Bills’ ‘special trait’ has them feeling ready for just about any situation in playoffs
The ups and the downs have taught the Bills a lot over the years.
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The Bills have been through a lot this season and in years prior. Mike Carlson / Getty Images
Tre’Davious White sat at his locker in EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, less than half an hour after making the game-clinching play to send the Buffalo Bills back to the AFC Divisional Round for a sixth straight season.
White was reflecting on his own journey, but another thing came to mind about the Bills’ team at large following their last-minute victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars. He made it a point to bring up a prior conversation about a less tangible part of their team.
“Like I told you last week,” White began on Sunday, in what has proven to be quite a prescient conversation ahead of the Jaguars game. “We’ve been up by 20, down by 20 and been in these close games, so we’re ready for whatever that comes. That’s what makes this team so special. Like we’re ready for any situation and we always believe that we can win no matter the situation. That’s special, that’s a special trait to have as a team.”
It’s been a permeating piece of the Bills’ 2025 puzzle since the year has started to take shape. Some may call it resiliency, but it goes deeper than that in this version of the Bills.
If there is one defining characteristic of the 2025 Bills, and the core “identity” that head coach Sean McDermott is searching for every year, it’s that these Bills have a way of riding the wave of emotions that some of their in-game big moments present without it impacting their real-time responses.
“That’s what I appreciate about this place so much, is that the moment can never be too big because of the way we approach things and the process behind it,” said left guard David Edwards, who has been with the Bills since 2023. “I really feel strongly that we’re suited for big moments because we’ve treated all these things the same and had a great approach and a consistent message, and so that when you get into a situation, the moment isn’t too big, you’ve already prepared for it.”
By this point, the examples throughout the season are pretty remarkable.
In Week 1, the Bills came back from a 15-point deficit against the Baltimore Ravens with only 11:42 to play to win by one.
In Week 4, the then-winless New Orleans Saints were on the doorstep of taking the lead in the first half, only for Cole Bishop to steal a touchdown with a one-handed interception to propel the Bills toward a victory.
In Week 11, the Bills surrendered the lead to the Buccaneers with only 13:38 to play, only to fire back and win by 12.
In Week 13, the Bills shook off an almost scoreless first half to come back and bury the Pittsburgh Steelers on the road in blowout fashion.
In Week 14 against the Cincinnati Bengals, they erased a 10-point deficit with only 8:44 left to play, then built an 11-point lead 5 minutes later en route to a win.
In Week 15, the Bills were completely outplayed by the New England Patriots in the first half, and at one point were down 21-0 on the road. The Bills outscored the Patriots 35-10 the rest of the way, punched in the game-winning score with 6:48 to play and kept the Patriots at bay the rest of the way.
And those are just the impressive ones without mentioning a more full-game effort against some of their other opponents. Outside of their Week 10 loss in Miami, even in games they’ve lost, there hasn’t been an overwhelming multiplier effect.
Tre’Davious White said all of the Bills’ tough moments have served as lessons.Mark Konezny / Imagn Images
The Bills had a legitimate chance to win or mount a comeback in each of their other four regular-season losses, against the Patriots, Atlanta Falcons, Houston Texans and Philadelphia Eagles.
But it goes far deeper than just what has transpired this season. While yes, it’s the Bills’ identity, that mentality has to come from somewhere.
And that may be as a learned response from the scars of their past playoff exits.
“I mean, anytime you go through things, you learn from it, right? And I just feel like with our team, over the years, we’ve been through so much,” White said. “Just losing 13 seconds, coming back, you know, going to AFC Championship games. Like, it’s a lot. And I think that all those things that we’ve been through, I just felt like it’s the lessons, if we look at them as such.”
Therein lies the rub. Those soul-ripping losses in the so-close-you-can-taste-it moments can trigger one of two responses. Either it serves as a feeling of dread that can impact the entire organization moving forward, or a team and individual players can learn from those moments as a collective and channel them into something productive for their future.
