When Bills quarterback Josh Allen takes the field for the AFC Championship Game in Kansas City, the franchise will have its best player having the best season of his career, trying to lead the organization back to the Super Bowl for the first time in 31 years.
Allen will poetically attempt to get them there against the very team that thwarted their attempt in the same game four years ago, and in the same building, no less.
However, a significant difference persists between that first AFC title game in the 2020 season and the one that will be played on Sunday night.
Allen's legitimacy as one of the best quarterbacks in the league is no longer in question. His bank of work over the years, with one unbelievable play after the other leading to sustained Bills success, has him universally among the league's elite.
And this year is an all-time one for Allen, who had his best professional season to date, with a chance to take home his first ever Most Valuable Player award on Feb. 6.
"It's electric. It's almost like guys react, and you're like, 'I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe he just did that,'" defensive end A.J. Epenesa said. "But he does it on such a consistent basis. It's like, do I really not believe it?"
Micah Hyde has had a different experience than most in the locker room -- a similar one to many reading. The longtime Bills player spent the first three months of the regular season in San Diego with his family as a Bills fan before returning to the team's practice squad in early December.
"S -- , all of 'em. That boy's a beast, I was like yelling at the TV," Hyde initially said when asked to pinpoint his favorite Allen moment. "Even though he's my teammate, my buddy and whatever, like, just to see him from where he was when he got here to where he is now. I'm like a proud uncle, because I'm just like, dude, it's amazing what he's able to do week in, week out."
It's to the point where, especially after big plays in games, Hyde's young son has a particular request.
"He always wants to be Josh Allen, especially when we're playing," Hyde said. "I'm like, what about 23?"
Allen has no shortage of memorable moments, mired in his MVP campaign from the 2024 regular season.
But the question is simple. Which of Allen's plays stood out to the players inside the Bills locker room who see his on-field antics daily?
The Athletic combed the Bills roster to find the answer.
Several players had a difficult time deciding on just one. Some brought up the 64-yard pinpoint throw to Keon Coleman against the Lions just before Allen got crushed by a defender. Others mentioned the cross-body, rolling to his right, 42-yard throw to running back Ray Davis against the Jets.
Allen hurdling a Cardinals defender into the end zone in Week 1, which seems like a decade ago at this point, also got some love.
But when pressed for a final answer, only two plays reigned supreme across the teammates who know Allen best.
The season had just cracked into December, and in true Buffalo fashion, the winter weather made itself known on a Sunday Night game against the 49ers. But it wasn't the type of snow game that crushed any hope of offense, more of an aesthetically pleasing one that accumulated just enough snow on the ground for the bright lights of Highmark Stadium to help make the snow glisten and the game pop in front of a national audience.
Up 21-3 in the middle of the third quarter, Allen and the Bills offense had a first-and-goal opportunity to blow the game wide open. What happened next was a play many tie directly to Allen's MVP candidacy.
DE Dawuane Smoot: "That's the best one I've ever seen. That was the only one I've ever seen ever be done."
Allen took the ball from under center and took a couple of steps back before sending a quick pass to his left to Amari Cooper. Cooper corralled it and was engulfed by three 49ers defenders, with his back to the end zone.
Right after the throw, Allen meandered toward Cooper's side. Most of the Bills players disengaged from their blocks and began walking, assuming the play was over.
Then, Cooper and Allen locked eyes. Cooper, who had all of 97 snaps with Allen heading into that game, saw the quarterback looking like he was ready. Cooper obliged and pitched it to Allen.
DE Greg Rousseau: "It was just out of nowhere with the whole lateral thing with Coop. It was just out of nowhere. Random. You didn't really expect it."
Smoot: "It was just one of them things like, you look at each other, and be like, we gonn' do this? Here, take it."
DB Cam Lewis: "You're not drawing that up. Like, that's just backyard football or playing with your brothers type of deal."
Allen corraled the ball at the nine-yard line. He immediately shed a tackle attempt. The quarterback went from almost a dead stop to turning on the jets with one thing in mind -- score.
Allen took a few running steps and saw two 49ers defenders bearing down on him. He began his launch point at the five-yard line, with his final step at the four.
Allen reached his inside arm toward the pylon, with his body fully extended. Bullseye. Allen's right arm pushed the ball into the pylon. Touchdown.
Smoot: "Just speechless. Your jaw dropped like, 'What just happened?' And I had a look at the replay. Like, that really just happened."
CB Christian Benford: "We were like, yo! And we was excited because that play was crazy."
Allen was credited with both the passing and receiving touchdown, with a special assist from Cooper. And the sideline snapshot of him diving, fully extended toward the pylon became synonymous with his MVP bid.
Fullback Reggie Gilliam took a few seconds to think about his response.
