Stefon Diggs channels inner LeBron James to send message to critics after Eagles loss
Stefon Diggs and the Buffalo Bills suffered a gut-wrenching 37-34 loss after overtime against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday.
That saw them drop to 6-6 for the year and are now 2.5 games behind the 8-3 Miami Dolphins in the race for the AFC East title. They are 10th in the AFC standings and need to climb to at least seventh to book a spot in the playoffs.
Fans and analysts have been critical of the Bills' up-and-down campaign this year. Already frustrated with the loss, Diggs couldn't ignore the noise and decided to respond to critics with the help of LeBron James. The veteran wide receiver posted a photo of the Lakers' star's iconic response to a question about critics enjoying his team's downfall.
James, who was part of the Miami Heat team that lost the 2011 NBA Finals, said in a post-game press conference:
"At the end of the day, all the people that was rooting on me to fail, they got to wake up tomorrow and have the same life that they had before they woke up today.
"They got the same personal problems they had today. And I'm gonna continue to live the way I want to live and continue to do the things that I wanna do with me and my family be happy with that."
He added:
"You know they can get a few days or a few months or whatever the case may be on being happy about not only myself but the Miami Heat not accomplishing their goal. But you know, they got to get back to the real world at some point."
Diggs using James' image from that memorable press conference was undoubtedly a jibe at the Bills' critics.
AFC Playoff Picture: Stefon Diggs and the Bills' mountain to climb
With Week 12 in the books, it's likely that Stefon Diggs and the Bills will be unable to knock the Dolphins off the top spot in the AFC East and will have to rely on a Wildcard spot to reach the playoffs. However, there's plenty of work to be done for Buffalo to seize a top-seven spot in the AFC.
The 7-4 Pittsburgh Steelers, 7-5 Cleveland Browns, 6-5 Indianapolis Colts, 6-5 Houston Texans and 6-5 Denver Broncos sit above them in the hunt for the Wildcard spots.
The 6-6 Bills need 3-4 wins in their final five games to be assured of a playoff berth. However, their schedule is rough. After their bye in Week 13, the Bills travel to Arrowhead Stadium in Week 14 to take on the Kansas City Chiefs before hosting the Dallas Cowboys at home in Week 15.
A trip to California to take on the Los Angeles Chargers awaits in Week 16, followed by divisional matchups against the New England Patriots at home and the Miami Dolphins away wraps up their regular season schedule.
Diggs and the Bills have a mountain to climb in the final six weeks of the season.