In some ways, this is worse than the drought in my opinion

[corta765]

This is actually a complex convo. Losing this close to the SB or in the past in four straight SBs is pain and anguish to a level that’s unmatched. It’s why when people bring the Browns and Lions up for fan pain they don’t get it because they haven’t went through this, it’s legit different emotional pain that makes getting out of bed the next day tiring. It’s the pinnacle of your sport, your that close only to then immediately be that far away. The opportunity is not endless which only makes it worse. Viking fans get it as they’ve not only lost 4 straight but their NFC title game losses since have been Hannibal Lector level f*cked up. The BUT in this though is your team when your this good gives you a ride every few years and the hope and vibes attached really are something you can mix. It’s why the fall hurts so much more.

 

The drought is irrelevance. Whatever bad happens does happen. You become irrelevant where you live the entire offseason hoping and buying every headline or story that favors hope only for reality to come swift and hard that no your team is trash. On the flipside your seasons over weeks before the season ends and you never get that fall that having a good season gives if it ends without a ring. If your 3-6 come November it sucks but your weekends become more free you can move on to other stuff and honestly the playoffs as a whole are more enjoyable because there is no let down. Yea the Browns are a laughing stock but it just becomes a passing joke and you move on. 

The drought was more frustrating because you lost more regularly and the irrelevance piece just sinks you as a fan thinking you matter in the league landscape. But the pain is less and the outcome is already determined. So yes the drought is easier to handle.

 

Yesterday adds to the legacy of truly painful fan moments that we have as Bills fans. It’s worse because Josh is half through his prime and the scorecard is zero. We waited for the franchise guy, he’s here, and the end result is zero with absolute heart wrenching painful finishes for years now. It’s worse because I’m 36 and I legitimately fear if the Bills don’t make it with Josh, the only  SBs that my team made in my lifetime, the pageantry, the buildup, hell the failure even; would have happened when I was 2-3-4-5. I don’t remember any of them. Lord knows how many others feel like that OR did live and see four straight and want one more dance before their clock rings like my dad who is 69 in April. The years aren’t limitless and the opportunities are only so few. Hope is brutal because if you feel like you have hope it can give a relentless energy like anything is possible. But once it’s gone, seasons toast it’s as dark as night. Drought days had little hope so while irrelevant and sucky it was easier, right now is the dream but the reality that comes when the dream fails is a nightmare that’s repeating for years now.

[zow2]

Orlovsky did say today that the Bills are the most haunted franchise and Allen the most haunted QB in league history.

[transplantbillsfan]

14 minutes ago, Kelly to Allen said:

 

Josh Allen is a tragic hero right now dude. 

 

The buffalo bills are film noir and it's going to get worse with Beane and McDermott. They're forever defined by 13 seconds and it's just time to move on. 

 

Everyone doubting that is just a cope 

 

We've all seen this story. It's going to get worse and id rather make the changes now while Allen enters his prime 

 

Ummm... how can it get worse?

 

Are people forgetting that EVERYONE on this message board would have almost certainly been happy with getting back to the AFC Championship game this season based on our roster?

 

Did we just forget that???

[QCity]

16 hours ago, Einstein said:

- During the drought, we always had hope. The hope came from the idea that “Once we get our franchise QB, it will be our time”.

 

- Now that we have our franchise QB, and he is 7 years in, where should our hope come from? Hope that Spags gets a head-coaching job and leaves the Chiefs? Hope that our OC doesn’t run the same failing play five times? Hope that he doesn’t run the same 4th down beater that he has all  year? Hope that Beane finally starts nailing first round picks? Hope that he stops trading with our arch-nemesis and giving them players that will beat us in big games? Seriously - where should the hope come from?

 

- The goal is the Super Bowl. There are 30 failures every year. Some posters think the season was successful even without making it. My opinion on that doesn’t matter. Just look to Allen and McD. Did you see Josh Allen’s press conference? Do you think he thinks it was a successful season? Not a chance. He spoke all year about the goal. McD did too. I am a diehard Allen fan - watch almost everything he does. I have NEVER seen him that dejected. Ever. He barely spoke. The team knows the season was a failure. It doesn’t matter that we beat Miami in Week 3 or whatever.

