With Buffalo Bills as Super Bowl contenders yet again, QB Josh Allen trusts ‘God’s timing’
Nov 3, 2026Chances are you’ve heard this before: The Buffalo Bills look like Super Bowl contenders.
They boast a 6-1 record and currently hold a half-game lead over the Denver Broncos and Pittsburgh Steelers for the top spot in the AFC. It’s quite a familiar position for a team that has spent most of the last eight years at or near the top of the conference, accumulating five consecutive AFC East titles (2020-24) and making seven straight playoff appearances during that time.
The 2026-27 Bills seem destined to be right back there again, but this time, they hope to summit a mountain they haven’t yet been able to climb. They hope to advance to the Super Bowl.
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Much of the credit for Buffalo’s sustained success for the better part of a decade rests on the broad shoulders of quarterback Josh Allen. The 30-year-old Firebaugh, California, native transformed a once-middling franchise into a perennial powerhouse virtually overnight when he was drafted out of Wyoming with the No. 7 overall pick in 2018.
Just some Josh Allen highlights to brighten your day #BillsMafia pic.twitter.com/V8k9ylQt9Z
— Built in Buffalo (@BuiltInBuffalo_) April 17, 2022
The 6-foot-5, 237-pounder is the NFL’s all-time leader in rushing touchdowns by a quarterback (88), and he’s eclipsed 500 yards rushing in all but one of his professional seasons. Allen was also the 2024 NFL MVP. In his acceptance speech, he delivered a line that has become a catchphrase among Bills fans: “Be good. Do good. God bless, and go Bills.”
Through seven games this fall, Allen has thrown for 1,793 yards with 11 touchdowns and five interceptions. He’s added 270 yards and nine TDs on the ground.
In Sunday’s 36-10 drubbing of the Baltimore Ravens, Allen surpassed the franchise record for passing touchdowns set by Bills legend and Hall of Famer Jim Kelly, and he’s nearing Kelly’s franchise record for passing yards. In the postgame press conference, Allen was asked about the feat.
“To break the records, it’s cool but I understand it’s not just me,” he said. “There’s a lot of guys who have put a lot of work into this, that have helped me get to this spot right here, and I don’t take that for granted, to be the quarterback for the Buffalo Bills. … God’s placed me here for a reason, and I’m gonna continue to trust His plan.”
“God placed me here for a reason, and I’m gonna continue to trust his plan.”
Josh Allen on passing Jim Kelly for the most career passing touchdowns in #Bills history. #BillsMafia pic.twitter.com/cFqwBbBIE4
— Ian Mills (@IanMillsTV) November 1, 2026
The acclaim Allen receives for his exploits on the field is often matched by the criticism directed his way for not “winning the big one.” A Super Bowl championship — something Kelly was never able to accomplish — would cement Allen’s legacy as one of the greatest quarterbacks of his generation.
Living with such high expectations is a level of pressure that would crush many people, but Allen has been able to press on in the face of it. It appears he’s turning to God for the strength to endure. At the beginning of the 2025 season, Allen was asked again about the ever-more-glaring missing piece in his growing list of accolades.
“You have to continue to keep giving yourself chances,” he told ESPN. “I feel like one thing that I’ve for sure learned this last offseason is trusting in God’s timing. It’s never wrong, and when it’s meant to happen, it’ll happen, and you just gotta continue to keep putting yourselves in opportunities where it could happen.”
Before this season, Allen was asked in an interview with NFL Network how his thought process around chasing a Super Bowl has shifted in recent years. He admits football glory used to be the most important thing in his life, but getting married, having a daughter, and growing in his faith has changed all that.
“There’s going to be the ups and downs in life,” he said. “I’m a big proponent on, ‘It’ll happen when it happens.’ I’m gonna trust God’s timing when it does. Just gonna keep having fun and playing the game the way that I know how to play it.”
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One of the more impactful moments of Allen’s growth in faith was teammate Damar Hamlin‘s terrifying on-field cardiac arrest in January 2023 and subsequent recovery. Hamlin’s initial outlook was incredibly bleak in the hours after his collapse, but he continued to progress rapidly in the days and weeks that followed.
“God is good. He really is,” Allen told CBS Sports after Buffalo’s first game since the incident. “I just urge everybody to keep praying for [Hamlin].”
A few days later, Allen expanded on how God was at work in his heart amid the chaos.
