The Buffalo Bills have not won the AFC East since 1995, when Jim Kelly was quarterback.
Well, Kelly believes that will change in 2020. The Pro Football Hall of Famer expects the Bills to not only contend, but also win, the AFC East this season.
“If they don’t, then something’s wrong,” Kelly said on The Zach Gelb Show. “Tom Brady is not there to block you anymore, so that, to me, is huge. I think Tom, of course is getting older, but he still can play. I tried to talk him into retirement two or three years ago, but he just wouldn’t listen to me. I don’t know why.”
Kelly was joking about that last part. Not the first part, though.
“Now that Brady’s not in it, I definitely do think the Bills are the team to beat,” he said. “The Jets are getting better; Miami with Tua coming in, they’re going to be better; and of course Belichick is going to have New England ready to play, so we’ll see what happens at the quarterback position in New England. But right now, there’s no doubt that the Bills are probably favored to win the AFC East, and if they don’t, then they must have some serious injuries because they have all the ingredients it takes to move on in the playoffs.”
The Bills need Josh Allen, who is entering his third season, to take another step forward. Last year, he completed 58.8 percent of his passes for 3,089 yards, 20 touchdowns and nine interceptions. He also ran for 510 yards and nine scores.
“I think he’s taken a big jump,” Kelly said. “I’m proud of the way he’s handled everything. His leadership is something I think the team was looking for and they finally got it – a quarterback to come in here and make it their team – and Josh has definitely shown that. I think the only thing he needs to work on – he’s such a great athlete that I think sometimes when he drops back and his first option is not there, he relies on his athletic ability to make a play when it’s not there right away. If he goes through his progressions more, I think he’ll find out that the bigger play might be there. The good thing about it is we have a quarterback who is an athlete, that can make big plays with their legs.
“But Josh is getting better,” Kelly continued. “I think that what we need to see from him probably a little bit is to complete some of those long passes. But i’m proud of him. I think he’s doing a great job. Hopefully he’ll take another step forward.”