Success

Has anyone else just found themselves smiling more almost every day since the Hail Murray? Going on a run like that throughout November, December and most of January was absolutely joyful. I commented a few weeks ago that it made me dislike Pats fans even more for getting so much of that over the years. For us, it's hard for those of us who were there in the '90's to even remember what it felt like back then. It's certainly not the experience we're used to in the internet era, where most seasons were more defined by how far we could get before mathematics dictated that it was time to start looking at mock drafts. Fantastic season, and by no means a one-off.

For the old timers, this game was a lot like the team of the late '80's. Right on the cusp, but not quite there yet. Honestly, we'll probably look back & be grateful it played out this way. I don't think there is much doubt that the lights were just a tiny bit too bright for us last night - and if that's the case in the AFCCG, it would have been a 500 watt experience in the upcoming SB, especially against Brady. It's better to get to the championship in steps, in some ways.

I'm on the Levi bandwagon. He has been one of our most impactful defenders over the past month.

Good thread. I'm sure whatever I think is a few levels below Beane's thinking, but I don't think we're that far. Moss is a really good start, imo - it hurt us more than we think not to have him yesterday. He was starting to make a real impact, and he is so much better at the LOS than Singletary. I want so badly for Singletary to work out, but it might be time to move on, in whatever form that takes. He's becoming consistent at all the things you don't want consistency in - getting 2 yards on most carries, and making mistakes. That game could have been so different if he holds on to that ball. Keeping your eye on the ball until it's caught is a RB 101 kind of thing. I thought Yeldon was impressive last night in both the pass and run game, and it made me wonder why we didn't use him more all season. Where Singletary can't break the 1st tackle at the LOS, Yeldon consistently turned it into a few more yards. I think most of the offseason work & draft has to be defense this year - but if they like a back in the 1st couple of rounds, they should make that a priority.

I appreciate the sentiments, and I'm sure there is truth there. But that board was crazy yesterday. I saw some Bills fans going there to give general congrats, and they got obliterated, by almost every poster. I gathered reading the responses that many Bills fans, if that's what they were, talked too much smack there leading up to the game. But some clearly came back to eat crow, and got slammed. It was the ultimate sore winner situation. When you win a game like that, how hard is it to be gracious? I'm sure the internet isn't that indicative, and if I went to a Chiefs game, I'd probably have a great time tailgating. Most fans are just fans pretty much everywhere. I just found my visit to that board yesterday to be notable for how hostile it was. I found it unusual for a winning board after a game like that. And I did see a few of the antifreeze comments. Thanks for the translation on that.

I think we all knew we were a fairly one-dimensional team heading into yesterday. All year, we won by passing the ball - not by running, or with a strong defense. There were exceptions on the latter, particularly the Ravens game. But in general, that's who we were and are. I don't think you can win a Lombardi without being a more complete team. The blueprint for a good defensive team against us is fairly simple - limit Diggs, make them run, and you can beat them. Everyone knows what we need to shore up to get further, and I'm sure Beane will do just that.

Too many hot takes here - I think it's pretty obvious he was hurting this year. I love what that guy brings to the table, and you can't do much better for a #2 to line up across from Diggs when he's healthy.

I usually have a much stronger rooting interest in the Super Bowl (probably because the Pats are usually in it, and that's a no brainer). I pulled for the Chiefs last year, and really like Mahomes. But man, that fanbase seems pretty toxic. I know it's easy to generalize and there are always a "few bad apples," but the stuff I've seen on their board is unlike any other board I've visited. They went from Jets-fan mentality to Pats-fan mentality x10, in no time flat.

It's funny - the whole time the Pats were in charge, the AFCE was one of the worst divisions in football. Now, we're rising to the top...and it might be one of the strongest. I can see the Jets turning it around, and the Pats being right there if they get someone like Stafford.

No more than Reid was w/ BB when KC lost to the Pats in the AFCCG 2 years ago. Experience means something. I think the lights were a little too bright for McD and all of the Bills yesterday. But last year, they were a little too bright in the WC game - this year, it was the AFCCG. It's a progression (I won't say a process). Not that it's always linear in football, and it might be hard to get back to this game - but when we do, we'll be better for the experience of it. McD and Josh both seem to feed off of bad experiences, and use them as fuel.

I'm excited for the rematch w/ KC already. They'll be our measuring stick for the next few years. Every move Beane makes this offseason will probably have KC in mind.