“I bear some of those scars from games that I’ve been in and been a part of … The right mindset is that, you know, it’s a new season, it’s a new year, and you just can’t let those thoughts creep in,” said defensive end A.J. Epenesa, who has been with the Bills since 2020. “Obviously, you remember what’s happened in the past, but you don’t lament on them.”
The Bills, as they’ve exhibited all season long, have proved through their actions that they haven’t allowed the ghosts of their collective past to direct their future.
“We do a good job of turning the page — even though it’s hard as hell, White said. “But we do a good job of turning the page and trying to fight for the next thing.”
Part of that may be in the shared experiences of the roster on the whole. Although White wasn’t there for their crushing AFC Championship Game loss to the Chiefs last year, he said he felt it just as hard, having been with the team from 2017 through 2023. He watched the contest from his game room at home and said he was “stressed like I was playing” because of how connected he felt to the Bills — despite having lost to them the week before as a member of the Baltimore Ravens.
Outside of the rookie class, White was one of a handful of notable free agent additions to an already veteran-heavy team that had been together for a while.
The Bills have really avoided a massive overhaul of their roster through each iteration of their playoff rosters over the years. Some have had more changes than others, but they’ve kept many of their staple members in place. Even by those standards, the 2024 to 2025 turnover has been minimal.
Joey Bosa, Shaq Thompson, Michael Hoecht, Joshua Palmer and Larry Ogunjobi were the only ‘new’ veteran additions, while the rest of the roster remained similar from last year to this year.
“I feel like it’s always a good thing when you have continuity. And then you’re able to build on things that you did in years previous,” Edwards said. “I think, too, any time you’re continuing to grow in friendships and relationships and the offensive huddle feels and looks the same. I feel like that serves you well because it’s just a tighter-knit group. And guys love and care about each other more. I really think that’s valuable on any team.”
“I’ve been places and seen and talked to people like they don’t hang out when the practice is over, meetings are over, everybody go their separate ways. But here, we hangin’ in the locker room,” White said. “I just think that that is a big plus for us when it comes to focusing in on the next thing and turning the page and also getting better.”
Those shared experiences and postseason experience can often be very cliché in the talk leading up to a game. But for a team like the Bills, which has the been-there-done-that mental capacity to process what is happening in real time and then to compartmentalize both the good and not-so-good from influencing what happens next, their version of experience can be extremely meaningful.
“It’s weird that your mentality flips when you get into this part of the year,” Edwards said. “You keep the process the same, the approach the same. It’s not bigger than it is. The moment is the moment, and you’re prepared for it.”
“I think just the consistency of taking every moment relative to the goal that we want to get to is important,” tight end Dawson Knox said. “Winning the first round of the playoffs is huge, because it gets you to where you want to go, but you’ve got to have that mindset of the job not being finished. So we’re not going to celebrate it as if we just won the Super Bowl. It’s just kind of a stepping stone to get to the goal we want to get to.”
Above all else, the Bills have kept things steady.
Quarterback Josh Allen is usually someone whose feelings after losses are all over his face. In fact, he couldn’t have ended his regular season on a worse note, with a chance to win and a wide-open receiver on a two-point conversion. His last throw of the 2025 regular season was a complete miss.
But yet, even after that play, and through all the other frustration points during the season, Allen hasn’t had that 100-mile stare at any point this year that we’ve seen in the past.
All Allen did against the Jaguars, on the biggest stage and under the brightest lights of the playoffs, was put together one of his best days of the season, on a day where the running game was close to non-existent.
It was a microcosm of what the 2025 Bills have been.
“I think it serves you well just because, in a lot of those situations we’re talking about, you’re losing, and you have to overcome that. How do you do that? You just do it one play, one drive at a time,” Edwards said. “There have been many times where things aren’t going your way. The scoreboard doesn’t matter. I just really think that serves you well as you get to the playoffs so nobody panics when they’re down in a game.”
If the Bills can push past their previous playoff ceilings, their ability to channel the moment and stay clear of the waves of emotions during a game will be a significant factor.
And in a year where the Bills might not have their most talented roster of the prior postseasons, that, along with Allen, may well be their most important advantage over the collective playoff inexperience of the other remaining AFC teams.