It was heartbreak again for the Buffalo Bills, who never got to touch the ball in overtime in their loss to Kansas City.
But Garry Cobb thinks that loss could prove to be the jump off point to end so many years of misery in Upstate New York.
Cobb recently spoke with onlinecasino.ca and gave his thoughts about the state of the NFL for 2022.
What are your thoughts on the opening primetime game and the Buffalo Bills?
I have talked a lot about quarterbacks, and I think one of the guys people are talking about the most is Josh Allen. I ran into him at the Super Bowl last year, and I almost fainted! The guy is like 6-5, 6-6, and he looks like a big tight end or a defensive end, and he is a quarterback. He is big and strong, and we all know what a great arm he has got. They have a lot of weapons in Buffalo, so Josh Allen, and the Buffalo Bills, think this is their time.
I think this might be their time, because they came so close. They had that playoff game against Kansas City when they really didn’t get a chance to come back and match the score by the Chiefs in overtime. They really put a lot of pressure on the NFL to change the rule.
But Josh Allen, I think he is really the most impressive quarterback: his athleticism, his size, the strength of his arm. It looks like the guy can throw the ball the length of the field if he wanted to; he has that strong of an arm. He is a special player, so I am looking forward to seeing him, and to see whether he can step in here and shock some people. They have a team that is hungry to win. Sean McDermott was a coach with the Philadelphia Eagles, so I know him very well. He is very hungry to win, and he was not happy with the way things finished last year. They want to show everyone that they can win the whole thing.
Can any team in the AFC East challenge the Bills?
The New England Patriots started well last year, but they faded a bit. Patriots’ teams don’t normally do that at the end, but you had that young quarterback, Mac Jones, so you can kind of understand that. He was a rookie quarterback playing for them.
I think the division is going to come down to what they can do down in Miami. Can Tua (Tagovailoa), the quarterback of the Dolphins, can he be the quarterback everyone thought he was going to be? He was the fifth pick in the NFL Draft, but there are questions about him. He has some big-time weapons now, so Tua is going to be the key.
Miami has brought in some good defensive players, they have added some offensive weapons for Tua, and everyone is going to be watching to see if Tua can be the quarterback that they thought he was, when they drafted him number five.
He has that relationship with Jalen Hurts, in that both of them played at Alabama. Tua came in and took the starting job from Jalen, and played in that great championship game, when he came in at halftime and brought them back to win the championship. Then Jalen left and went to Oklahoma. We are going to see about Tua.
Everything is about these quarterbacks. He is going to be the key in Miami, but I really don’t think they are ready for Buffalo.
Who is the best team in the AFC conference, and who wins the conference title?
I am going to say Buffalo in the AFC. Not just because Josh Allen is a special player, or they added so much talent to their roster. Last year, they had a great secondary, but they didn’t have any pass rush. But they went out and got Von Miller: Von Miller can rush the passer. I think he is going to be a shot in the arm. They have added some other guys who are better pass rushers, and I think they are going to be able to get to the quarterback. And with Josh Allen, Stefon Diggs, they are going to score points.
And this might be the biggest thing: I think they are very hungry. They were a team that was in pain when they lost that AFC Divisional Game to Kansas CIty. They are hungry to go to the next level, so I expect Buffalo to be the team from the AFC. It is going to be tough over there, because Kansas CIty is still there, and there are so many other good teams that we have talked about. Cleveland is a good team with Deshaun Watson, Baltimore is a good team, Cincinnati was in the Super Bowl, the Colts we talked about, you have Tennessee who had the best record in the AFC last year, and they are going to be back. You look at the AFC West, all of those teams are going to be in the hunt.
So will we see an opening night rematch in the Super Bowl?
I might put the Bills as the favorites to win the Super Bowl: I probably would. Their organization is hungry, because they have been so close, and you can just see the trepidation they experienced when they lost last year. They have a lot of weapons, and the defense was already very good, then you add Von Miller. That is a pretty good addition to a defense if you need a pass rusher. If he doesn’t do anything but come in on second and third down and rush the passer, it changes their team, because you have to worry about him. They are going to score a lot of points. Josh Allen, I think he is a special quarterback. He would be my pick for MVP.
I think, with the way the season ended, they seemed to be the team that was hurting the most that they didn’t win. They usually say “Hungry dogs run faster.”
All of us at times, you are laying in bed thinking about things. I will tell you, the Bills were thinking about that coin flip. They were thinking they were the better team, and they have been thinking about it all offseason. And they have got the talent. If they didn’t have the talent, that is one situation. But they have so much talent. They probably have the best secondary in the NFL: they just needed to add a pass rush.
I think they are hungry, and I don’t think it is an accident that people are picking them. Who was the angriest team to have lost in the playoffs? It was probably Buffalo, because they were thinking they didn’t get a fair shot, and they are going to be back. A lot of times that drives you, and that is going to drive that team.