I'm at the "working on silver linings" in my stages of grief: 1) Some fans will always put an asterisk next to this season regardless. I think that's ridiculous, but it's just a fact and that would have bugged me if we did end up w/ our 1st championship. 2) It would have been a long week of hearing the inflated narrative of "The Bills nightmare is waiting for them in the SB" and hearing about Brady's record against us and all that. 3) I would have to turn the volume down on any Brady interview where he would go through the generic and phony "Oh, Buffalo was always such a tough team to play, blah, blah, blah.... It's thin right now. But I'll keep working on it.

I wouldn't say that take is wrong. But I also think the gap between the Chiefs and Bills isn't nearly as stark as it appeared last night. One of the Chiefs players said something about the Bills being where the Chiefs were 2 years ago. I think that's accurate - the Bills are still putting their championship team together, and taking a few lumps along the way. Rome isn't built overnight, as they say. When they showed Beane last night, you could almost see his mind working through scenarios on where & how to improve the team and build them to beat KC.

Thanks, Shaw - really appreciate these reviews all season. I feel like a few plays might have made it a different game, particularly Singletary's big drop. But the bottom line is that they were just better. Everything seemed easy for them, and incredibly hard for us. As you mentioned, the Bills just seemed worn out at the end. We'll keep on keepin' on. Most fun season in decades, and a lot to look forward to.

It's the best way to think about it, and probably reality. The worst case scenario is what someone mentioned on another thread - Josh is Marino, and KC are Kelly's Bills, always keeping Marino and the Dolphins from that final step. I don't think that's the case, though. The gap between the teams isn't as stark as it looked last night. I think we'll get past that team, and it will feel that much sweeter when we do.

That's the kind of clip they show a year later, when the Bills take the next step and get past that team.

As good as our gameplan was against the Ravens, that's how bad our gameplan was last night. One pundit said last week that Reid coached the 1st game like he was aware that they'd face us down the line - and saved a lot of wrinkles. It felt like that. They were just better, all the way down the line - from the coaching, to QB, to defense, et al. It doesn't mean we're all of a sudden bad. Learning experience, and that's it.

The way people are talking, last night was some kind of verdict. Allen will never be in Mahomes' league. One QB had all kinds of time to throw, and open receivers to throw to. The other was under pressure all night, and his receivers were well covered.

Aren't you also criticizing him for holding the ball too long? Our receivers were covered all night. All night. At that point of the game, he had to try to thread needles, and he actually hit the WR - but it bounced off him and into an INT. You can't want him to get rid of the ball and be more aggressive, and then say "but don't throw into coverage."

At some point, the universe will either collapse on itself, or keep expanding until all of the stars die out and there is just darkness and cold. Really, when that happens - none of this will matter that much.

When I watched live (like all of us), they just showed Allen in the pocket, and it's easy to have a gut reaction of "just get rid of it!" and all that. But then they showed the replay from a different angle, and you could see what Allen was seeing - it was a real eye opener. Every time they did that, guys were just blanketed. No one was getting free. I'm still a little floored by how that part of the game played out. We haven't had many games like that - and I've seen Chiefs games where they didn't seem to cover quite at that level. Just one of those nights.

Wow! Has anyone been to ChiefsPlanet? It has to be a parody. We would never talk to opposing fans the way they're ripping some of the Bills fans going there to say congrats. The level of arrogance and "sore winning" is absolutely off the charts. I can't imagine we'd ever treat opposing fans that way here, unless they came to gloat or something. I'm totally gobsmacked - it's literally every reply on that board. Just the worst kind of trash I've seen.

Chiefs fans are talking like Allen is Suh or Burfict for throwing the ball in Jones' face. I mean, c'mon man. It's football. No one is getting hurt w/ that.

Here's the bottom line: if you tell me at the start of the year that we: - win 11 of our last 13 games, with one of the losses being a hail mary - sweep the Patriots - get Belichick to throw his phone - Allen would get to just under 70% in completions and be in the running for MVP - Diggs would lead the league in yards and catches - win the division - make the AFCCG I mean - that's a pretty good year. Only one team wins the whole thing. The Bills make great strides - we should be disappointed at the game tonight, but celebrate this season and how far we have come with unbridled gusto.

When did we become such a hot-take nation? Has it always been like that? Watching some of the pundits & checking twitter, you'd think Allen never had the season he did. I mean, only 1 team gets to win in the end.....