It was a long time coming.
Bills fans finally can break out some AFC East champions gear after their team Saturday clinched the division title for the first time since 1995.
The 48-19 victory over the Broncos snapped the 25-year drought, which was third longest in the NFL. Only Cleveland and Detroit have gone longer without winning a division. The Browns’ last title was in 1989, the Lions’ in 1993.
The last time the Bills won the AFC East, Jim Kelly was in his second to last NFL season, Microsoft had just released Windows 95, Jumanji and Toy Story were hit movies, and Weezer, Alanis Morissette and Janet Jackson were atop the pop music charts.
Sean McDermott is the 11th Bills head coach since the 1995 title. The Bills have had 22 starting quarterbacks, counting Jim Kelly, since 1995.
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The Bills were the No. 3 seed in 1995 and defeated Miami, 37-22, in the wild-card round of the playoffs. However, they lost the next week in Pittsburgh, 40-21. Bruce Smith was forced to miss the game due to a bad case of the flu, and Kelly missed part of the second half after sustaining a wicked hit from Pittsburgh linebacker Greg Lloyd.
That win over Miami is the last postseason victory in franchise history; the Bills are 0-6 since, with only one of those games having been played at home. The division title guarantees the Bills their first home playoff game since a 30-27 wild-card loss to Jacksonville on Dec. 28, 1996.
The Bills now have made the playoffs three times in four seasons under McDermott, an accomplishment equaled in Bills history only by Levy and Lou Saban.
Cleveland owns the longest postseason drought in the NFL, having last made the playoffs in 2002. But the Browns are in position to break that streak. The second-longest streak is held by Tampa Bay (since 2007), which also is in position to earn a playoff spot.
That would leave the New York Jets, winless at 0-13, with the longest drought, at 10 seasons, counting this year. The Jets’ last AFC East title was 2002.
