Josh Allen must remain Superman for Bills after another season-ending wide receiver injury

Buffalo Bills thin at wide receiver, putting more strain on Josh Allen vs. Denver Broncos

The slew of wideout injuries leaves the Bills with three healthy receivers on the active roster — Khalil Shakir, Keon Coleman and Brandin Cooks. Seven-year veteran Mecole Hardman Jr. has postseason experience with the Kansas City Chiefs and is the most realistic potential practice squad call-up, while Stephen Gosnell and Kristian Wilkerson are other possibilities.

Shakir is by the far the best and Allen's most trusted remaining receiver. In Sunday's wild-card win, he caught all 12 of his targets for 82 yards. Shavers was valuable stretching the field, averaging 13.4 yards average depth of target during the regular season. Cooks, 32, has seven receptions for 159 yards over his past two games and is arguably the best deep threat going forward.

As for Coleman, ESPN's Bill Barnwell shared a crushing fact after it was revealed Shavers played the second half of the wild-card win with an ACL tear.

"The Bills played Tyrell Shavers with a torn ACL for more snaps in the second half than Keon Coleman with two intact ACLs," Barnwell quipped.

Coleman, a 2024 second-round pick (No. 33 overall), must be much more consistent to carve out a meaningful role.

But Buffalo can't count on that. What it can depend on, however, is Allen, who was the best quarterback of the wild-card round, completing 80 percent of his pass attempts for 273 yards and a touchdown while adding 33 rushing yards. He's gone six consecutive playoff games dating back to the 2024 wild-card without an interception, with the Bills averaging 28.2 points per game during that stretch.

The Broncos ranked No. 3 in scoring defense (18.3 points per game) and No. 2 in total defense (278.2 yards per game) in the regular season, giving Allen a challenging matchup without his full complement of weapons. However, of the remaining AFC quarterbacks, Allen is the only one who's shown an ability to put his team on his back and will it to victory.

With the Bills (12-5) thin at wide receiver, Allen must do it again on Saturday.