The Buffalo Bills may have gotten some bulletin board material this week.
Despite winning 13 games and earning the No. 2 seed in the AFC for the third consecutive year, the Bills were largely snubbed when The Associated Press’s All-Pro list was announced on Friday. Quarterback Josh Allen earned second-team honors and no other player was named to the list.
After the snub, the Bills took to social media to share a blunt response.
“Zero Buffalo Bills have been voted as First Team AP All-Pro…” the team shared in a post on X, adding a looped video of Allen dismissing a reporter’s question with a terse “OK.”
Bills Gaining Some Motivation
The Bills had several candidates for the All-Pro list beyond Allen, but none garnered enough votes to make either the first or second teams. Cornerback Christian Benford has grown into one of the league’s top defensive backs and Dion Dawkins is considered one of the top tackles, but both received only a handful of votes.
As Sal Maiorana of the Democrat & Chronicle noted, Buffalo’s opponent in the wild-card round this weekend gained significantly more honors from the All-Pro list — which could give the Bills some motivation for Sunday’s game.
“If nothing else, the overlooking of the Bills should give them some added motivation to make a playoff run which begins Sunday against the Denver Broncos,” Maiorana wrote.
“The Broncos, by the way, finished 10-7 and are the No. 7 seed, yet they had three players selected to the first team – cornerback Patrick Surtain, offensive guard Quinn Meinerz and punt returner Marvin Mims. And they also had two selected to the second team in defensive tackle Zach Allen and edge rusher Nik Bonitto.”
Bad Sign for Josh Allen
Though Allen went into this week as the odds-on favorite to win his first league MVP award, those odds shifted sharply after the All-Pro list was announced. Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson earned 30 of the 50 first-place All-Pro votes to Allen’s 18. The media members selecting the All-Pro list are the same ones who vote on the league MVP award, which has now put Jackson in the lead to win what would be his third MVP trophy.
There are still some making the case for Allen. Longtime NFL reporter Peter King said he believes the Bills quarterback should not be about stats — Jackson leads Allen in most statistical categories this year — but instead about their importance to their teams.
“In my Top 3 this year, it’ll be Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson and Patrick Mahomes, period,” King said in an appearance on the Ross Tucker Football Podcast. “Because you shouldn’t make this an award about stats or who had the best statistical year. It’s not the Most Outstanding Player. It’s the Most Valuable Player.”
Allen has remained solely focused on the team’s Super Bowl aspirations, pushing aside questions about his status in the MVP race. When asked after the team’s Week 17 win over the New York Jets whether he believes his performance wrapped up an MVP award, Allen delivered a blunt response.
“I don’t really care about that,” Allen replied.
