Rubes

One of the worst feelings as a fan is not necessarily the heartbreaking loss—though yes, that's pretty bad—it's when you experience the one loss during the season that signals to everyone that, once again, and definitively, the drafted QB, or head coach hire, or GM just isn't good enough to get the job done anymore. You know you're staring at yet another long-term QB project, or another head coach hire, or a new GM and rebuild, that's going to take years before you know again if they picked the right guys. After 17 straight years of that, I couldn't take it. I hated feeling that same sense of hopelessness and having to watch a years-long process start all over again. It sucks bad that we missed a golden opportunity this year, but with Allen and McBeane, I feel like we're just going to reload and give it another great shot next year, and for many years after. That's a pretty good feeling, all things considered.

If Josh Allen hadn't slipped on 4th down against the Titans, it would all have been ours.

What if Shoen insisted on getting Singletary (plus whatever) in return for Barkley, instead of Moss? How would you feel about that?

Never really thought seriously about investing in someone like Barkley, but you make some pretty good arguments there.

Did you see the acrobatics that Diggs needed to perform on the 2-point conversion? Terrible.

Shoen is already stealing our guys away. Will it become Buffalo East?

Clearly, he needs to work more on his accuracy issues.

It's true. I thought I wouldn't watch any replays or highlights from that game, but I've seen them popping up on Twitter and online, and the offensive scoring plays are really works of art. I held back my emotions for the entire KC game until that TD catch by Gabe at the end...I truly felt they had won it with that and I let out a scream so loud I almost passed out. Seeing it again wasn't as painful as I thought it would be.

...which I guess is just another way of saying we didn't outscore them.

Not totally disagreeing with you, but you could argue that one of Reid’s biggest blunders in the game was precisely that, taking the ball out of Mahomes hands on 3rd and 1 deep in our territory and running an incomprehensible option play that blew up in their faces. They ended up having to kick a FG instead of scoring a TD easily and taking command of that game.

True, but everyone has injuries and must deal with them. I'm sure the Chiefs would say they would have performed much better against our offense if Matthieu hadn't left the game so early.

Football seasons are so long, and so many crazy things can happen over the course of so many weeks and months. It's hard to imagine a team getting all the way from September to January without a rash of major injuries, or some controversy, or a stretch of terrible luck or poor play. All teams deal with it at some point in the year, and they all hope to come out the other side in position to make a deep run in the playoffs and who knows, maybe win it all. The sheer number of things that have to go your way to make it to the top is mind boggling. What's most disappointing about that game, and this season, is that the Bills were really set up for it at the right time. We had a real franchise QB, maybe the best in the league, playing like the superstar he seemed meant to be. We had a defense ranked #1 in several categories. We lost a couple of guys during the year, but for the playoffs we were about as healthy as we could hope for. And then the playoff games all fell out the way we needed so we could host the AFC Championship game at home. Overall, the team was peaking, and it was peaking at just the right time. This team was set up for a real shot at the big title, and it just feels like an incredible opportunity wasted in the most unfathomable, incomprehensible way. We had it right there in our hands, and watched it slip right through our fingers. Will we be able to get back to this position again, in strong position for a deep playoff run? I think so, but you never know—so many things will still have to go our way to get there, each year. I think they'll do it, but it's not likely to get any easier.

Feels like I've seen this thread somewhere...

Glad I'm not the only one who thought they should kick it out of the end zone. I started doubting myself afterward, of course, but I don't like the squib kick. As others have said, if someone nabs it early, they can fall on it and get decent field position. If not, then it has a tendency to outkick the coverage and they can get a decent return. The high kickoff to just in front of the end zone would be better, especially if it gives the coverage team time to get downfield and make the play. But I've seen too many blown coverages to make me comfortable with that. I felt like we could trust the defense to not allow that many yards in 13 seconds, but I guess I don't know *****.

This would be a great line in the GM's letter to the fans following his hire!

That right there is some A+ tweeting.

I'M A ***** CHICKEN WING!!!

I hadn't seen that, thanks! I was hoping that would be the case, even though visually I still really like the white shirts/blue pants.

Very cool to listen to those two, but man, Murphy is bad. Really bad.

Nope, never watched it. Never had any interest to hear more about the guy. But I suppose it wouldn’t surprise me that much if it was true.

Sometime in the second half on Saturday, I think it was Henry who dropped an easy reception. My wife (not a football fan) was watching next to me and said "oh, I feel so bad for him, don't you?" to which, of course, I immediately responded with "Nope." Not even a little.

The media? Belichick?? Who in their right mind would hire this guy? All he'd do is sit there, scowl, and give one word responses as a color commentator. He has all the personality of a mouldy, rotting vegetable.

This game will be tough to watch. Kelce and their other receivers will get their catches and yards, no doubt about it. It's going to be all about keeping them out of the end zone and forcing FGs and turnovers. I wish we could punish them the same as the Jets and Pats****, but that isn't going to happen. Just have to limit the damage as much as possible. Which, by the way, is probably going to be their approach to our offense as well.

The mobility he has for a man his size is just crazy. And he's strong, and has a mean streak. A lot to like about him, he just now needs to improve and refine his game.