Morning Coffee: Bills’ thrilling comeback win sparks Super Bowl hype

Josh Allen is the best quarterback on the planet.

He’s not the most accomplished quarterback.

Ultimately, he might not go on to be remembered as the best quarterback of his generation.

At this moment, Allen is the NFL’s best quarterback.

He proved it again last night.

In an AFC Divisional Playoff rematch that featured the reigning NFL regular season MVP Allen and the runner-up Lamar Jackson, Allen put on his cape and led the Buffalo Bills to another epic win over the Baltimore Ravens.

Allen went 33-of-46 for 394 yards, with two touchdown passes and two rushing touchdowns in a thrilling comeback win on Sunday Night Football.

It was his NFL record seventh career game with at least two TD passes and two rushing scores.

Believe it or not, he’s thrown for over 300 yards in five of those seven instances.

The Bills and Ravens are both Super Bowl contenders, but at least on paper, it’s Baltimore with the better weapons on offence as well as the better defence.

Once again, Allen proved it didn’t matter as he spread the ball around to Keon Coleman, Khalil Shakir, and Canadian Joshua Palmer while shredding the Ravens defence for 251 passing yards in the fourth quarter alone.

This was a game that Buffalo was not supposed to win and above all else would not have won if they had almost any other quarterback in the league.

This is Morning Coffee for Monday September 8th and after what we saw last night there is no doubt that nobody in the world is playing the quarterback position better than the Bills franchise quarterback.

Thrilling Comeback Win Sparks Bills Super Bowl Hype

The Bills could be found as high as +5000 to beat the Ravens live down 15 points late in the fourth quarter.

To put that number in perspective, 17 NFL teams have shorter odds to win the Super Bowl at FanDuel than Buffalo’s odds to beat Baltimore in the final minutes.

The Bills are the first team in NFL history to overcome a 15-point deficit in the final four minutes of a fourth quarter to win a season opener.

Per ESPN analytics, the Ravens had a 99.1 per cent chance to win the game with exactly 4:48 remaining in regulation.

Buffalo’s win was the most stunning comeback I’ve seen since the New England Patriots rallied from down 28-3 to beat the Atlanta Falcons in the Super Bowl in 2017.

This was a playoff rematch between a pair of legitimate Super Bowl contenders, featuring a pair of MVP quarterbacks, on Sunday Night Football in Week 1.

There have been several epic comebacks since then, but nothing like what we saw last night when adjusted for the talent, coaching, and a prime-time billing.

Any time we get a remarkable comeback in any sport, I could hear the voice of TSN senior producer and my good friend Jason Palter asking the question he always asked in these scenarios.

What’s the more accurate way to describe the game; a Buffalo comeback or a Baltimore collapse?

Of course, just like the Patriots win over the Falcons in the Super Bowl, I’ve repeatedly told him that you can’t have one without the other in these circumstances.

The Ravens had the football with a 1st and 10 up 15 points with 9:18 remaining in the fourth quarter.

After a three-and-out, they were still in decent shape after a punt that led to a touchback.

The Bills had the football on their own 20-yard line down 15 points with under eight minutes left in the game.

That’s when a combination of Allen’s heroics and Ravens mistakes led to Buffalo’s epic comeback.

Allen repeatedly picked apart the Baltimore secondary with his rocket arm and precision.

When he wasn’t threading the needle with passes downfield, he was using his legs and scrambling for big gains on the ground.

Of course, there had to be a little luck involved.

Allen’s 10-yard touchdown pass to Coleman with 3:56 left on the clock took a strange deflection on the way to the end zone and could have been picked or batted down.

Then on the ensuing possession, Jackson’s 13-yard run on the first play of the drive set up the Ravens with another 1st-and-10 near midfield.

That’s when Derrick Henry, who pounded the Buffalo defence for 169 rushing yards and two touchdowns, fumbled for just the fourth time in three seasons.

Allen immediately hit rookie fifth round pick tight end Jackson Hawes with a 29-yard strike that set up a Bills’ 1st-and-goal with just under three minutes remaining.

