The four teams in NFL conference championship games pay their quarterbacks handsomely for the services of their right arms.
A combined $138.122 million to be exact.
And those quarterbacks used those arms frequently, just not to throw the ball. Washington’s Jayden Daniels was the lone winning quarterback to throw for more than 200 yards in the divisional round as running the ball — thought to be inefficient and outdated — as now back en vogue.
The last time the Buffalo Bills were in the AFC championship game, teams threw the ball to build a lead and ran it to kill the clock. Now offenses are simply building a lead and playing keepaway.
The NFL was an arms race, with teams scrambling to find a quarterback who could match throws with the likes of Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes, but now quarterbacks are used as part of the running game so they can bleed the clock and limit possessions for the opposing quarterback.
No team has thrown for 300 yards in a win over the first two rounds of the playoffs, but they are averaging 168.2 yards rushing and just 198.3 passing. Meanwhile, total offense for winning teams declined by more than 20 yards per game since last season and nearly 40 from 2022.
The Bills are at the forefront as they were out-gained 416-273 and had eight fewer plays of 15 yards or more. But they controlled the clock and didn’t commit a turnover, which is why they beat the Baltimore Ravens, 27-25.
“You want to do what helps you win the most,” Bills coach Sean McDermott said. “I think it’s just trying to create a good game plan week to week that’s going to give you the best chance to win and then adjusting over the course of the game based on how you’re being defended.”
The big question for the Bills was whether they could run on Baltimore’s defense. And if they couldn’t, how quickly would they bail? In the three games they lost this season with Josh Allen as the starter, running backs averaged seven carries in the first half, compared to 10 in wins.
Not only did the Bills establish the run against the Ravens, they were able to do it early in the game. Baltimore led the league in allowing 80.1 yards rushing per game and it gave up a season-high 147 against the Bills, including 87 in the first half.
The Bills have a unique mix in styles, where the right side of the line creates a lot of movement, while the left side is athletic enough to pull and cave in defenders with a head of steam.
On fourth and 2 on the first offensive possession, the Bills went with an empty formation to spread out the Baltimore defense. They called a designed run for Allen, as left tackle Dion Dawkins pulled to the right side and cleaned out linebacker Malik Harrison — a 60-pound mismatch — Allen ran through the hole for 7 yards.
In the second quarter, right guard O’Cyrus Torrence was able to wall off defensive tackle Travis Jones, while right tackle Spencer Brown and Dawson Knox got a double-team on defensive end Broderick Washington.
Because guard Alec Anderson was lined up outside of Knox as a sixth offensive lineman, Baltimore’s All-Pro linebacker Roquan Smith thinks the ball is going outside of the tackles and doesn’t fill the hole, allowing Brown to come off the double-team and take out Smith so Ray Davis could dart through the hole for 16 yards, the longest run of the game.
“I think we definitely came out with a chance to put the team on our back up front,” Torrence told GNN Sports. “It was just a mindset thing. We didn’t like how we played (Baltimore) the first time around. We just knew that if we played better, it didn’t guarantee a win, but it definitely gives us a better chance.”
The next test isn’t much easier, especially since the Bills have struggled to run the ball against the Chiefs. In the eight meetings with Kansas City since 2020, the Bills have averaged 121.5 yards rushing and nearly half came from Allen.
Running backs have averaged 3.8 yards per carry against the Chiefs in those games, with the outlier being last season’s AFC divisional loss when the Bills ran for 182 yards. In three games with Joe Brady calling plays, the Bills are averaging 134.7 yards on the ground, with 53 coming from Allen.
The Week 11 matchup won by the Bills 30-21 was one of their toughest games on the ground this season. Allen accounted for 55 of the team’s 104 yards and 26 came on the game-sealing touchdown run, while the running backs mustered 49 yards on 2.6 yards per attempt.
But after allowing 100 yards just four times in the first 12 games, the Chiefs have surrendered 146.4 over the last five.
“They have the best defensive player in football, Chris Jones,” Brady said. “He’s as dynamic as they come. They have 11 guys that play together as a defense and all understand their scheme and they’re really well-coached. When you got really good players and really good scheme and coaching, it makes it really hard.”
NOTES: CB Christian Benford is in concussion protocol and after sustaining a head injury late in the game. … S Taylor Rapp (hip) is day to day.