The bar is high to out compete the Pats, not insurmountable.
You know what bar is low? Make the playoffs once in 17 seasons. Gross incompetence is the key factor here. To try to explain it away, "The playoffs are hard! The Pats are too good! The AFC South!" is ridiculous.
There are 32 NFL teams, some of them have sucked hard for YEARS. But the Bills and the Bills alone hold the title of longest playoff drought almost ever.
The Browns play in one of the strongest divisions year in and year out. The Steelers and Ravens, along with the Bengals sprinkled in, are almost always playoff teams. Do they have the longest active drought streak? No.
Stop. The. Excuses. The Bills #1 problem is and always has been, THE BILLS.