 

- Some posters think we should be thankful for getting as far as we do and just enjoy the ride. I honestly respect those posters and that line of thinking. I WISH I could understand it. Unfortunately, no matter how hard I try, I can’t get there. If anything, getting closer to the SB but not making it is worse in my opinion. Yeah, the Bills have an opportunity every year to win 3 playoff games and get there … but if we never do it, we’ll the actual difference between the Jets and the Bills is simply a worse draft pick.

 

- How does one continue to get happy over the regular seasons triumphs, knowing that the postseason will bring yet another failure? Well, we typically turn to hope. But hope of what!?

 

I get where you're coming from, and agree on some things, but these years are in no way, shape, or form worse than the drought.

 

If anyone enjoys having no expectations and longs for the feeling that things can only get better, I encourage them to become a hockey fan and watch the Sabres.

 

 

Edited Tuesday at 04:25 AM by QCity

[Brianmoorman4jesus]

You wouldn’t trade these years for the drought years but these years hurt way worse. Use that information however you want in consideration of the OP. The pain is much worse but you wouldn’t want to be playing meaninglessness games. 2017/2019/2020 were the most fun years because there were no expectations. And winning was new and fun.  There’s not much joy here now it’s a lot of anxiety until heartbreak. There’s only 2 more games we can win to feel a sense of accomplishment and that’s a tight lie unfortunately 

[Kelly to Allen]

6 minutes ago, transplantbillsfan said:

 

Ummm... how can it get worse?

 

Are people forgetting that EVERYONE on this message board would have almost certainly been happy with getting back to the AFC Championship game this season based on our roster?

 

Did we just forget that???

 

Its going to get worse in the sense that everything runs its course. It eventually came to a head with the Warren Moon oilers. 

 

A big part of life is knowing when something has run it's course or when to walk away. That moment is now, it was probably after 13 seconds....

 

We need to close this chapter, put this book down and open up a new story around Allen. 

 

Similar to Dan Reeves and Elway and going to shanahan 

[corta765]

38 minutes ago, Kelly to Allen said:

 

Its going to get worse in the sense that everything runs its course. It eventually came to a head with the Warren Moon oilers. 

 

A big part of life is knowing when something has run it's course or when to walk away. That moment is now, it was probably after 13 seconds....

 

We need to close this chapter, put this book down and open up a new story around Allen. 

 

Similar to Dan Reeves and Elway and going to shanahan 

Really like this post but it is a difficult spot in terms of seeing McD let go. Pegula has smartly stayed the hell away and let the team be run by football people. This was supposed to be a reset year and they obviously blew past that but with greater heartbreak. They have some real resources to strengthen this new core and add some blue chip talent.  Outside of not making the playoffs idk if Pegula would fire McD even if the next two years they lose and come up short.

 

To me 2025 at this point is the make or break it year for McD and it shouldn’t be hard to move on if things don’t advance. But easier said then done and I just can’t see Terry moving off of the success outside of some major pressure W/L wise.

[Kelly to Allen]

3 minutes ago, corta765 said:

Really like this post but it is a difficult spot in terms of seeing McD let go. Pegula has smartly stayed the hell away and let the team be run by football people. This was supposed to be a reset year and they obviously blew past that but with greater heartbreak. They have some real resources to strengthen this new core and add some blue chip talent.  Outside of not making the playoffs idk if Pegula would fire McD even if the next two years they lose and come up short.

 

To me 2025 at this point is the make or break it year for McD and it shouldn’t be hard to move on if things don’t advance. But easier said then done and I just can’t see Terry moving off of the success outside of some major pressure W/L wise.

 

 

Terry won't move on until 2027 because things are too chaotic right now with a new stadium , obviously the health of his wife etc. he's not firing anyone anytime soon....

 

I personally would move on but yeah I generally agree with everything you said. 

 

 

Edited Tuesday at 05:11 AM by Kelly to Allen

[Buffalo Ballin]

I humbly disagree.

 

During the drought, there is nothing to cheer for. It was just the usual ho hum another loss, another season gone. We all got older...

 

I love the Josh Allen era. It's awesome. I'd rather know that we have an extreme high chance of getting to the playoffs. During the drought, we knew the season was over BEFORE IT EVEN STARTED.

