I know many Bills fans still hold sore feelings about Doug Marrone, and possibly Marcell Dareus, but it’s hard not to get swept up in an underdog story like the ones going on in the NFL Playoffs this year.

Other teams have been more historically futile in recent years, like Cleveland, and we all know how long it had been since Buffalo made the playoffs. But averaging 3.5 wins over the previous six years, Jacksonville was never far behind when it came to NFL afterthoughts. All you need to understand the Jags’ status in the league before this season is to watch the NBC show “The Good Place,” a comedy set in the afterlife. When one Floridian character, Jason Mendoza, arrives in the titular Good Place and learns his fate, he asks “Did the Jacksonville Jaguars win the Super Bowl last year?” Ted Danson’s character, who runs the “good place,” first laughs him off.

“Oh, you’re serious. No,” Danson’s Michael says. “Will they ever win the Super Bowl?” a disappointed Jason replies.

“I can’t predict the future… but no,” Danson says with another chuckle. “They won’t.”

Since then, the show has sprinkled in silly Jags references, most especially to Jason’s favorite player, Blake Bortles.

Even in a victory, Bortles played like a punchline in Jacksonville’s wild card win over Buffalo, only able to extend drives with desperate rushes that looked more like failed plays. He started slowly against the Steelers on Sunday, but more importantly the Steelers could not stop running back Leonard Fournette and the combination of turnovers by Ben Roethlisberger and turnovers on downs helped the Jags pile up a 28-7 lead just before halftime. Ben and his spectacular receivers finally heated up and made it a 45-42 game, but the damage had already been done in the first half. As a result, we have an AFC Championship no one expected, with Marrone, Bortles and the Jags playing David against New England’s Goliath. I wouldn’t pick Jacksonville to win, but it has enough Bortles — great defense and a solid running game — to make this a compelling or at least watchable matchup.

In the NFC, we have two other franchises without a Super Bowl in their history, and two underdog quarterbacks. Philadelphia’s Nick Foles and Minnesota’s Case Keenum are 28 and 29 years old, resepctively, but both qualify as journeymen already, playing for nine different teams between them (counting multiple stops in Philly for Foles and St. Louis/Los Angeles for Keenum). Both started the year as backups. Heck, Keenum is Minnesota’s third option at QB dating back to Teddy Bridgewater’s gruesome knee injury. Bridgewater returned to the active roster earlier this season, and his replacement Sam Bradford did last week, but Keenum’s the one standing. He played too well this season to pull him and mess up Minnesota’s chemistry, and as great as receivers Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs are, Keenum has earned a chance to start next year, whether it be in Minnesota or elsewhere.

Keenum and Diggs produced the “wow” moment of the NFL season —and possibly the sports year — with a miraculous walk-off catch-and-run against the Saints. Naturally, rookie Saints safety Marcus Williams drew ridicule from fans for whiffing on tackling Diggs. At least Williams has his entire career ahead of him to make up for the mistake, but the same can’t be said for 39-year-old Drew Brees, second only to Tom Brady in defying age.

Minnesota could (or should) have lost Sunday, but it opened as a small road favorite against the Eagles, who embraced the underdog tag with German Shepherd masks after beating the defending NFC champion Falcons. The Vikings, Jags and Eagles all have good-to-great defenses and their quarterbacks make just enough plays to give them a chance.

The rise of three teams with limited and/or backup quarterbacks underscores to need for smart roster construction around them and good offensive coaching. Yes, Bills fans, even Marrone and offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett deserve some praise for keeping Jacksonville competent enough with Bortles.

From an aesthetic standpoint, would I rather see a final four of Brady, Roethlisberger, Brees and Aaron Rodgers? Sure. And I’d love to see some new blood in stars in the making like Carson Wentz or Deshaun Watson. And there’s no one who makes more astounding plays, seemingly by himself, than Russell Wilson. But no matter where you look, you see a compelling underdog rooting interest this weekend … as long as you aren’t looking in New England. Anyway, Bortles, Keenum and Foles are all that stands between the creeping inevitability of a sixth Patriots Super Bowl.