Day #4 after the loss to KC: Feeling better? Worse? Why? (Thread started at Day #2)

[8BallSippin]

McDermott is the Coach, I always maintain this teams ceiling is capped by his limitations.  So i keep expectations low. 

 

I thought this year may be different, Josh's year was exceptional in that he did run over people, and he protected the ball... 

 

However, it was mini-rebuild year, so kept my expectations low.

 

I assume McDermott is safe, so I guess its on Beane to find 2-3 difference makers for next year.

 

Disappointed, of course.  Winning the Divvy and being in the AFCCG with arguable worse roster, impressive.

 

 

[zow2]

The only thing bothering me at this point, is the Xavier Worthy thing.  I was wrong.  Take him off the Chiefs in that game, and the results might be different.  Put Worthy on the Bills or maybe Ladd McConkey and the results might be different.   If Keon had produced down the stretch I'd feel better about him but he kinda regressed after his wrist thing. and it's clear with Worthy's next level speed he can be used in more ways than Coleman.

Edited Tuesday at 06:02 PM by zow2

[The Firebaugh Kid]

34 minutes ago, Dillenger4 said:

I feel MUCH better. It's over. KC beat us. They were out to hit hard and it showed. Their D was tough.

But all the fans on here complaining about refs and the call makes me sick. It's a game of inches. We DID NOT make it on 4th down. Josh was close but no go. It was clear on TV. Now, on the third down with Kincaid prior to the 4th down - Kincaid made the line. That is on mcD as he didn't challenge the spot. We rushed to the line... and boom. Got stopped hard!

Get over it people... we will be back. Lots of cap room, draft picks etc. Be happy we are not Cincy or miami or vegas or Carolina. We have a very good team. Buffalo will be back next year! GO BILLS!

I’ve been watching football since 1986. Sure as hell looks like a first down to me bro. And yes I have glasses lol. 
Having said that we had a chance to win the game with three timeouts and three minutes left it’s the perfect scenario to just run the clock out and score the game-winning touchdown and we did not do it.

[ShakAttack]

1 hour ago, Saint Doug said:

I’m fine with the loss. Call me a negative Nancy, but I never expected them to make the Super Bowl. As a whole, nothing had really changed player or coaching wise. And our biggest rival, who we are 0-3 against in the playoffs, didn’t change. 
 

In fact, unless there are fundamental changes, the same thing will happen next year. Allen will play lights out (as he always does) and our bend, but don’t break defense will break. This defensive philosophy is fine against rookie QBs and the average starting QB, but it doesn’t work against elite offenses. It just leads to a tired defense and then we break. And this is why we saw our offense suddenly become a ground game first offense in the playoffs. To keep the opposing QB off the field. 

 

Defense is still what needs to change, imo.  I don't know what or how, but Allen had to constantly thread the needle in the passing game; very few open looks, and for Mahomes it was the complete opposite. 

 

Our receivers were getting tackled as soon as they caught the ball.  No YAC.  Kinda like the Ravens game really.  Two defenses playing playoff football (Ravens and Chiefs).  And once again, ours can't, and never does.  As I said, ours was the complete opposite; we gave Mahomes easy open looks all game long.  

 

If you were to rank all 7 defenses from the AFC playoffs this season, let's face it, we would have been #7.  

 

I know, the injuries to the secondary didn't help our chances, but let's face it, there have been a lot of games this season in which our opponent's passing game flourished and we couldn't get off the field on third down pass plays even with Benford and Rapp in the lineup. 

 

 

[90sBills]

5 minutes ago, SCBills said:

 

Allen hit Kincaid in the hands and did everything in his power to have us set up at the KC 30, down 3, with under 2 minutes and 2 timeouts.

 

Allen was shaky to start, yes.  Mahomes also fumbled early, leading to a 14 point swing.

 

Allen gets held to a comical standard because the team and coaches around him choke.  It is what it is.

Exactly. Mahomes even gifted us a turnover for a 10-14pt swing and we still lost.

 

Allen had more than 1 down to advance the stick. What happened the first 3 downs? If you think that was Allen’s best performance I don’t know what to say. I’ve seen his best many times and I believe his best on Sunday would’ve been a winning TD on that drive. He was still good but not lights out. 

[Andy1]

I’m frustrated. We are so close, yet not quite there. 
At this point, I hope KC wins the SB with the help of some BS calls by the refs to make it plain to everyone how the NFL operates. Hopefully there is declining tv ratings showing the NFL that everyone is tired of their product. Maybe then, the refs will call holding or some other subjective call on the Chiefs, like they do to every other team.

[SCBills]

2 minutes ago, 90sBills said:

Exactly. Mahomes even gifted us a turnover for a 10-14pt swing and we still lost.

 

Allen had more than 1 down to advance the stick. What happened the first 3 downs? If you think that was Allen’s best performance I don’t know what to say. I’ve seen his best many times and I believe his best on Sunday would’ve been a winning TD on that drive. He was still good but not lights out. 

 

It wasn't Allen's best performance, but he played Mahomes to a draw, as he usually does.  

