Jeffrey Rusert of Jefferson County is a Buffalo Bills sports commentator, fan, and online blogger. In the following article, Jeffrey Rusert provides an overview of this past season, a look towards post-season, and what’s to come for the future of the team.
The Bills went into the 2022 season defending their 2021 AFC East Championship title. The week 16 win against the Chicago Bears clinched their AFC Championship title again, for the third consecutive year. Week 17 was declared no contest due to Damar Hamlin’s tragic injury where, after a blow to the chest, he collapsed.
Jeffrey Rusert of Jefferson County reports that Hamlin was released from the hospital and visited his team one day before their victory over the Miami Dolphins (34-31). Hamlin does have the option to play again, as was recently offered up by the Bills’ Coach, Sean McDermott, but he will likely not be participating in any of this year’s post-season games.
Bills and Bengals
The Bills’ next post-season game will be with the Bengals on Sunday, Jan 22. The last time the two teams came together a mere 2 weeks ago, the game ended early due to Hamlin’s injury. Jeffrey Rusert of Jefferson County reports that Buffalo is a 5-point favorite for this upcoming contest, but that hasn’t stopped the Bengals from touting their skillset in a very confident, or perhaps even arrogant manner.
The previous Bills/Bengals game was set to be a fairly evenly matched game between two top-rated teams. Both were excited to determine the victor, and that hasn’t changed this time around.
The last game was stopped short in a rare instance that is hopefully not to be repeated, so this Sunday will be a definitive answer to the question posed two weeks ago of who will come out on top.
Jeffrey Rusert on the Bills Going Forward
Last week’s game could very well serve as a bit of foreshadowing as to how the rest of their post-season will go. The word “resilient” has been bandied about as of late to describe the Bills, especially considering their victory over the Dolphins after having lost to them in Week 3.
Jeffrey Rusert of Jefferson County reports that Buffalo’s quarterback Josh Allen led the league with 19 turnovers, a potentially troubling statistic. He has, however, shown a trend of stepping up his game for the playoffs. Dean Marlowe, who has taken over as safety since Damar Hamlin’s injury, has done an excellent job so far, even picking off the pass from rookie QB Skylar Thompson that was intended for Tyreek Hill.
Buffalo’s Path to the Super Bowl
Jeffrey Rusert of Jefferson County says that with their first post-season game behind them, it’s time to look forward to their round 2 match against the Bengals. They ended their regular season 14-3 and the Bengals ended theirs 13-4. Sunday will mark their first full game all season.
After having been the Super Bowl runner-up last year, the Bengals are certainly not a team to be overlooked. They won their first post-season game against the Ravens 24-17 and are looking organized on the field with high spirits and ambitious goals. Jeffrey Rusert of Jefferson County says that they are still the underdogs in this forthcoming battle, with the Bills having a slight edge.
If the Bills do hand a victory to their fans in Buffalo, round 3 will depend on who wins Saturday’s game between the Chiefs and the Jaguars. Since the Chiefs started with a by week, this is their first playoff game of the season.
Jeffrey Rusert of Jefferson County says that if it ends up being the Bills versus the Chiefs, the game will be held at Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta. The neutral location was chosen due to the unequal number of games played since the cancellation of the Bills’ January 2nd game. If it goes the other way and the Bills play the Jaguars, the game will be on the Bills’ home turf in Buffalo.
Super Bowl LVII will be held at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona two days before Valentine’s Day. Should Buffalo make it to Arizona this year, it will mark the first Super Bowl they’ve played in since their loss to the Cowboys in 1994. Rusert reports that the final score that year was 13-30.
Conclusion
Buffalo was having a good year right up until that fateful game with the Bengals that resulted in the tragic injury to their safety. Jeffrey Rusert of Jefferson County reports that Hamlin fought hard while in the hospital, and thnakfully made it out intact.
He is on track for a full recovery and may even put on his pads again soon. The Bills seem to be doing the same concerning their post-season, having already beaten the Dolphins. Only time will tell if they make it all the way to Arizona.