“Kind of a spiritual awakening really for me, and I know for a lot of other people that maybe didn’t have the strongest belief, or wasn’t one of the biggest, strongest Christian followers,” Allen said on “Kyle Brandt’s Basement.” “To see what’s transpired here, it’s a crazy, crazy feeling. It’s something I’ve never felt before.
“… I’ve never been struck like that before from a play, from an experience, from an emotion. It’s never hit me that way before. And look, I’ll be the first to admit, I haven’t been the most devoted Christ-follower in my life, and I’ve had my different beliefs and thoughts and ideas and stuff like that, but something got hold of me there, and it was extremely powerful, [something] that I couldn’t deny.”
Allen said he went to church sometimes as a kid, but had gotten away from the practice as an adult.
“I can’t chalk [the experience with Hamlin] down to anything else but a Higher Power,” he told Kyle Brandt later. “Yeah, I’m extremely moved. I don’t really have the words to explain it.”
Allen has seen the power of God at work in Hamlin’s life, in the lives of his teammates and coaches, and in the lives of millions who followed the heart-wrenching story. Through it, he’s come to recognize that some things are simply more important than winning a Super Bowl, like trusting in God and His timing.
Now, as that truth sinks deeper into his soul by the grace of God, he can pursue a Super Bowl title with open hands rather than succumbing to the crippling pressure. He knows God is in control of all things, not him.
Allen will seek to inch his team a little closer to the Super Bowl in a “Monday Night Football” showdown against one of the NFC’s best teams, the Minnesota Vikings (6-1). Kickoff from Minneapolis is set for 8:15 p.m. ET.
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Falcons LB Kendal Daniels seals game with pick a week after leaving on stretcher: ‘Glory to God’
Oct 26, 2026The San Francisco 49ers fell from the dwindling ranks of unbeaten NFL teams on Sunday when they were clipped in Atlanta by the previously 2-4 Falcons, 29-20.
What makes the story even more notable is that Kendal Daniels, the Falcons rookie linebacker who helped seal the win with an interception of Niners QB Brock Purdy late in the fourth quarter, was lying motionless on a stretcher just one week ago.
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With Atlanta leading by six and the 49ers near midfield with just under three minutes to go in the game, Purdy fired a pass over the middle. Daniels rose up, deflected the pass, caught the ball, and scampered 29 yards the other way.
@AtlantaFalcons rookie Kendal Daniels gets his first career interception in the clutch
SFvsATL on FOX/FOX One
Stream on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/9BtAUNZQLm— NFL (@NFL) October 25, 2026
Following the interception, Atlanta would tack on a field goal to go ahead by two scores. On the ensuing possession, San Francisco fumbled in Falcons territory and Daniels hopped on the ball. Daniels’ interception was the first of his young NFL career, as was his fumble recovery. The 23-year-old also recorded a team-leading and career-high 11 combined tackles on the day.
All the while, Daniels wore the green dot on his helmet, given to the player receiving communications from the defensive coordinator and responsible for relaying the play calls to his teammates. That’s typically veteran linebacker Divine Deablo’s job, but he was out with an injury, so the tall task went to Daniels. The Falcons defense held San Fransisco, the league’s No. 1 scoring team, to a season-low 20 points.
Daniels — who has started all seven games of his NFL career, including on Sunday — looked no worse for the wear after his frightening injury seven days before.
In last week’s 31-23 loss to the Chicago Bears, Daniels stayed down after making an awkward tackle in the third quarter. As both teams gathered around him, he was loaded on a stretcher, carted off the field, and taken to a nearby hospital. Positive reports began to emerge about Daniels’ condition later in the day, and by the evening he was back with his team.
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“That’s remarkable, truly,” Falcons head coach Kevin Stefanski said Sunday in his postgame press conference. “What a great kid. We just gave him a game ball, and he deserves it, because what a week. What a seven days that was. Seven days ago, we’re in here talking about him being at the hospital and talking to his family and all the emotional stuff that he went through.
“And then, oh by the way, go play in a game against (49ers head coach) Kyle Shanahan and Brock Purdy and put the green dot on and call the defense. That’s unbelievable to just do that. And then, to make a play at the end? Man, really proud of that kid.”
In an on-field interview with a Falcons team reporter moments after Sunday’s game, Daniels said he was “blessed to be able to come back a week after a scary fall. Just all thanks, glory to God. He put me back out here, so all the plays I made today was Him.”
