ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (WROC) — Trust the process.
That’s a phrase football fans in Western New York don’t hear anymore, no matter how many times it is said. It’s not the same way Red refers to “rehabilitation” as a made-up word in Shawshank Redemption. Trust the process exists. It’s a thing, but it’s been uttered by Sean McDermott and echoed so many times within the Bills organization that the impact is lost. It’s white noise.
Inside the walls at One Bills Drive, the philosophy behind “trust the process” has built another winner. It’s about a belief that operating the right way and the same way every day will produce consistent incremental gains. Pile up enough incremental gains and you end up with new hats and T-shirts at the end of the season. Or this year, on the first day of December.
Most NFL teams with strong preseason expectations are based on the significant change. It’s a highly drafted, ridiculously talented rookie. A big name trade. The expensive free agent. This offseason for the Bills was dominated by subtraction. Salary cap mandated subtraction in many cases, but there was more going out than coming in.
The bet this year was development from within. The Bills had to believe in their own process to create success. Again, the salary cap might have forced the organization down this path, but it’s sure paid off.
The internal improvement starts with Josh Allen. It’s hard to believe a quarterback who was already a 98 out of 100 could get better, but I think this is Allen’s best season. He’s on pace for his first sub-4000-yard passing season in five years and is scoring touchdowns at his lowest rate in five years. Yet, he’s also the favorite to win MVP.
What Allen has done better is not trying so hard to do better. He’s forcing plays less. He’s taking the easy throws more. He’s just letting the offense work for him.
This game was a perfect example. Allen reached yet a new level of ridiculousness. The first quarterback ever with a passing, rushing and receiving touchdown in the same game. Allen had three scoring plays and still was credited with four touchdowns. It’s the game that’s going to be at the top of an increasingly impossible-to-beat MVP resume. And he only had 166 total yards.
When the Bills have needed Allen to rescue stopped plays with backyard laterals, he’s done that. When they’ve need him to throw third and goal dots at the sideline for Mack Hollins, he’s done that (Hollins’ catch on that TD was equally incredible and won’t get near the attention it deserves in this space). When the Bills just need Allen checking down to the backup tight end or handing off to James Cook and celebrating with Bills fans, he’s done that, too.
The result this year is no three-interception losses. There are no fumbled snaps on the goal line. Allen might keep his turnover number below ten for the first time in his career. Most important, the Bills are now 10-2 for the first time since 1991.
Allen’s improvement might be the smallest on the team when it comes to the level he was at versus where he is now. It might also be the most impressive. There’s a whole lot of room for bad players to get better. The great ones have to find the infinitesimal gains. Allen has done that.
Speaking of Cook, he’s making good on the home run-hitting potential the Bills hoped he could provide. He’s also become a tougher runner and certainly punches well above his listed 190 pounds. Cook had 100 yards at halftime on a muddy track that can often throttle speed backs. A ton of credit to the O-line here (more on them in a second), but it’s further evidence of Cook elevating.
The biggest jump this year might be Christian Benford. He’s having one of the premier cornerback seasons in the NFL and has upgraded Buffalo’s CB pair from good, not great before the season to maybe the best combo in the league. This is from a 6th-round pick taken in the same draft as first-round corner Kaiir Elam. Benford has now developed wildly past the Bills’ own expectations.
Greg Rousseau has been improving year after year since he arrived in the league. The gains have been small, but they’ve been continuous. I’ve talked with him a lot about his pass-rushing plan and understanding what works best for him. This is the first season he’s been able to fully harness his length and strength to become a consistent pain in the pass-protecting neck. He has go-to moves and he’s confident enough in their success that Rousseau’s rushing repertoire has actually shrunk a bit. He knows many offensive linemen can’t hit his fastball so he just keeps throwing it.
Spencer Brown has evolved into one of the league’s most dependable right tackles. Connor McGovern’s first full season as an NFL center has been a resounding success. Khalil Shakir has furthered his ability to find space before the catch and is being employed more and more as a weapon after it. Taylor Rapp created a turnover for the third straight game. It’s not unfair to question Damar Hamlin’s ability as a starting safety, but he’s gone from a guy fighting for a job to a regular part of a 10-2 defense.
It’s not just the players. McDermott could have kept calling signals on defense this year. He proved last season that he can head coach and coordinate at the same time on a division winner. Instead, he banked on Bobby Babich to take the reins. The result is a defense that’s allowed no more than seven points in the second half 10 of 12 weeks. A defense that just got Matt Milano back this week. A defense with a bunch of new position coaches that needed to be trained up along with the coordinator.
Almost everyone on this list has been a part of this organization for more than two seasons. They are the result of long-term development. You’ve heard of death by a thousand paper cuts? The Bills have been lifted by stacking a thousand paper-thin improvements.
Five division titles in a row is no small accomplishment. There’s no doubt the division and the schedule helped out this year. Both are quite trashier than expected. The team on the other sideline Sunday night is enough of a cautionary tale about how easily things can go wrong. The Niners have the most coveted of head coaches: an offensive genius. They have a roster oozing with elite talent. Injuries have hamstrung San Fran for sure, but they are on the brink of going from Super Bowl to out of the playoffs entirely as a member of one of the worst divisions in football.
The buzzword in the locker room regarding the fifth straight division title was trust. AJ Epenesa talked about players trusting each other. That trust wasn’t just about belief that the other guy was going to do his job, but belief that guy cares more about the team than the individual.
“Chasing letters (W’s) not numbers,” Epenesa said.
Dion Dawkins mentioned a type of trust that doesn’t get discussed often. The trust Terry Pegula has in the men and women that run his team. With that, is the trust Pegula and McDermott have in the players to let their natural personalities shine without going outside the program that’s won so often in Buffalo. That part is something the Shnowman particularly appreciates.
“I tip my hat to an owner that trusts his players, trusts his veterans, trust his OGs, trust his guys, puts guys in the right position, the right mindset. The trust factor is huge,” Dawkins said.
It’s a trust more than a few guys thought was the catalyst for the Cooper to Allen lateral TD. Even if that play glosses Allen’s MVP chances, Cooper is the player getting the heartier slap on the back. Rasul Douglas pointed out that giving the ball back to the quarterback so he can be the one taking the hit is not how any coach (or owner!) would draw it up. Cooper needed a unique confidence that his quarterback would do the right thing. Buffalo is a place where a player can have that confidence after being in town for barely more than a month.
It’s fair to be skeptical about a Buffalo process that hasn’t worked as well in the postseason. We’ll address that when the playoffs arrive, but there are five whole weeks until we get there. And the Bills have already secured a spot.
That’s how good the process was this year.