Was that our easiest playoff loss to take?

[RobbRiddick]

It was easier in the sense that I fully expected it, even at 9-0. 

 

It was tough that we had to lose that way. I really wanted Josh to play well and make some incredible plays, but it obviously didn't happen. Not just him, pretty much everyone on the team.

[zow2]

True,  this playoff loss didn't sting quite as much.  For me, it's because the club exceeded my expectations just to get to the AFC Championship game.  I figured playoffs, yes, and hoping we would win a game.

Also, it was apparent to me (and many fans) midway through the 2nd Qtr and on that KC is a better team right now.  Maybe if there had been a play or two that i could say changed the entire outcome of the game i would be pissed.  But in my opinion, we lose that game 10 out of 10 times.. They were going to outscore us no matter what.  And they already beat us at home too.  So the Chiefs are better and I can admit that.  

 

Will we be back next year?  I dunno.  It's an easy thing to say to make us all feel better.  But getting back here will be hard. 

 

[BigPappy]

WTH are you talking about? Easier loss to take? They are professional competitors.... there is no such thing as an easy loss to take. As for fans, no loss is easy to take either, especially when you are talking about the conference championship game. 🙄 smh!

[Big Blitz]

No this was the toughest because we all know we could have won it.  

 

We ran into the best team of the last 10 years with a QB that could go down as one of the best ever.  

 

 

So to anyone that thinks "oh it would be awesome to have Lawrence in our division or Watson because rivalries or something..."

 

Yea um no f...ing way.  If I'm the Chargers I'm full on depressed.  

[US Egg]

A thread titled "Was that our easiest playoff loss to take?" started by someone calling themself "Success".

 

😆😂😆😂😆

Edited January 26, 2021 by I am the egg man

[H2o]

[UKBillFan]

The defat is acceptable, the manner of it not. It was a worrying shambles and I do fear what it means for us moving forward as we seem miles off the Chiefs. 
 

On the other hand... the Saints overturned the Bucs twice across the main season, one a blowout on their home patch. Come the play offs it was a different affair. That’s all I can hang on to at the moment.

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

Nah... easiest was ‘96 or ‘97 It was clear they were in decline and nobody want to endure another super bowl loss. 

Edited January 26, 2021 by Over 29 years of fanhood

[Another Fan]

I was okay with the loss in the sense that in my heart of hearts I didn't think the Bills were a Super Bowl caliber team...  yet.  And it's not like the team lost its window of opportunity.  Josh is still young and growing/improving along with Coach McDermott.  I mean geez how long did it take Andy Reid to get over the hump coaching wise.

 

Plus I'll admit I'm not sure how'd the Bills would have fared in a Super Bowl versus the Bucs.  I'd give the Bucs a 65/35 chance to win based on experience.  Losing to Tom Brady again this time in front of millions and millions of people would have been hard to digest 

 

[SoCal Deek]

The easiest was definitely the loss to the Jaguars 

 

We ended the draught and backed into the playoffs. Tyrod wasn’t taking them anywhere. I watched that game without a care in the world. Smiled from the opening kickoff to the final whistle

Edited January 26, 2021 by SoCal Deek

[DaggersEOD]

2 hours ago, Like A Mofo said:

I might be in the minority on this, but losing in the AFC Championship is worse then the Super Bowl. Now we have to hear all about KC vs TB for two weeks and we were close to being in Tampa, one game away. I can't listen to any of it.

I don’t know, I sort of see this loss as a bit of a saving grace. Losing to the Chiefs in their home sucks but understandable. 
 

If we somehow won, and didn’t beat Brady, that loss, 5th SB Loss in a row, scrapes open the old 4 loss in a row wound, and we’d never hear the end of it until we finally won one. 
 

This loss feels like a few that this team has had over the last few years and each preceded significant growth. 
 

Loss to Texans last year:
We played immature but on par for our play during the year. We weren’t ready. But we took that loss and the next playoff game, we played clean and won. With that win, we had the confidence to win a 2nd time and got to the AFCCG

 

Loss to AZ this year:

We played well but didn’t finish them off. They hung around and won on a miracle play. We crushed everyone from that point on until we lost in the AFCCG. 

 

Not as perfect, but NE this year:

Despite barely beating NE the 1st time, we learned and grew from it. The next time we played them, the bright lights were a bit dimmer and we handled our business like we’d been there before. Crushed them. 
 

