Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen (17) reacts after throwing a touchdown pass in the first half of an NFL football game against the Miami Dolphins, Sunday, Jan. 3, 2021, in Orchard Park, N.Y. (AP Photo/Adrian Kraus)

By JOHN WAWROW AP Sports Writer

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — Micah Hyde still remembers the pitch then-first-year Bills coach Sean McDermott delivered in helping convince the free agent safety to sign with Buffalo in 2017.

“He said, `We’re going to have a home playoff game. And we want to be walking into our stadium, going through the tunnel and listen to the salt crack underneath your shoes,’” Hyde recalled this week. “So that vision that we had since ‘17 has come true.”

Though snow isn’t in the forecast, leaving no need to lay down salt, Bills Stadium will be crackling nonetheless on Saturday — and with a limited number of fans in attendance, too. The Bills (13-3), AFC East champs for the first time in 25 years, will host their first playoff game in 24 years by facing the seventh-seeded Indianapolis Colts (11-5).

Much has changed since McDermott’s arrival and GM Brandon Beane’s hiring in transforming a franchise known mostly for losing over a 17-year playoff drought.

In making their third playoff appearance in four years, the Bills have returned to relevance for the first time since their Jim Kelly 1990s heyday, when Buffalo was a postseason fixture during a run that included four straight Super Bowl appearances, all losses.

Adding to the throwback theme will be the presence of Colts coach Frank Reich, who spent eight of his nine years in Buffalo as Kelly’s backup.