[billieve420]

Drought years were multiple times worse. Being 7-9 regularly and failing to bottom out kept us stuck in years of mediocrity.

 

I will take losing in meaningful games versus being irrelevant any day.

[Brianmoorman4jesus]

1 hour ago, billieve420 said:

Drought years were multiple times worse. Being 7-9 regularly and failing to bottom out kept us stuck in years of mediocrity.

 

I will take losing in meaningful games versus being irrelevant any day.

If we had those 7-9 defenses right now, we’d probably have 2 championships 

[Pete]

22 hours ago, Einstein said:

- During the drought, we always had hope. The hope came from the idea that “Once we get our franchise QB, it will be our time”.

 

- Now that we have our franchise QB, and he is 7 years in, where should our hope come from? Hope that Spags gets a head-coaching job and leaves the Chiefs? Hope that our OC doesn’t run the same failing play five times? Hope that he doesn’t run the same 4th down beater that he has all  year? Hope that Beane finally starts nailing first round picks? Hope that he stops trading with our arch-nemesis and giving them players that will beat us in big games? Seriously - where should the hope come from?

 

- The goal is the Super Bowl. There are 30 failures every year. Some posters think the season was successful even without making it. My opinion on that doesn’t matter. Just look to Allen and McD. Did you see Josh Allen’s press conference? Do you think he thinks it was a successful season? Not a chance. He spoke all year about the goal. McD did too. I am a diehard Allen fan - watch almost everything he does. I have NEVER seen him that dejected. Ever. He barely spoke. The team knows the season was a failure. It doesn’t matter that we beat Miami in Week 3 or whatever.

 

- Some posters think we should be thankful for getting as far as we do and just enjoy the ride. I honestly respect those posters and that line of thinking. I WISH I could understand it. Unfortunately, no matter how hard I try, I can’t get there. If anything, getting closer to the SB but not making it is worse in my opinion. Yeah, the Bills have an opportunity every year to win 3 playoff games and get there … but if we never do it, we’ll the actual difference between the Jets and the Bills is simply a worse draft pick.

 

- How does one continue to get happy over the regular seasons triumphs, knowing that the postseason will bring yet another failure? Well, we typically turn to hope. But hope of what!?

I’m sure Jets fans are crying for you

[Bill from NYC]

23 hours ago, Einstein said:

 During the drought, we always had hope. The hope came from the idea that “Once we get our franchise QB, it will be our time”.

 

The above is where I strongly disagree. The teams during the drought could have had Tom Brady as QB and still would have sucked. Why? Because none of those teams had even a decent offensive line. How many good blockers can you name during the drought? Jonas Jennings? He was pretty good for a while and we lost him to free agency. Ruben Brown? He was very good but surrounded by bad players. Jason Peters? He was GREAT and we traded him. I am not going to bother naming them because the list is too long, but our OL consisted of some of the worst players in the NFL. So, who would they draft early? Running backs (with no blocking) and secondary. 

 

Today our OL is good, sometimes very good. They can hold off some great defenders, but it is hard trying to block Taylor Swift. The refs don't allow it. They showed fewer camera shots of her on Sunday. The league heard the grumbling that fans were thinking the games are fixed and got nervous. She still got the winning call on the fourth down and we lost. 

 

In summary, I would much rather watch the Bills now than during the drought, unless we are facing Taylor Swift. 

 

Btw, I am expecting a down on one knee marriage proposal on Super Bowl Sunday. You heard it here first. 

Edited Tuesday at 11:21 AM by Bill from NYC

[UKBillFan]

6 minutes ago, Bill from NYC said:

The above is where I strongly disagree. The teams during the drought could have had Tom Brady as QB and still would have sucked. Why? Because none of those teams had even a decent offensive line. How many good blockers can you name during the drought? Jonas Jennings? He was pretty good for a while and we lost him to free agency. Ruben Brown? He was very good but surrounded by bad players. Jason Peters? He was GREAT and we traded him. I am not going to bother naming them because the list is too long, but our OL consisted of some of the worst players in the NFL. So, who would they draft early? Running backs (with no blocking) and secondary. 

