After 53 years, the Buffalo Bills will host the New York Jets in their final home game at Highmark Stadium. The matchup brings things full circle as Buffalo’s first regular-season game in this arena was a 9-7 win over the Jets in 1973. As this era comes to an end, quarterback Josh Allen reflected on the memories and the heartfelt moments that have defined his time at Highmark Stadium.

“Yeah, it means a lot,” Josh Allen said in his recent press conference. “I know we got the red helmets out. Those are going to be pretty cool. I’ve obviously seen them in the locker room, and they’re really sweet. A lot of good memories in the stadium. But looking forward to making new ones as well.”

Josh Allen has been the driving force behind Buffalo’s success in the 21st century. With the 29-year-old leading the Bills, Buffalo has made the playoffs seven out of the eight times, barring his rookie season. Similarly, Allen also helped the Bills dethrone the New England Patriots as the AFC East juggernaut has won five-straight divisional titles until this season, as they sit second with an 11-5 record.

Looking at his individual numbers at Highmark Stadium, the 2024 MVP has been near unstoppable at home with a 49-15 record in the regular season and 7-2 in the playoffs. Through this winning record, Buffalo’s Superman has thrown 185 offensive touchdowns and 1,467 passes for 16,930 passing yards at home, including playoffs.

Furthermore, Josh Allen also had his historic perfect game at Highmark Stadium in 2021. Playing against the New England Patriots in the Wild Card game, Allen led the Bills to touchdowns on all seven of their offensive possessions, making it the first and only “perfect” offensive performance in NFL history. The 29-year-old ended with five touchdowns and a 157.6 passer rating en route to a 47-17 victory.

However, these individual accolades wouldn’t have been possible without Josh Allen’s head coach, Sean McDermott, who took the first steps in making the Buffalo Bills a powerhouse once again after close to two decades of disappointment.

Even McDermott is high on emotion about the upcoming game. “It’ll be emotional. That stadium has been really good to us, it really has. I know I’ll miss it.”

He added, “Being here nine years with my family, being able to experience almost the same type of memories is special.”

Hence, when asked about his time at Highmark Stadium, the Bills head coach also took a step back to reflect and spoke about how he plans to take in the electric atmosphere created by the Bills Mafia.

McDermott looks back at his successful tenure at Highmark Stadium

Before appointing Sean McDermott, the Buffalo Bills had failed to make the postseason across an 18-year streak. However everything changed in 2017 as they brought in the former Carolina Panthers defensive coordinator into a head coaching role. Since then, Buffalo has missed the playoffs just once and grown into perennial contenders throughout this phase.

Hence, reminiscing on these times, Sean McDermott shared about how he wants his soak in the magical atmosphere created by the diehard Bills fan base at Highmark Stadium.

“I mean, we want to make sure that we do things to our standard, the standard that we’ve set with our culture here,” McDermott said. “And try and find moments of gratitude through the day of the game, and experience looking around a little bit and being appreciative for always having the opportunity, but also the fans and the environment that have been so special here.”

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This support isn’t just a byproduct of his longevity, as McDermott has a dominant 55-19 record in the regular season at Highmark Stadium. Similarly, his defense has allowed an average of 19.6 points per game and forced 127 takeaways at home since 2017.

Now with one final matchup remaining at Highmark Stadium, the Bills Mafia would want to see Sean McDermott and Josh Allen put forth a strong and dominant performance to end this glorious chapter on a winning note.