The Buffalo Bills Ended Their 17-Year Playoff Drought And People Lost Their Minds

The Buffalo Bills qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 1999 on Sunday when they beat the Miami Dolphins on the road and then watched the Cincinnati Bengals win in a wild comeback over the Baltimore Ravens to knock them out of a playoff spot.

All the meaningful games happened at 4 p.m. on Sunday, which meant Bills fans watched Buffalo eek out a 22-16 win in Miami, then saw the dying moments of the Ravens/Bengals game. Cincinnati forced a Ravens punt and then went 90 yards for a touchdown with just over two minutes left, capped by a shocking Dalton throw to Tyler Boyd on 4th and 12 for a 49-yard touchdown in the final minute of the game.

It was a shocking finish to the regular season and one of euphoria for Bills fans, who have waited nearly two decades to see their team in the postseason. That meant a massive mess on Twitter as well. First of all, there’s the Bills team account begging for some help from the Bengals as the game came to a close.
https://twitter.com/buffalobills/status/947625145270718465

Here’s the touchdown that made it happen for the Bills and broke Ravens fan hearts. It’s really an astoundingly bad defensive play for Baltimore.

But it was cause for celebration for the Bills.

The scene in Miami was kind of amazing as well. Here’s the media waiting for the locker room to open, both players and media watching on screens as the Bengals staged a comeback.

https://twitter.com/mikerodak/status/947632115515928576

There are some amazing videos out there of Bills fans celebrating, but one of fans watching inside Hard Rock Stadium in Miami is tough to beat.

https://twitter.com/S_Whipple/status/947632255333257216

Every video of Bills fans is absolute joy.

And here’s what it looked like in the locker room when the Bills found out they were playoff-bound.

https://twitter.com/buffalobills/status/947635570162925568

It was an especially touching moment for Kyle Williams, who the Bills actually got a rushing touchdown on Sunday. Drafted by the Bills in 2006, he’d never made the playoffs until Sunday.

Look at how wild the playoff probabilities were as the late games went on.

The Bengals got a lot of mentions in a meaningless game for them, and they acknowledged what it meant to Bills fans after the game.

As one TSN staffer pointed out, this is a Twitter first as well.

And of course, the Tyler Boyd touchdown got the Titanic treatment.

https://twitter.com/AllaireMatt/status/947637264129150977

Some Bills players even had a special thank you for Andy Dalton.

Happy New Year, Bills fans.