Former Super Bowl champ sets Bills' postseason expectations at championship 'or bust'

Expectations for the Buffalo Bills have shifted all over the board since the 2025 season began.

At the outset of the year, the Bills were expected by many to advance to and win the Super Bowl. Then, after a torrid 4-0 start to the regular season, those expectations skyrocketed, with Buffalo becoming a near-guarantee to earn the AFC’s No. 1 seed entering the postseason. However, with the Bills having performed inconsistently over the next several weeks, the team’s supporters began to back off their assertions.

With that said, with the Bills stringing together three consecutive wins entering a Week 16 matchup with the Cleveland Browns, expectations are right back where they were to begin the year — Super Bowl or bust.

Just ask Super Bowl XLVI champion, ESPN’s Chris Canty.

Must-win

Appearing on ESPN’s First Take this week, Canty explained why he believes the Bills must win a championship this year.

“This is Super Bowl or bust for Sean McDermott and Josh Allen,” said the former Giant, Raven and Cowboy. “No Patrick Mahomes, no Joe Burrow and potentially no Lamar Jackson. And for a quarterback who has never won a road playoff game, to have to go on the road —“

Canty was then shouted down by host Stephen A. Smith and fellow guest Jeff Saturday before he was allowed to complete his point.

“It’s Year 8 for Josh Allen and Sean McDermott,” Canty continued. "If they don’t get it done now, when is it gonna happen? It’s Super Bowl or bust for the Buffalo Bills. It needs to happen now.”

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"It's Super Bowl or bust for the Buffalo Bills. It needs to happen now." 😳@ChrisCanty99 on the Buffalo Bills as the playoffs approach 🏈 pic.twitter.com/hFGhiKLKzt
— First Take (@FirstTake) December 16, 2025

Not alone

Canty isn’t the only one who holds that opinion, as there has been widespread discussion regarding the golden opportunity that sits in front of McDermott, Allen and the Bills down the road.

Buffalo has already dispatched each of the AFC's top quarterbacks in head-to-head competition this season, defeating the Baltimore Ravens in Week 1, the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 9 and the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 14. And they could now face a postseason slate without the league’s last two MVPs, aside from their own, along with the last two quarterbacks to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl standing in their way of the franchise’s first Lombardi Trophy.

It isn’t all sunshine and rainbows for the Bills moving forward, as some of the NFL’s top defenses of recent memory are likely to punch their playoff tickets over the next several weeks. But when it comes to Allen going toe-to-toe with an opposing quarterback during a high-stakes playoff game in January or February, it may turn out that he will stand alone as the lone accomplished signal caller in the AFC’s postseason field.

Some may not agree with the Super-Bowl-or-bust label Canty has placed on the rest of the Bills' season. But no one can deny the road presented to them is as favorable as it's been since McDermott, Allen and company began their quest toward a title.

Time to get it done. Time to slay the dragon.

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