From the time Baltimore beat the Patriots on Sunday Night Football, I believed the Ravens were the best team in football — or at least the best in the AFC. In terms of the standings, Baltimore is the No. 1 seed at the moment in the conference. A one-score loss to the league’s elite, with a chance to tie the game on the final possession, is an encouraging sign for the Bills’ playoff hopes. If Josh Allen played anything better than awful in the first half and connected on even just one of the deep shots he took, Buffalo could have realistically won Sunday’s game.

Buffalo Bills coach Sean McDermott rejected the notion of a moral victory, saying after the game, “our mindset is to go win the football game and to win every game. … where we are now and the mindset of our organization is we expect to win, especially we expect to win these games late in the year. … There is no moral victories, but we have to learn from it and continue to grow as a football team and as an organization.” Still, whether he’ll admit it or not, Buffalo’s performance on Sunday was encouraging, given the opponent.

Next week, the Bills have a crucial game on the road against the Pittsburgh Steelers. After Pittsburgh’s victory over Arizona on Sunday coupled with the Bills’ loss to Baltimore, the Steelers are only one game back of Buffalo in the Wild Card race. Although that is a little deceiving because of the fact that the only other team in reach is Tennessee, and they have a matchup remaining with Houston, who has the same record. One of them has to lose, so because of that, Buffalo is still probably in the playoffs even with a loss to both Pittsburgh and New England the following week, as long as Buffalo beats the Jets in Week 17. Still, a win on Sunday night at Pittsburgh will take all doubt out of the equation.

The way the league’s playoff races are set up as of now, the Bills are still likely in the postseason. Because of that, it comes down to how they do once they get there. I’ll be honest, I don’t want to see another game like we saw two years ago against the Jacksonville Jaguars, where the only thing that kept the Bills from getting embarrassed was the fact that Blake Bortles was the opposing quarterback. I want to see the Bills actually have a chance to compete in the postseason, which is something I have never witnessed in my lifetime as a 25-year-old Bills fan.

Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen (17) looks to pass during the second half of an NFL football game against the Baltimore Ravens in Orchard Park, N.Y., Sunday, Dec. 8, 2019. (AP Photo/John Munson)

Buffalo has shown so many sides of itself this season. The Bills can be the team that blows out the Cowboys on the national stage and the team that plays with New England and Baltimore. But, they could also be the team that plays down to teams like the Jets, Giants, Dolphins and Bengals, and gets blown out at home by the Eagles. If Sunday’s game with Baltimore is a sign of things to come, I think Bills fans should be optimistic. We’ll see if I feel the same way after playing a third-string quarterback with stakes attached next Sunday night.

Twitter: @bradencarmen