this postseason. Quarterbacks like Allen, who never say die, even on routine plays, will almost always give their team a chance to win a Big Game.
Will it hurt to lose a guy like Miller, who had 27 QB pressures (according to Pro Football Focus), 12 QB hits, 10 tackles-for-loss, and eight sacks in 11 starts before tearing his ACL? Definitely! There’s no easy way to replicate that sort of Defensive Player of the Year level production — especially given that Miller was already helping the Bills paper over a defense hurt by injuries.
But Miller’s addition to Buffalo’s contender mix was supposed to be more of a cherry on top. Adding a Hall of Fame caliber pass rusher was more about trying to maximize a Super Bowl-contending window, but it wasn’t an outright necessity. Sans Miller and the injured Micah Hyde, the Bills essentially have mostly the same team that made two deep runs into January from 2020 to 2021.
- Is Allen, an MVP candidate, still playing quarterback? Oh yeah.
- Is Stefon Diggs, one of pro football’s premier playmakers and Allen’s best friend, still catching passes for the Bills? You bet.
- Do Tremaine Edmunds and Matt Milano still form one of the NFL’s top linebacking duos while they spearhead a great defense? They sure do!
You get the point. The list goes on because the Bills’ plan to win now hasn’t changed.
It is admittedly harder to see them overcoming Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs or even Joe Burrow’s Cincinnati Bengals. But Buffalo, the current No. 1 seed in the AFC, can help itself by keeping home-field advantage and the lone postseason bye in the conference. I know star quarterbacks are wired differently and probably aren’t intimidated as much as regular folks by extreme circumstances. Still, I wouldn’t want to be heading to frigid Orchard Park in mid-to-late January trying to beat the Bills with a raucous hometown crowd behind them.
I have no way to verify this for sure, but on paper, that sounds like one of the more challenging tasks in the NFL — beating the Bills on the road with a chance to go to the Super Bowl. And that’s the current situation presenting itself in front of Mahomes, Burrow, and the rest of the AFC elite.
At the moment, oddsmakers agree with the Bills’ potential to win a championship without Miller. Per Tipico Sportsbook, Buffalo still possesses the best odds of winning Super Bowl 57 at +380. That’s even above the NFC-leading Eagles in second (+450) on the other side of the coin.
The Bills’ path to finally winning the Big One undoubtedly gets more strenuous without Miller’s services. But this remains a team that can give all of the NFL’s other heavyweights significant headaches, especially if they have to visit their stadium in playoff matchups. Until proven otherwise, Buffalo remains a strong Super Bowl contender.
