Logic

1. I am never team "the refs cost us the game". There are far too many plays, too many moments, and too many variables in a football game for it to ever be reasonable to say that the refs cost you a win with one or two decisions they made. 2. That 4th down spot was INDISPUTABLY an enormous moment in the game. As you say, there's no way to know what would have happened afterward, but the Bills were driving, up one, with a chance to go up by four, eight, or nine. Considering they lost the game by 3, any one of those scoring outcomes would have been huge. Momentum is also an undeniable factor, and that call undeniably swung it in the Chiefs' favor. 3. Chiefs fans like to point out the "Bills had the ball with 3 timeouts and 3 plus minutes left, down 3". But there's a decent to good chance that the Bills WOULDN'T have been down 3 in that moment had it not been for the blown 4th down spot earlier. The butterfly effect of one call in a football game is ultimately unknowable, but the entire remainder of the 4th quarter likely would've played out differently. The Bills may not have NEEDED to drive for points at the end if earlier play outcomes and been called differently. That's the point. It can simultaneously be (and, in the opinion of almost everyone, IS) true that: - The officials had several egregiously bad calls in a highly visible game, all of which favored the Chiefs, particularly in enormous, game-swinging moments, and it has soured a ton of NFL fans on the impartiality of the league. The Bills have reason to be upset. - The officials are ultimately not the reason the Bills lost the game -- or at least not the SOLE reason. The Bills, at various times, were outcoached, out-schemed, and out-executed, and at the end of the day, the Chiefs did what they needed to do to win, and the Bills did not. Our GM said as much in his end-of-season press conference. "Yes, the refs got those calls wrong, but no, that's not why we lost". Our HEAD COACH told the team prior to the game "we're not going to get the calls in this game, but we need to be able to play above it". They did NOT, ultimately, play above it, but the fact that the coach had to say that (and was right in saying it) speaks volumes. The NFL has an officiating problem, and it has overwhelmingly helped the Chiefs this season. The ONLY people who refuse to admit it are Chiefs fans. Everyone else -- from fans, to play-by-play guys, to former officials like Dean Blandino, to analysts and journalists, to media talking heads -- can see it, clear as day.

Good call. You're right. I forgot about the previous Carolina stint. I don't know that it changes my overall point about the non-surprising nature of his and Babich's being outcoached in big moments by far more tenured coaches, but...yeah. It's true. Decidedly NOT a rookie.

While I am as disappointed as everyone else in the outcome of the game... ...I continue to shake my head a little bit at how surprised everyone is that rookie offensive coordinator Joe Brady got outcoached in key moments by one of the greatest to ever coordinate defense in Steve Spagnuolo. Or how surprised everyone is that rookie defensive coordinator Bobby Babich got outcoached in big moments by first ballot Hall of Fame offensive mind Andy Reid. I'm not excusing it, by any means. But if the hypothesis is "our coordinators each got outcoached in big moments", well...yeah. Look at their respective experience levels as playcallers, and look at that of Steve Spagnuolo and Andy Reid.

90% of the replies in this thread are precisely as awful as I thought they'd be. There are, to quote a popular TV show, quite a lot of "fetid moppets" on this forum. I'm going back into hibernation. See you all in the lead-up to free agency.

Andy Reid and Steve Spagnuolo are arguably the best offensive and defensive playcallers in the NFL, respectively. One of them is a first ballot Hall of Famer, and the other has four Super Bowl rings as a defensive coordinator. The Bills, meanwhile, entered this game with a rookie OC and rookie DC. What, exactly, did you expect? Let's say, for the sake of argument, that it was ONLY the coaches to blame for the Bills losing. The players and front office are completely absolved, and it's all coaching. So...who in the league HAS been routinely out-coaching Reid and Spagnuolo? Do you wanna take a guess at which currently active coach has the most wins against the Mahomes/Reid Chiefs? What coach is walking through the doors of One Bills Drive that is going to outcoach Andy Reid and Steve Spagnuolo in next year's playoffs? I grant that somebody COULD, but there's no reasonable way to argue that said hypothetical person would have a better chance at doing it than, say, the guy who already HAS the most wins against the Mahomes/Reid Chiefs over the past five years. But with that hypothetical out of the way, I'm sticking with my assessment: If you think it was JUST coaching that lost the Bills this game, that's your prerogative. Me? I saw a lack of game-changing personnel on both sides of the ball, a lack of execution in big moments (including by our franchise QB), and yes, a failure of coaching at various key moments, too. Like I said: I view it as a total organizational loss. Beane needs to do better, McDermott (and Babich and Brady) need to do better, Josh needs to do better, the players need to do better. If you think it's as simple as "fire the coaching staff in bring in someone new", then I simply disagree. I think that isolating and blaming just ONE arm of the team (the coaching, in your case) is an overly simplistic defense mechanism, because it's much easier to say "this ONE thing cost us the game" than it is to say "our players didn't play well enough, our coaches didn't coach well enough, and our front office let us down by drafting three 1st rounders who didn't make a lick of difference in this game". It's much harder (though, in my opinion, more accurate) to observe that MULTIPLE aspects of the Buffalo Bills failed on Sunday.