Later, he was asked what went into forcing his two game-clinching turnovers.
“God,” he said. “He put me in a position to make the plays.”
Daniels starred for Oklahoma State from 2021-24 before transferring to Oklahoma ahead of the 2025 campaign. Following a season in which he moved from safety to linebacker, Daniels was drafted in the fourth round by the Falcons in April’s NFL Draft.
The Beggs, Oklahoma, native continued to praise God in the locker room after Sunday’s victory.
“I’m blessed, man,” he told the media. “I just thanked God all week. … I was just sore all week, but I’ve played through worse pain than that. So, I knew God was telling me that I needed to play. He guided me to play this week and helped me and guided me to play well for my team.”
Later, Daniels thanked all those who prayed for him.
“The power of prayer is strong,” he said, “and I felt like the Atlanta Falcons fan base really took care of me and prayed for me.”
Daniels writes “Give It To God” with a praying hands emoji in his Instagram bio, and the young father has been known to express his gratitude to God in posts on the social media site.
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In a week that Daniels described as “the craziest week of my life,” he saw like never before the protective power of God on full display.
Daniels and the Falcons are now just a half-game out of first place in the NFC South with another divisional matchup up next. They will travel to take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-5) on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.
>> Do you know Christ personally? Learn how you can commit your life to Him. <<
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Ohio State football players lead 3rd annual ‘Invitation to Jesus’ event: ‘Give Him your heart’
Oct 21, 2026Fresh off of Saturday’s win over defending national champion Indiana, members of the Ohio State football team were back on campus Monday to spread the Gospel and participate in what has become an annual campus-wide worship night. “Fall Kickoff: an Invitation to Jesus” is now in its third year hosted by Ohio State players, and included worship, athletes sharing their testimonies, and ended with a mass baptism.
Nearly 1,000 people were in attendance and 35 baptisms took place, according to Mairin O’Brien, a former OSU swimmer who helped organize this year’s event.
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Current football players Beau Atkinson, T.J. Alford, Epi Sitanilei and Carson Hinzman were four of the six student-athletes who shared their testimonies, as field hockey player Katie Fichtner and dance team member Chloe Cerreto also spoke. Numerous athletes wore “Jesus Won” T-shirts.
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Former football players Gee Scott Jr., Master Teague and Kamryn Babb also spoke and have been leaders in keeping the event going since helping plan the inaugural event in 2024. That night drew nearly 2,000 people, and since then each subsequent event has brought a spotlight on Jesus around campus and the sports world at large.
Other former players like wide receiver Emeka Egbuka, running back TreVeyon Henderson, defensive back Caleb Downs and linebacker Sonny Styles have participated in previous years, but currently are busy with their respective NFL teams.
“Just for two hours, three hours, however [long] we’re here for, just put [all stressors] to the side,” Babb said, according to The Lantern, Ohio State’s independent student newspaper. “And I promise you, He wants to meet you. So if you just give Him your heart, you’ll be so surprised on what He can do.”
Hinzman, a fifth-year center, shared his testimony of growing up in rural western Wisconsin, where he regularly attended church with his family but couldn’t quite discern God’s meaning for his life. He didn’t play a snap as a freshman and started to contemplate if he should transfer elsewhere.
His father encouraged him to pray about it.
“I just cried and praised the Lord,” Hinzman told the crowd. “[I thought,] ‘I don’t know what to do anymore, I have no other way to go. I feel like I’m just an embarrassment. I feel like I can’t do this right.'”
Looking back, he can see how he was putting a lot of unnecessary pressure on himself thinking about people back home who he wanted to “do good for.”
“I felt that my validation came through what I did in my sport,” he said.
He eventually went on to earn a starting role and help lead the Buckeyes to the 2024-25 national championship, and he now has a more mature and tested faith to share with others. One student told The Lantern that it was the faith of the Ohio State football players that led her to attend school there.
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Ohio State’s 2024 event sparked a wave of similar events on college campuses across the country. Last month, nearly 400 people showed up to an athlete-led worship event at the University of Toledo, where 50 people were baptized. Last year at the University of Pittsburgh, athletes hosted an event called “Pitt for Jesus” that featured baptisms, live worship music, prayer and athlete testimonies. They hosted another event this year.
