Rasul Douglas doesn’t want the Bills to get ahead of themselves.
After the Buffalo Bills clinched the AFC East division crown on Sunday night, they garnered their first critic, one of their own and former Super Bowl champion Rasul Douglas. Despite securing a 10-2 record, Douglas said via ESPN that he doesn’t see anything beneficial with winning the divisional crown.
“It’s like a participation trophy. OK, like now we [are] participating in something bigger, but it doesn’t mean nothing,” Douglas said. “You want some hardware, something that you can keep forever … the whole trophy or ring or something that you can be remembered forever with.”
Douglas makes an intriguing point, considering that the only AFC Championship Game the Bills went to in recent years was in 2020. Since then, they’ve disappointed, according to what their standards were.
However, they made a move that signaled the beginning of the end. Luckily for them, it’s been quite the opposite. Although the Bills traded Stefon Diggs to the Houston Texans, the team improved.
Quarterback Josh Allen has distributed the ball more freely to other receivers. The defense has taken a major step up as well. For instance, Buffalo has a top-10 offense and defense, with the No. 2 and No. 6 offense and defense in the league, respectively. While the Bills have a clear mindset heading into the rest of the season, Douglas doesn’t seem convinced.
In his sophomore season, Douglas won a Super Bowl with the Philadelphia Eagles. On the year, he had three interceptions and four pass deflections while playing in all 16 games. While the Eagles had an injured Carson Wentz, they went with backup Nick Foles and ultimately won the whole thing. They even beat Tom Brady in the biggest game of the year.
Douglas has been in Buffalo for the past two seasons. After experiencing last season’s playoff woes, he identified what the problem was. The Bills won the AFC East last season but didn’t even make it out of the divisional round. It marked the third-straight season that Buffalo lost in the divisional.
Regardless of his criticism, it’s likely out of a place of love. He understands what it takes to get to Super Bowl contention. Douglas has teammates on his side, as Allen dropped a truth bomb on the main objective for the rest of the season.
Although the regular season has been kind to the Bills, the playoffs could pose an interesting challenge. Even as they are gearing for the possible No. 1 seed, they have legitimate challengers.
The Kansas City Chiefs, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Baltimore Ravens all pose a serious threat to knock off the Bills in their respective quests for a Super Bowl. However, if Buffalo can stay on course with their regular-season dominance, it could translate into the playoffs.