25 – It's not often that an NFL franchise that has not tasted much playoff success has a roster that is blessed with playoff experience. But for the Bills, who are making their second playoff appearance in three years, there is more than some might anticipate.
A total of 25 of the 53 players on the active roster have appeared in at least one playoff game in their career. That's better than 47 percent of the squad.
Though some of the names on the playoff experience list are obvious, like Jerry Hughes or Micah Hyde, who were on Buffalo's roster for the 2017 Wild Card game, the majority of players on the roster with postseason playing time on their resume got that experience somewhere else in the NFL.
Sixteen of those 25 players brought playoff game acumen with them from their previous clubs.
On the defensive line alone Corey Liuget, Star Lotulelei, Trent Murphy and Jordan Phillips all saw playoff action with their previous teams before signing with Buffalo as free agents.
Jon Feliciano, Mitch Morse, Ty Nsekhe and Quinton Spain all tasted playoff football before landing in Buffalo this past offseason.
It has helped to make the Bills roster a more seasoned and poised group as they prepare to make a playoff run beginning this weekend.
63.6% - It may have been part luck, partly weather-related and part good special teams play, but Buffalo's field goal defense was the best in the league this season. In a year where the average NFL field goal defense allowed a success rate of just over 81 percent (81.2), Bills opponents struggled mightily to put kicks between the uprights making just over 63 percent.
Opposing kickers had the yips from the start of the season with the Jets' Kaare Vedvik and the Giants' Aldrick Rosas missing their only attempts against the Bills. No one topped Tennessee's Cairo Santos who shanked three kicks and had another blocked in a seven-point loss to Buffalo. Dallas' Brett Maher had one blocked and missed another on Thanksgiving and fittingly, Vedvik's replacement in New York, Sam Ficken missed a pair of kicks this past Sunday.
Six of the 10 failed attempts by Buffalo's opponents came from 40-yards plus. The other four failures came from between 30 and 39 yards, with two of them getting blocked.
Other numbers to note
5 – This is the number of teams new to the postseason in 2019 after missing the playoffs a year ago. The five playoff teams this year who missed the 2018 playoffs are Buffalo, Green Bay, Minnesota, San Francisco and Tennessee.
Since 1990 – a streak of 30 consecutive seasons – at least four teams have qualified for the playoffs in every season that were not in the postseason the year before.
9 – The number of rushing touchdowns scored by Josh Allen, to lead the league among quarterbacks. Baltimore's Lamar Jackson and Houston's Deshaun Watson were tied for second with seven.
10 – The Bills' 10-win season is their first double-digit win campaign in the 21st century.
259 – Buffalo's total points allowed is their fewest since 1999, when the team allowed 229 (a club-record low for a 16-game season). Their 259 points allowed were the 10th fewest in franchise history.
3 x 100 – The Bills had three defensive players with at least 100 tackles this season. Tremaine Edmunds (115), Jordan Poyer (103) and Matt Milano (100) all reached the century mark in 2019. It's the first time in team history that's happened since the 2010 season (Paul Posluszny-151, Donte Whitner-138, Akin Ayodele-101).
32 – Buffalo's defense is known to have a "top down" philosophy. They structure their play-calling and defensive rules around not giving up big plays. That's why it's not surprising that the Bills permitted a league low 32 pass plays of 20 yards or more all season, an average of just two per game. The league average for 20-plus yard pass plays allowed is just shy of 50 (49.5).
34 – The number of punts by Corey Bojorquez that were downed inside the opponent's 20-yard line this season, a new team record (previous: 33 – John Kidd, 1985, Brian Moorman, 2006).