At Purdue, 13 athletes publicly professed their faith at a baptism night in November 2025. In May 2025, a “Worship on the Hill” event at Western Kentucky University led to 29 people getting baptized, then was followed up by an impromptu event the next day at which 26 more people from Conference USA softball teams got baptized ahead of the conference tournament.
Current NFL stars like C.J. Stroud and Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who regularly proclaim their faith in Christ, were eternally impacted while at Ohio State. That was largely because of teammates like Babb, Scott and Teague, who continue to pour into the athletes in Columbus, Ohio.
“Over the last couple years we’ve really seen the Lord start a revival on our team,” Egbuka said in 2024. That revival continues.
On the football field, Ohio State is 5-1 and ranked No. 3 in the most recent AP top-25 poll after beating Indiana. The Buckeyes have a bye this week and will play again Oct. 31 on the road against USC.
>> Do you know Christ personally? Learn how you can commit your life to Him. <<
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Baylor’s Faith & Sports Institute: A place and space for studying sports and Christianity
Oct 20, 2026In my role as director of the Faith & Sports Institute (FSI) at Baylor University’s Truett Seminary, I get to spend my time studying, thinking and teaching about the place of sports in our culture and in the Christian life.
And I can tell you: Sports seem to be having a moment right now.
True, our culture has been obsessed with sports for a long time. The ongoing popularity and interest are no surprise. But what is different is the range of people and organizations paying attention these days. Intellectuals, scholars and journalists who in the past might have dismissed sports as a trivial activity are singing its praises as a place of connection, community and human flourishing. At the same time, they are drawing attention to new challenges, including the rise of sports gambling, the professionalization of youth sports, and the changing landscape of college athletics.
This attention gives Christians a great opportunity both to celebrate the good gifts of sports and to speak to areas of brokenness. With FSI, that is exactly what we try to do. Housed at a seminary and embedded in a Christian research university with major college athletics, we bring scholars and students, coaches and athletes, and pastors and chaplains together to learn, grow and explore. Our aim is to provide a space to examine and rediscover the deeper Christian meaning and purpose behind the sports we play and watch.
Teaching and learning are at the heart of what we do. Our students get hands-on experience putting ministry into practice by connecting the Church, the classroom and the fields of competition.
Pat Bray, a recent graduate who now serves as assistant director of Ministry Integration with Baylor Athletics, had this to say about his experience as a FSI student:
“FSI really broke down my understanding of sport as an athlete and gave me a brand-new understanding of how I see sport, how I see God, how I see myself,” he said. “It really shaped me to be a better listener, somebody who cares deeply and who is also able to see God even through the difficulties and the frustrations in sports.”
Amanda Wiggins, a current student in our online MA in Theology and Sports Studies program, highlighted the way that FSI helps her as a sports chaplain and as a writer with The Christian Athlete.
“Every single class has offered a way to contextualize what I’m learning straight into my ministry experience,” she said. “So, now I can understand better the athlete experience and the coach experience to better serve them and bring the Gospel to those spaces, and to see people begin to flourish because of it.”
Are you interested in a seminary program focused on sports, theology, and ministry leadership?
Join us later this month for a virtual information session and Q&A. Learn more about our classes, student life, scholarship opportunities, and more! pic.twitter.com/DgywsQrY7C
— Faith & Sports Institute (@FaithSportsInst) October 9, 2026
True to Baylor’s mission, we reach beyond our campus. We serve and collaborate with sports ministries, churches, colleges, high schools and sports leagues. We also work to shape public conversation with award-winning scholarship and collaborative research.
One initiative we are especially excited to support is a grant that Baylor recently received from the John Templeton Foundation: Virtue on the Market: Navigating Character and Competition in the Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) Era of College Athletics. A team of scholars will be partnering with Baylor Athletics to study what character formation and holistic student-athlete development looks like in the age of NIL. It is a project that could only happen at a place like Baylor.
If you are interested in exploring and studying sports from a Christian perspective, we would love to hear from you. Check out our programs and offerings to see if something might be right for you.
Sports cannot fulfill our deepest longings or solve all of our social problems. But they do provide opportunities for Christian witness and service, and a cultural space where we can celebrate our God-given bodies even as we grow in virtue, strengthen bonds of community, and explore what it means to be human.
Learn more about ways you can learn, grow and collaborate with FSI.
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>> Do you know Christ personally? Learn how you can commit your life to Him. <<