Inside Taron Johnson’s game-changing play that lifted Bills to AFC title game

During the Bills’ bye week in 2017, assistant general manager Joe Schoen was busy out west. Imagine how glad Schoen was in the third quarter Saturday night when Johnson made the decisive play in the Bills’ 17-3 win over the Baltimore Ravens that sent the franchise to the AFC Championship Game for the first time since 1994. The Bills were slogging their way through a 6-10 season, and there was Johnson playing nickel back, the toughest position in McDermott’s defense, while dealing with constant pain. “He does so many things for this defense.” That’s why Johnson’s fellow defensive backs sprinted down the field with him on that interception, looking for somebody to block and ready to be the first ones to jump on him in celebration when he reached the end zone. It didn’t matter that the Bills’ juggernaut of an offense mustered only a single touchdown in this game or that Tyler Bass missed two field goals.