"I feel like the obvious answer is the Amari Cooper pitch back," Gilliam began, before proclaiming his actual choice. "The run against Kansas City to seal the game."
"The KC play. 4th-and-2. That one," cornerback Rasul Douglas said succinctly.
"My favorite play has to be the Chiefs fourth down," left guard David Edwards agreed. "And the reason is because the magnitude of the play itself, that kind of iced the game."
The Chiefs entered Highmark Stadium with a perfect 9-0 record. The Bills had the lead late, 23-21 with just over two minutes to go. With the ball on the Chiefs' 26-yard line, the Bills faced a 4th-and-2.
In their six meetings over the previous four seasons, the Bills had learned their lesson about what it takes to beat the Chiefs -- and it isn't kicking on fourth and short.
Hyde: "I said, 'That's what I'm talking about, Sean [McDermott]. That's what I'm talking about.' Great call from the jump. Even if we don't get it. That's how you got to be aggressive playing against a good team that you know, we've had success against in the regular season, obviously not the playoffs, but like, you got to take it to 'em. And so the first thing I thought was 'Good s -- , Sean.'"
Edwards: "Our mentality, my mentality at least, on 4th-and-2, I feel like we're always going to get it because we have [Allen]. And in that moment, I was like, we're either going to complete this pass, or he's going to find a way to scramble and get a first down. He gives you so much confidence as a player."
QB Mitchell Trubisky: "It kind of felt like a playoff atmosphere because we were going against the Chiefs, and it's like a 'gotta have it' situation. And I've got my headset on, so I know the play and I'm like, 'Oh, where's he gonna throw this ball on this one?'
Allen lined up in shotgun with receiver Khalil Shakir in the backfield to his left. Running back Ty Johnson was in motion. Allen pump-faked a quick pass to Johnson over in the left flat after taking the snap.
Most importantly, the Chiefs revealed man coverage as the Bills ran several crossing routes with their receivers. That coverage decision led to what came next, perhaps the most iconic play of the Bills 2024 regular season.
RT Spencer Brown: "The situation, who we're playing, and then just him seeing a crease and taking it right away instead of waiting for the play to develop. He just saw, 'I can get two yards,' and went to take off."
Hyde: "Josh gets the ball in his hands, 4th-and-2, he's gonna make a play. And he did. I'm thinking first down, cool."
Trubisky: "There was a great hole, and he got the first down. So I was like, all right, like, we got this."
C Connor McGovern: "I remember setting, and my guy was coming over the top running, and all of a sudden, I felt him break off. I let go because I didn't want the holding call. I see Josh run past. I was like, 'Oh, he's just gonna get the first down and probably get down.'"
McGovern: "I got taken out from the side, so I'm rolling (on the ground), and the next thing I know, he's at like the six-yard line about to score. I'm like, 'What just happened here?!'"
Hyde: "And he just kept going. Boom, boom, boom. Knocking off people, get to the end zone and you know, he's yelling and screaming."
Gilliam: "It was kind of like in the Steelers game of the playoffs last year, that long [52-yard touchdown] run he had. It's the same thing. You think he's just going to get what's necessary... no, like, he's a gamer. He's going all the way."
Edwards: "Usually, after a play, I follow the ball and try and carry through the whistle, try to pick up the guys. For whatever reason, I was like watching. And that play is just in my brain forever. It was almost like time slowed down when I was watching -- if that makes sense. I remember almost like I was a fan being like, 'Oh my gosh.'"
Hyde: "[My kids] were watching it with me. Kids screaming, running around. Yeah, we were all screaming. Kids are [singing] 'Hey-ey-ey-ey' and 'Let's go Buffalo' and doing all that type of stuff."
Epenesa: "Like they're scared of his pass so much, everybody's back there or whatever, he finds a seam and he runs it like for almost 30 yards in for the touchdown."
Gilliam: "We get doubted so much. So when he turns on that mode where he's like, 'I can't be stopped,' it's so much fun to watch."
Edwards: "One of those plays I'll never forget."
Highmark Stadium erupted. The Herculean effort put the Bills up 30-21 -- a two-possession game. And while the Chiefs still had a little over two minutes to mount a comeback, the writing was on the wall.
DT Jordan Phillips: "I felt like that was a defining moment for us, to be honest with you. Just because it was like, we were getting over the hump and he put it on his shoulders."
Gilliam: "When it gets down to like a crunch or clutch time like that, you know 17's going to take over."
In a way, it's fitting that the play of Allen's MVP-caliber campaign came against the team standing in their way this weekend. The rival franchises have remained entangled over the last five years, with another potential postseason classic on tap Sunday.
If Allen and the Bills finally get past the Chiefs in the postseason and into their first Super Bowl this century, there may be another moment to add to Allen's growing résumé. And, perhaps, the defining one of his career.