 

I'm not sure why I need to respond to "what did he do the first 3 downs" when he literally hit Kincaid in the hands to give us 1st and 10 at the Chiefs 30. 

 

 

 

Edited Tuesday at 06:07 PM by SCBills

[jkeerie]

1 hour ago, NewEra said:

Refs suck-  

 

they aren’t the reason we lost- but they are part of the reason we lost.  Sucks that they are rarely one of the reasons that we win.  
 

Part that gets me most:  the ref that had a clear view of the ball on the 4th down stop had it as a 1st down.  The ref that had a clear view of Josh’s BACK called it short.  Yet somehow- the ref that couldn’t see the ball AT ALL is the one whos opinion stands- while the other ref just stands there-  

 

jones Offside on 2 4th downs.  One of which he made a huge difference.  Yet we gets called on a play where he causes a fumble.  
 

the worthy catch-  if those are the rules- the rules need to be changed. 

 

KC runs a play after the “catch” and they lose yards-  no whistle on the play-  yet they negate the play and give us a challenge.  Ever see that before?  

 

Insurance flag laying on the ground in case Kincaid catches the ball-  

 

it’s just impossible to ignore that those referee decisions hurt our chances to win the game.  They aren’t the reason we lost-  there is never one reason a team loses a game imo, just a compilation of factors. 

 

The issue is these calls are game changing.  Just about every media pundit used that phrase, particularly with the 4th and 1 spot.  So had the Bills been granted the first down, the Bills may have been up two scores in the 4th quarter which is where you need to be with the Chiefs and the way the Bills won in Orchard Park.  So I cannot negate the officiating not being a reason why the Bills lost.

 

Having said that, I hope Brady learned from the experience.  In essence he played true to all of the Bills tendencies this year...which the Chiefs had film on.  Reid on the other hand planned some new wrinkles, which the Bills did not expect.  

 

 

[Buddy Hix]

I feel like Buffalo will never win a Super Bowl and is cursed by the gods…so slightly better.

[Saint Doug]

22 minutes ago, 90sBills said:

The defense got the right stop at the end to give the offense a chance to win the game with 3min left. Allen playing lights out would’ve finished that drive with a TD. He was good after a shaky start but he was not lights out Allen. We needed that guy for this game. 

It just never should have gotten to that point. Mahomes had only put up >30 points twice all season. 29 points should have been enough to win this game. Should have Allen been better? Yes. Great teams elevate their play in the playoffs. The Bills did not. 

[quincy]

39 minutes ago, SCBills said:

 

Is it bad that I am rooting for KC to win with help from the refs?

 

I want it to be blatant.  I want the NFL to own it.

 

I don't think so, especially if this outcome can benefit Buffalo in the future.

 

Honestly we have to significantly overachieve to defeat KC and we are up until now coming short by fractions plus when we did get the inches we required we got hosed by those mysterious external forces.

 

I have said elsewhere, as 100% HOF guys, we have Josh and 50% Von versus Reid, Spagnuolo, Kelce, Jones and Mahomes - 1.5 vs 5! 

 

The Houston playoff loss might have been our Sliding Doors moment, winning that game may have changed a lot, we shall never truly know but that is just my opinion. 

 

 

 

[90sBills]

10 minutes ago, SCBills said:

 

It wasn't Allen's best performance, but he played Mahomes to a draw, as he usually does.  

 

I'm not sure why I need to respond to "what did he do the first 3 downs" when he literally hit Kincaid in the hands to give us 1st and 10 at the Chiefs 30. 

 

 

 

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying it was his fault we lost. It was a team loss.

 

What I am saying is the defense held KC to a fg and gave the offense a chance to win at the end. At that point many of us thought we’d win. It was a legacy defining moment for him. Elite QBs relish these opportunities to win big games. Couldn’t get it done. 

[Livinginthepast]

For me I am feeling some mixed emotions. Numb to start on Sunday night and a terrible sleep but then that sad feeling Monday that there is no next week to look forward to. I am more annoyed now than angry. Nothing was worse than the day after 13 seconds for my rage at the idiocy of the coaches for letting something that stupid happen, but today I just feel mild annoyance at some of the bad decisions. In the end they had a great season with only 4 losses for a team that had mediocre to bad defense and was retooling on offense.  That was a real achievement. Would they have beaten the Eagles? I think they would have because getting over the hump vs the Chiefs would have propelled them with momentum. I also think the Eagles would have taken us lightly and they are definitely arrogant dbags. 

[teef]

i just learned that kansas city has had a shocking increase in the number of cases of tuberculosis over the last year...if that does anything for anybody.  

