Let Josh Allen play the first snap.
That's what the Buffalo Bills did a season ago in Week 18. He was on the field for literally one play, and then he jogged off, never to be heard from again until the playoffs.
It extended Allen's consecutive games started streak, which is still alive entering Week 18 this season. So that would be fine. Allen takes the field, hands the ball off, hands the reins to Mitchell Trubisky and heals up for the playoffs.
But that doesn't seem to be the energy of what's coming out of Buffalo right now.
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Allen missed the first two days of practice this week. He's dealing with an injury to his right foot/ankle area.
He was back at practice Friday, though, and doesn't have an injury designation for Sunday's game against the New York Jets. Head coach Sean McDermott said Allen is "good to go."
McDermott is playing mum on Allen's actual playing time, and on the playing time for all of his other key players.
But a full game worth of Allen is much too long in this circumstance.
The absolute best the Bills can do, if the teams ahead of them in the wild card standings lose, is ascend from the 7-seed to the 5-seed. That would mean a playoff road trip to the winner of Baltimore/Pittsburgh, rather than a trip to the 2-seed (most likely Denver or New England).
No matter what, the Bills go on the road. And even in a win over the Jets, if the teams ahead of Buffalo win, they stay down in that No. 7 spot anyway.
Allen's health isn't worth risking for the potential to maybe move a seed or two while matchups above move around and aren't even in Buffalo's control anyway.
Even if he was fully healthy, not grimacing at all after a hit to his ankle area against the Eagles, it wouldn't be smart to play Allen in a relatively meaningless Week 18 game.
Now, with even a little pain lingering, Allen shouldn't be out there.
The Bills risk everything by playing Allen. They can beat the Jets with Mitchell Trubisky at quarterback. They're much less likely to beat the Broncos, or Patriots, or Ravens, or Steelers, or Jaguars, with Trubisky at QB.
The AFC is wide open. A path to the Super Bowl is there. The only way the Bills get there is if Allen is fully healthy and in peak form. It's not worth risking anything bad happening in Week 18 that could jeopardize a legitimate chance to win the Lombardi Trophy.
Frankly, that should be obvious. Hopefully it is for the Bills' coaching staff and decision-makers, because if it isn't, the outcome could be disastrous.
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