Adversity Bills Faced This Season Could Help Them in Playoffs

Their journey to a second straight AFC East title this was infinitely more complicated than the year before, and the Buffalo Bills believe that it could work to their advantage in the postseason.

"I would say like last year ... the whole season, it was just a different scenario," tackle Dion Dawkins said. "Like we were on a high all season long. This season we were on highs and lows, like it was just a roller coaster. And with this season being the roller coaster of a season, it feels great to get it the grittier way."

Dawkins may have a point. Unlike the previous season, when they ran away with the division from the start on their way to a 13-3 record and a 2-1 mark in the playoffs, they didn't even clinch a playoff spot until Week 17 this year, and the division was still in doubt right up until the final game.

Even though they finished this season first in the NFL in point differential, overall defense and scoring defense, it's been more of a struggle than a romp.

This was true right out of the gate, when they lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the season opener at home. They would lose two more games at home as well and absorbed devastating road losses at Tennessee, Jacksonville and Tampa Bay by a total of 12 points, the latter in overtime.

Though they won when they had to on the road against the New England Patriots in a crucial rematch on Dec. 26, they finished the season 2-4 against playoff teams and now face the prospect of having to beat New England again in the first round of the playoffs.

Yet when they're not having their hearts broken in close games, they mostly punish their opponents, thanks to an explosive passing (and sometimes running) attack that can produce an excess of points in a hurry despite long lapses of inefficiency.

On top of that, they feel more satisfied than ever after fighting through some late-season obstacles to give themselves another good chance at a Super Bowl.

"We hit every phase of adversity," Dawkins said, "and going into the postseason, we understand that feeling. ... It should only put us in [position to put] the best foot forward when things are going bad because it won't be perfect. I promise you that. It will not be perfect. Guys are going to mess up, guys are gonna do well. It's just the way of this game. But it'll definitely help us."

Safety Micah Hyde pointed to an extra sense of pride and a unique bond with the community that came from making it back to the playoffs as division champs.

"This team is Buffalo through and through," he said. "I just feel like we've failed [and] we've learned our lesson. After those losses, we learned, we got back in the building, we worked. ... We work hard, we play with a chip on our shoulder it's kind of just that blue-collar way. It's Buffalo."

Said fellow safety Jordan Poyer: "Obviously we've taken some heat throughout the season, the ups and downs. I think just being able to handle those ups and downs throughout the season, I think our team did a an excellent job doing that. We bounced back from losses, some tough losses where everybody counted us out.

"Everybody was saying our defense couldn't do this or couldn't do that, the offense couldn't do this or couldn't do that. But nobody panicked, nobody read into it. Everybody just came into work every day."

The result is a team that's more battle-tested than last year's version.

"I think in this league, it's all about how you handle adversity and how you handle good situations and bad situations," Poyer added.

The Bills are hoping that will help them climb those next two giant steps

Nick Fierro is the publisher of Bills Central. Check out the latest Bills news at www.si.com/nfl/bills and follow Fierro on Twitter at @NickFierro. Email to Nicky300@aol.com.