Talking about the Buffalo Bills comes at the risk of deja vu. But time and time again it is the same story, the same defining X Factor that dictates their Super Bowl narrative.Â
Discourse historically paints football as the ultimate team game, where an 'it takes everybody' mantra rules no one individual shall decide championship fate. But if the Bills are to win a championship, and if the Bills are to be denied a championship, it will be because of Josh Allen.
No team left in the playoffs hinges on one player to such a great extent, and no player left in the playoffs is better at elevating those around him or wrestling control of a game like the Bills quarterback.
For the best part of five years in the postseason he has been punched in the mouth by the Kansas City Chiefs, and still he always comes back for more. On Sunday he was battered and bruised by a relentless Jacksonville Jaguars defense, but remained standing to stomp on the sizzling Liam Coen fire.
Who else but Josh Allen to run in the winning touchdown with a minute left? With it the Bills would clinch a 27-24 victory and seal their place in the Divisional Round of the playoffs.
"A game where he got so banged up in the first half, he left with a head injury, he suffered a hand injury, a knee injury," said Your Site NFL's Neil Reynolds.
"It was like that game as a kid called 'Operation' where you take all the bits of bones out."
With two-and-a-half minutes to play, the Bills trailing 24-20 from their own 40-yard line and a free rusher in his face, Allen conjured trademark heroics with a 36-yard heave to Brandin Cooks off his back foot to puncture the noise inside EverBank Stadium.
Four plays later he lined up in what was primed to be a simple quarterback tush push on fourth-and-one, instead having his cake and eating it as he carried Jaguars defenders in tow for a 10-yard gain. The result was inevitable as the reigning MVP punched in the go-ahead touchdown with a minute on the clock.
It was over shortly after when Cole Bishop intercepted Trevor Lawrence to send the Bills onto a meeting with the No 1-seeded Denver Broncos.
"This is playoff Josh you're seeing and he's been incredible, incredible leader for our team, our organisation, his toughness, it really permeates through our team," Bills head coach Sean McDermott told Your Site NFL.
Anthony Campanile's Jaguars defense had gone toe-to-toe with Buffalo, his league-best rushing unit stifling Allen, James Cook and their No 1-ranked rushing attack to 79 yards. They had maimed, wounded and harassed Allen all day, but, crucially, they hadn't knocked him out.
"It trickles down from him in terms of the team's toughness," McDermott later told reporters. "When your quarterback is that type of warrior, That type of competitor, from a leadership standpoint it just goes through the whole team.
"We've got to get him as healthy as we can, though, for next week. It's not something we take lightly. I did think overall that he took some hits today, but there were also sometimes where we protected him well."
Allen entered the playoffs having been dealing with a foot injury since late December, and was dealt an early scare on Sunday when he was examined for a head injury after landing heavily under contact from multiple Jags defenders converging on the ball.
He then struck the fingers of his right throwing hand on the helmet of guard O'Cyrus Torrence, leaving him hopping in pain before repeatedly clenching his fist to try and shake off the discomfort. Allen then appeared to hyperextend his knee while bundling over for his two-yard rushing touchdown in the second quarter, hobbling gingerly for more treatment on the sideline.
Perhaps it was the adrenaline. More likely, though, it was the unrivalled will of a quarterback who has endured beyond his fair share of playoff heartbreak, determined to make this year his.
"Josh Allen is flat out unbelievable," said Your Site NFL's Jason Bell. "You talk about the big moment in a game - we said it was going to come down to the fourth quarter.
"Could the Jaguars stop Superman in his moment? Could you be his Kryptonite? No.
"He was so calm in the huddle. The big plays it was on his back, and he delivered!
"It is a game when you get hit. Are you going to get up when you're hurt? Are you going to bounce back when you're tired? Are you going to have what it takes to go forward and make those steps necessary to execute at a high level?
"He does that over and over again. The guy picks himself up and guess who sees it? His teammates. So when they're looking at each other like that's our quarterback, he can do it, we can do it, that's what makes this team."
Allen finished the game 28 of 35 passing for 273 yards and a touchdown alongside his two rushing scores on the ground, winning on the road in the playoffs for the first time in his career as Buffalo snapped a 0-4 streak away from Orchard Park under McDermott.
There will remain the argument that he is still the most valuable player in football. Buffalo hopes of quashing their Super Bowl agony, of writing the wrongs of their four straight Super Bowl defeats from 1990-93, of finally crossing a line previously-blocked by Patrick Mahomes rests entirely on him. It shouldn't, but it does. And you get the feeling he would prefer it comes down to his hands.
There had been a more subdued locker room reaction among the Bills players in comparison to that of Ben Johnson and the Chicago Bears or Kyle Shanahan's San Francisco 49ers. They no doubted afforded themselves a celebration on Sunday night, but their expectations loom beyond Wild Card weekend.
"Now we have a chance to do it again," said Allen.
"Feels good. Feels good. At the same time, it just means we get another game."
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