 

Today our OL is good, sometimes very good. They can hold off some great defenders, but it is hard trying to block Taylor Swift. The refs don't allow it. They showed fewer camera shots of her on Sunday. The league heard the grumbling that fans were thinking the games are fixed and got nervous. She still got the winning call on the fourth down and we lost. 

 

In summary, I would much rather watch the Bills now than during the drought, unless we are facing Taylor Swift. 

 

Btw, I am expecting a down on one knee marriage proposal on Super Bowl Sunday. You heard it here first. 

 

Beane mucked up again. Whilst the Chiefs were ahead of the game by choosing Taylor Swift for one of their players, he had to pick up the pieces with Hailee Steinfeld. Can never get it right.

[Pete]

7 minutes ago, UKBillFan said:

 

Beane mucked up again. Whilst the Chiefs were ahead of the game by choosing Taylor Swift for one of their players, he had to pick up the pieces with Hailee Steinfeld. Can never get it right.

The offense mucked it up again.  Ill take down 3, BIlls ball, 3:43 left, Josh, 3 timeouts, to go to the SuperBowl.  Sign me up 2025 for that situation.  Reverse the situation, and Mahomes gets it done.  Bills offense failed against the chefs in 2025 and 2024.  Thats a fact, Jack,

Last year the vast majority of Bills Mafia was on WR train, screaming for WRs for Josh.  Beane and Coleman failed us and Josh.  2025 BEANE GET JOSH WRS WHO CAN SEPARATE!!!!!!!

[corta765]

9 hours ago, Kelly to Allen said:

 

 

Terry won't move on until 2027 because things are too chaotic right now with a new stadium , obviously the health of his wife etc. he's not firing anyone anytime soon....

 

I personally would move on but yeah I generally agree with everything you said. 

 

 

 

I fully expect he won't move on from McD unless the team legit is 7-10 for two straight years. I just think the stability they have he won't touch even if it feels like the rope is nearly out of rope. For the record I actually think McD has grown as a coach the last two years and unlike playoff losses 2020-22 I have not been nearly as mad at him in this compared to those years. That said the reinforcements are coming this offseason and what is left to be said for him if 2025 again is the same outcome.

[DC Tom]

20 hours ago, Augie said:

 

In some ways, I wish DC Tom was still around. 

 

You're all idiots.

[Jauronimo]

A few weeks ago, OP was blasting Stroud for crying after his friend suffered a life altering injury.  Here he is today with the biggest man whine TBD has ever seen.

[Sojourner]

19 hours ago, Kelly to Allen said:

 

 

Terry won't move on until 2027 because things are too chaotic right now with a new stadium , obviously the health of his wife etc. he's not firing anyone anytime soon....

 

I personally would move on but yeah I generally agree with everything you said. 

 

 

See I’m not sure about that. I feel this is the make or break year for McD given the move to the new site in 2026. Hosting the season kick off in the new stadium as Super Bowl champs is a huge deal. Something we should be aiming toward as I’m sure they are. 
 

You have the perfect reason to move on and I’d hope Terry and whoever else makes the decisions is capable of seeing that. 
 

I love Sean as a coach and everything has done but falling short to the same team again has to be wearing thing on everyone within the organization. Front office, coaching staff and players alike. There’s only so many losses you can take before they truly become a burden. This loss is a hard one to come back, especially to put Super Bowl demands on him again. But you have the talent. 
 

Bigger picture, is it time to move on? Yes. 
Will they move on this year from Sean? No. 
Should they move on from him if he can’t get into the Super Bowl? Yes, especially for a fresh slate in a fresh stadium. 

[JustHewIt]

I thoroughly enjoyed storming back to beat the Dolphins out for the division last year.  I really enjoyed taking down the Chiefs, Lions, and Niners (in the snow!) this year.  I loved rushing for like 200+ yards against the Cowboys last season and just kicking their ass physically.  I'll never ever forget the thrill and jumping up and down like a madman with my 65 year old Father when Taron had the 101 yard pick six.

Heck, my family still talks about Josh's first win all the time, storming into Minnesota and putting on a show as 17 point dogs. 

You're really missing the point of it all by choosing to not enjoy the journey.  Sucks for you.