After failing to punch it in twice in a row, Allen put on his cape again and bullied his way into the end zone for his second rushing score of the night.

Even at that point, the Ravens were in a decent spot after Buffalo’s two-point conversion failed.

Baltimore got the ball leading 40-38 with 1:58 left on the clock and a 1st-and-10 at their own 31-yard line.

Henry gained one yard on first down.

For whatever reason, the Ravens didn’t go back to him on 2nd-and-9, handing the ball to Zay Flowers for no gain.

Then on 3rd-and-9, Jackson hit DeAndre Hopkins for a six-yard gain that fell three yards short of the sticks.

That set up a fourth down from the Baltimore 39 with 1:33 left in regulation.

Should the Ravens have gone for it on 4th down?

Baltimore elected to punt and Buffalo took over at its own 20-yard line with 1:26 remaining in the fourth.

In less than a minute, Allen led the Bills from their own 20 to the Baltimore nine-yard line to set up a 32-yard game-winning field goal with no time left on the clock.

Buffalo is just the fourth team to win a game after trailing by 15 points in the final four minutes of a fourth quarter since 2000.

It was the Ravens first loss in franchise history when they’ve scored 40 or more points in a game.

Nobody will blame Jackson for the late collapse, and Henry took accountability after his fourth-quarter fumble opened the door, but the reality is that anybody who watched last night’s game saw the MVP lead an epic comeback against an opponent that couldn’t close.

It was another emotional loss for the Ravens.

On the flip side, it was an unforgettable win for the Bills.

Everybody expected Allen and the Buffalo offence to take a major step back last season after receivers Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis exited in the offseason.

Instead, Allen won MVP after he carried the Bills to 13 wins and an AFC East title with an outstanding year.

On Sunday night, Allen picked up where he left off, outshining Jackson in a head-to-head win with the type of performance that I’m not convinced any quarterback in the league could replicate if given the opportunity.

Allen is now the favourite to repeat as MVP at +380.

The Bills are FanDuel’s Super Bowl favourite at +650.

Buffalo isn’t the league’s most talented or deepest team.

However, the Bills do have the best QB on the planet.

The final home opener at Highmark Stadium was unforgettable.

Last night’s epic comeback has Bills Mafia dreaming about a Super Bowl banner celebration to open the new Highmark Stadium in 2026.

FanDuel Best Bets For Monday Night Football

Tonight’s clash between the Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears marks the final stop for Week 1 of the NFL season.

Hopefully, we can lock in a few more FanDuel Best Bet winners to finish the week off on a high note.

I’ll lock in Bears tight end Cole Kmet over 12.5 receiving yards.

Kmet is coming off an awful year in Chicago, but he went over this mark in both games against the Vikings, including one of his best performances of the year when he had seven receptions for 64 yards in his first game against them at Soldier Field.

The Bears drafted rookie tight end Colston Loveland 10th overall, but new head coach Ben Johnson should deploy plenty of 12 personnel looks with both tight ends involved.

With Harrison Smith out for Minnesota and defensive coordinator Brian Flores dialing up pressure to get after Caleb Williams, the Chicago tight ends should get some looks tonight.

I also like Kmet over 1.5 receptions at -106, Olamide Zaccheaus over 20.5 receiving yards, and Bears running back DeAndre Swift over 2.5 receptions and over 13.5 receiving yards as best bets for Monday Night Football.

While all eyes will be on Williams in his first game under a new head coach, tonight’s game will also be J.J. McCarthy’s first NFL regular season start.

My guess is that Kevin O’Connell will want to get him in a rhythm with quick passes, which should include looks to his veteran tight end T.J. Hockenson and his veteran running back Aaron Jones.

The Bears will be dialed in on slowing down Jefferson, and then will open room for Hockenson, who had 12 receptions for 170 yards in two meetings against Chicago last season.

Meanwhile, Jones had seven catches for 43 yards in two meetings against the Bears last season and should be involved in the passing game again tonight as an outlet for McCarthy.

I’ll add Hockenson 40+ receiving yards and Jones over 2.5 receptions as FanDuel Best Bets for Monday Night Football.

Hopefully, we can finish Week 1 on a high note.