Sure. Absolve the Jimmies and Joes and blame it all on the coaches. How did 1st rounders Kaiir Elam, Dalton Kincaid, and Greg Rousseau impact the game? How did 2nd rounder Keon Coleman impact the game? Meanwhile, how did the WR the Bills let the Chiefs trade up and take impact the game? In what way was coaching to blame for the multiple failed tush pushes? In what way was coaching to blame for Kincaid dropping the 4th down pass that lost the game? In what way was coaching to blame for some of the inaccurate passes Josh threw at various points in the game? The coaches were outcoached at key moments, yes. Reid and Spagnuolo are two of the best to ever do it, and Babich and Brady are rookie coordinators, so it's not terribly surprising. But to put the whole loss on coaching, and to thus completely absolve the players, the quarterback, and the personnel deficiencies is off the mark, IMO. Players failed, too. Josh failed at certain moments, too. Beane's team building (particularly the use of early round picks) deserves some blame, too. It's not as simple and one-dimensional as you're making it. It was a whole organizational failure, from team building, to coaching, to player execution.

He was excused for personal reasons and McDermott said he would be returning to the team by this afternoon or tomorrow. It was not related to the concussion. He is almost certainly in stage 4 and, barring any setbacks, is more likely than not to clear and play on Sunday.

Milano and Johnson good to go. Benford likely (though not certain) to clear protocol. YES!

Milano and Taron with NO injury designation! Benford more likely than not to play!

Yeah, my comment has more to do with the fact that situationally, trying to score and leave as little time as possible on the clock for the Chiefs should've been the primary goal there. In a hypothetical world where Allen completes that pass to Shakir for a TD, the Chiefs would've had a ton of time to march down field and kick the game winner. The idea of prioritizing the "move the chains" option over the TD has everything to do with the clock and the game situation. Alas, like you said, we've all already talked about it ad nauseum and there's no point further rehashing it. Play smart, mistake free football, GOOD SITUATIONAL FOOTBALL with an eye toward who your opponent is, and don't force anything silly unless you absolutely must.

I've seen a fair bit of "this is the week Brady and Josh open it up!" and "Time to unleash Josh" sentiments this week. Allow me to be the boring contrarian who says the opposite: I want to see Josh continue with his smart and efficient play and not feel like it's time to do anything crazy unless and until absolutely necessary. Last year, in fact, he was smart and efficient ALL GAME LONG...until the biggest moment of the game on the Bills' final offensive drive, at which time he eschewed a safe option that likely would have gone for first down yardage in favor of an end zone shot. It was almost certainly the wrong decision given the moment and all its variables. I seem to remember feeling like Spags challenged the Bills offense to be patient and smart the whole game long, and Josh answered the bell....UNTIL that play. In the biggest moment of the game, he reverted to "Favre says touchdowns!" and it cost them the game. So...be smart, Josh. Take what the defense gives you, play within yourself, and only pull on the Superman cape if you absolutely need to. James Cook, Ray Davis, and Ty Johnson FTW.

The Texans had a bad OL and lost Stefon Diggs and Tank Dell to injuries for the season. Started guys like Xavier Hutchinson and Jared Wayne at WR. So by all means, fire the OC. Weird.

