| 2020 Buffalo Bills season | |
|---|---|
| Owner | Terry and Kim Pegula |
| General manager | Brandon Beane |
| Head coach | Sean McDermott |
| Home field | Bills Stadium |
| Results | |
| Record | 13–3 |
| Division place | 1st AFC East |
| Playoff finish | Won Wild Card Playoffs (vs. Colts) 27–24 Won Divisional Playoffs (vs. Ravens) 17–3 Lost AFC Championship (at Chiefs) 24–38 |
| Pro Bowlers | 5 |
| AP All-Pros | 5
|
| Uniform | |
 | |
The 2020 season was the Buffalo Bills' 61st as a franchise, 51st in the National Football League (NFL), the sixth full season under the ownership of Terry and Kim Pegula and fourth under the head coach/general manager tandem of Sean McDermott and Brandon Beane. After acquiring players such as Stefon Diggs, Mario Addison, and A. J. Klein during the offseason, the Bills offense, led by quarterback Josh Allen, took another step forward, scoring a franchise-record 501 points and leading the Bills to 13 wins in the regular season, and their first playoff wins and first AFC Championship appearance of the 21st century.
The Bills began the season strong with a 4–0 start, their first since 2008. Despite two straight losses afterwards, with both of their games during their losing streak postponed due to a COVID-19 outbreak within the Tennessee Titans' organization, the Bills won 9 of their final 10 games, with their only loss during that span being the "Hail Murray" game against the Arizona Cardinals, to finish on a six-game winning streak with a 13–3 record, improving on their 10–6 record from 2019 and tying the franchise record set in the Super Bowl seasons of 1990 and 1991.
In addition to returning to the playoffs for the third time in four years after previously going 17 consecutive seasons without a playoff appearance, the team won the AFC East division title for the first time since 1995 (during the Marv Levy/Jim Kelly era) after a 48–19 win over the Denver Broncos in Week 15, becoming only the second team other than the 2008 Miami Dolphins to win the division over the New England Patriots since 2002.[1] Not only did they sweep the Patriots for the first time since 1999, but the Bills swept their entire division for the first time in franchise history.[2] They also qualified for the playoffs in consecutive years for the first time since 1998 and 1999 (during the Wade Phillips/Doug Flutie era), which was also the last time the Bills had back-to-back double-digit-win seasons.
The #2 seed Bills began their playoff run in the Wild Card Round against the #7 seed Indianapolis Colts, winning 27–24 for their first playoff victory since 1995. After this, they defeated the #5 seed Baltimore Ravens 17–3 in the Divisional Round, advancing to their first AFC Championship Game since 1993, where they faced the #1 seed and defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs, who they coincidentally faced in their last AFC Championship Game appearance. The Bills would lose 38–24.[3]
- ^ Gaughan, Mark. "After 25 years, Bills finally are AFC East champs once again". The Buffalo News. Retrieved December 20, 2020.
- ^ "2020 Buffalo Bills Statistics & Players". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved February 11, 2021.
- ^ AFC Championship loss still on Bills' minds, Spectrum News 1, January 19, 2022