Now the KC AFCCG:

The bright lights were a little too bright and like the loss to the Texans last year, we played tight and honestly, we were not ready. 
 

If the past predicts the future, I can see that this loss chalks up another milestone of “been there and now we know”. It won’t be a new experience for us next time and I feel like we will make the same level of improvements the Bills have made after each of their previous challenges. 

[Nextmanup]

The loss is actually getting harder to take the more it sinks in.

 

KC beat us because they are a better team up and down the roster on both sides of the ball.  They also have a better QB.  We were outclassed.  

 

If that game is replayed 4 more times, we lose 4 more times.  

 

It is going to be hard to tweak what we have now to end up better than KC.

 

I'm afraid this is their time and it's going to stay that way for a while.

 

Improving our team while not getting any worse at any position is going to be a tough challenge for Beane!  

 

 

 

 

3 hours ago, oldmanfan said:

Reminded me of the SB against the Skins.  The Skins were dominant that  year and it would have taken a heroic effort to win.  I’m sad we lost Sunday, but I tip my hat to the Chiefs.  They are really really good.

The game was similar to the Skins SB in Minneapolis in that we were outclassed in both games. 

 

 

[In Summary]

Wasn't near as bad as the Super Bowl losses.  Dallas losses were awful.  Then you have to consider the Ronnie Harmon drooped pass loss against Cleveland.

Edited January 26, 2021 by In Summary

[BillsFanSD]

I was over the KC game by the time I went to bed a few hours later.  We were beaten by a better team on both sides of the ball.  It sucks that we lost, but there was really nothing to agonize over.  There was no single player who stood out as an obvious scapegoat (Kelly, Allen last year against Houston) and no single play that might have changed the outcome if it had gone the other way (Wide Right, Homerun Throwback).  If we had played our A-game and everything had gone well for us, the final score would have been close but I'm not sure the outcome would have been.  KC was just firing on absolutely every cylinder.  

 

I'm still probably saltier about the playoff game against Miami where Reed got ejected than I am about this one.

 

Also, I'm older and wiser than I was during the SB era and I think I have a better sense of perspective now.  This team exceeded my preseason expectations by a pretty significant margin, and they have a very bright future in front of them.  

Edited January 26, 2021 by BillsFanSD

[Georgia Bill]

5 hours ago, TheFunPolice said:

KC is way better than they were last year. They are to the "regular season is boring" phase now. KC is going to be a problem for quite a while. 

 

We have a long, long way to go. But this season was an amazing ride!

 

 

Maybe they'll get so bored they'll lose a few games next year, and we can take the number one seed 😄

[John from Riverside]

To me it was the hardest

 

Literally one game away from the Super Bowl

[Eastport bills]

It was easy but the bar is now set very high. Fans and the sports world expect this team to win and even improve. More importantly the team expects to get further and be more competitive with KC

[The Jokeman]

I'm not as emotionally invested in sports as was in my youth (I'm 43) so yeah it was easier to take. Not to mention KC has been killing everyone the last two years. Yes we had chances but they outplayed us and we deserved the loss. For that I can accept the loss.

[TheBrownBear]

4 hours ago, All_Pro_Bills said:

 

What would have devastated me beyond recovery would have been advancing to the Super Bowl and getting beat by Brady one more time.  That guy just has our number or made a deal with the Devil to always beat the Bills.  I just couldn't bear to go through that so when Tampa beat Green Bat earlier the thought of that match up in two weeks was in my head.  

 

 

Can't say I disagree.  There's a part of me as well that's relieved we don't have to face the prospect of losing another game to Brady.  Now I can just enjoy the Chiefs kicking TB's teeth in.

[jkeerie]

It was hard from the standpoint of realizing how far away we truly are.  Going into this game, I did not have confidence in our defense despite how well it played vs the Ravens.  But we really only had to focus on one aspect of their offense...the running game.  The Chiefs have so many playmakers.  The hope was, though, that our offense could keep up.  The Chiefs D benefitted like our D vs the Ravens.  They only had to focus on one aspect...our passing game.  We were never a threat to run the ball.  They could pressure Josh all game and our O line was exposed.  Our coaching deficiencies were exposed as well.

 

The good news is that Beane and McDermott both realized and admitted to these deficiencies.  McD said today that it's not about adding a few pieces.  You rebuild every year.  But we now have a foundation on which to build.