Right. Agreed. So is Bishop. The only difference is that Bishop has more speed and athleticism than Rapp to be able to rotate deep after starting plays closer to the LOS. Granted, he's lacking the veteran awareness and savvy that Rapp has, but... In terms of skillset, play style, strengths and weaknesses...Bishop and Rapp aren't that different. It's that pesky "experience" thing that might bite Bishop in the butt, especially matching up against a wily HOF veteran like Travis Kelce.

To be fair, I watched Rapp get cooked deep for six on the very first drive against the Broncos. I don't think deep coverage is the strength of ANY of our safeties, Rapp included.

That's fine. We can agree to disagree that a team missing its WR1 isn't worth mentioning in terms of potential impact on a playoff game.

I don't think missing the best WR on your team can be discounted in terms of its impact on a game, even if he HAS been out all year. In other words: Who would you rather face this weekend, the Chiefs WITH Rashee Rice or the Chiefs WITHOUT Rashee Rice? Who do you think the Chiefs would rather face this weekend, the Bills WITH Khalil Shakir or the Bills WITHOUT Khalil Shakir? I get your point, but I disagree. Fair point. My counter argument to THAT would be that Rapp and Hamlin have both missed time this year, meaning Cam Lewis and Cole Bishop have both had to get meaningful snaps at safety. It isn't a brand new missing player, where his backup is being thrust into the starting lineup for the first time. I'd also argue that the dropoff from Rapp to Bishop/Lewis is much smaller than, say, the dropoff from Benford to Elam/Ingram, or Johnson to Lewis (as a nickel). But yeah...there's no way around it: Rapp being out for this game SUCKS.

Benford going into the weekend still limited and being listed as Questionable for the game was EXPECTED. He wasn't going to magically clear protocol today and come off the injury report. All indications are that he's in stage 4 of concussion protocol, and presuming there are no setbacks, I am cautiously optimistic that he will clear protocol and be active on Sunday. Milano and Taron appear to be good to go, which is ENORMOUS news. We may only be missing Taylor Rapp for this game. And while that's obviously not ideal, let's not forget that the Chiefs are missing their best wide receiver, Rashee Rice. Of those two players being out, I'd list Rice's absence as the biggest factor by far. So yes, it's frustrating that we'll be missing our starting SS. I'm sure the Chiefs are frustrated that they won't have their WR1. Injuries are a part of the NFL, and being down only potentially ONE player in the AFCCG counts as a health win overall, IMO.

Well.... Some moronic media talking head used the phrase "Allenhead" to describe Arrowhead stadium, and now the Chiefs players are viewing it and will certainly use it as added motivation. Remember how I talked about athletes doing whatever was necessary to manufacture a chip for their shoulders and convince themselves that no one believes in them? well...

Of the three injured players, Rapp is definitely the one we can most afford to be without. That being said, the deep speed of Worthy and Hollywood Brown makes the prospect of a rookie starting at safety a little bit scary.

Well...kind of, yes. While it's true that Bills fans donated to Dalton's charity after the Bengals won, it's because that Bengals win did something beneficial for the Bills. The point remains that Bills fans have yet to donate to another team's charity after losing to them. The closest so far was donating to Bass's charity after he missed that kick last year. Also, it being pointed out to me that Andrews is/was being donated to primarily/only because of Ravens fans sending him threats changes my original comment a little bit. Andrews donations notwithstanding, I still think the "donate to your charity after we beat you" act can come across as a little condescending/troll-ish at times, and I also reiterate that ANY MONEY DONATED TO ANY CHARITY FOR ANY REASON is always a good thing, no matter what.

I'm sure I'll get killed for this, but... Sometimes I feel like the Bills charity donation act is a bit of a troll job. Sort of a passive aggressive "rubbing it in". They only ever do it after a win, for instance. I don't remember Bills fans ever donating to another team after losing to them, though perhaps someone can correct me. ON THE OTHER HAND...no donation to worthy charitable causes are EVER a bad thing. So even IF it's a little bit passive aggressive or troll-y or whatever I or others may think, at the end of the day, those in need are receiving much needed financial contributions, and that's a win no matter how you look at it. Congrats on a great season, Ravens fan, and I'm sure we'll be meeting you again in the playoffs for many years to come.