[Steptide]

I'm still pissed honestly. While the bills only lost by 3, and had the lead at one point, I still feel like McDermotts game plan wasn't aggressive enough, on both sides of the ball. This team (kc) is the bills Achilles heal. This is the team you know you have to get through to get to a superbowl, and you played them like it was just another team. And while I wasn't expecting some crazy trick plays or fake punts, I was expecting something different offensively and defensively, and yet we didn't get that. You trusted that tush push was gonna work on 4th down even though kc had a very obvious plan to stop it and did stop it numerous times. But instead you just stuck to your guns because that's what had worked all season right? Well this is the afc championship game, and this is the Chiefs. And that's why you lost. You got out coached again and we're too afraid to think outside the box. My apologies I'm still bitter 

[Process]

The final offensive play will come to mind from time to time, for a while. The image of Kincaid breaking wide open while the o-line blocks nobody and Josh runs for his life. Just like the image of Chris Jones dog walking Dawkins right into Josh did last year. The way we lost both games is the hardest part, with the ball in the offense's hand with a chance to win the game.

 

But otherwise, it's over. 

 

Time to face reality....KC will end up being the greatest or second greatest dynasty of all time. That's QB, that's coaching, that's roster and that's luck. But it's reality. And we just need to hope Josh can get us one or two SBs before he retires. 

 

It's not like other teams are getting past them, they own the entire league. 14 other teams in the AFC are in the same position we are in. 

 

What sucks is how the Bills will be labeled as chokers because they send us home every year. When in reality, we are the ones best equipped to take them down. The reason Lamar isn't 0-3 vs Mahomes is because he can't even get past us. Meanwhile Burrow can't even make the playoffs. 

 

We'll get over the hump eventually. 

[Billsfanatic8989]

I feel disappointment. But it was expected. The D gave up 32 points. I don't care that they made a few stops. How about complimenting the offense for once? How about not expecting a QB to be perfect?

 

Bill Belichick consistently beat teams more talented than his. He could take away the best players on the opposing team. Until the Bills get that type of coach, nothing will change. 

 

We've gone as far as this coach can take us. But he will stay. And we will be back here next year saying the same thing. 

Edited Tuesday at 06:55 PM by Billsfanatic8989

[BullBuchanan]

I'm over it. I thought the team had no chance to win the Super Bowl during this rebuild year and gave them an "official" 5% chance at some point during the season. I didn't see enough star power on this team to carry them over the top to make impact plays when it mattered. They significantly surpassed my expectations, and when they started playing way better the last 4 weeks, I was encouraged that they may be able to do it. Unfortunately, the problems with the team makeup that caused me to have so little hope going into the year were never really addressed, even though the team was firing on all cylinders in spite of it.  In my heart I really never thought they were getting past KC until 3 minutes left to go in the game when I let myself hope.

In the end, it turned out the way it was always supposed to. They didn't have enough star power on the field, and it showed. Despite the chance to win it at the end, it would've been a pretty big upset as we are still outclassed by KC in each facet of the game, and we would have been significantly outclassed by Philly. This is a team built to go to an AFC championship game every year, because they have Allen and some complementary pieces, but I think we're well more than just a player or two away from being a championship football team.

I think we need at least 4 or 5 more star players, unless we get a giftwrapped situation. We need Dorian Williams to become the player Milano was. As it turns out, yea you do kinda need a #1 receiver - it can be a TE, but you need that guy on 4th & 5. (Side note: The Cooper trade was an unmitigated disaster). If Kincaid can't turn the corner, we need to make him TE #2 and find someone who can. We need a 15+ sack DE who always comes through in big games. We need a dominant DE to pair with Oliver. ideally we'd have a gamewrecker at safety too.

I'm hoping we have a draft of drafts in 2025 and will be ready to strike in 2026. Hopefully by then Kelce is retired and KC is an easier target.

[Billsfanatic8989]

7 minutes ago, Process said:

The final offensive play will come to mind from time to time, for a while. The image of Kincaid breaking wide open while the o-line blocks nobody and Josh runs for his life. Just like the image of Chris Jones dog walking Dawkins right into Josh did last year. The way we lost both games is the hardest part, with the ball in the offense's hand with a chance to win the game.

 

But otherwise, it's over. 

 

Time to face reality....KC will end up being the greatest or second greatest dynasty of all time. That's QB, that's coaching, that's roster and that's luck. But it's reality. And we just need to hope Josh can get us one or two SBs before he retires. 

 

It's not like other teams are getting past them, they own the entire league. 14 other teams in the AFC are in the same position we are in. 

 

What sucks is how the Bills will be labeled as chokers because they send us home every year. When in reality, we are the ones best equipped to take them down. The reason Lamar isn't 0-3 vs Mahomes is because he can't even get past us. Meanwhile Burrow can't even make the playoffs. 

 

We'll get over the hump eventually. 

Not with this coaching staff.

 

 

[Georgia Bill]

I'm getting over it, but disappointed still due to just how close we were, yet we ended so far away.  I really think we need to find a way to get the 1 seed.  Can you lose at home? Sure, but since 2019 the Chiefs are 13-0 in AFC playoffs, and 11 of those were at home.  In that same span the Bills are 7-6 with all 7 wins at home (along with 2 losses).  We're 0-4 on the road. 

 

KC had the #1 seed 4 of those 6 years meaning they get a bye to rest up then play the weakest seed team at home, then bingo they are back in the AFC championship game at home.  With two teams as closely matched as the Chiefs and the Bills that makes for a huge advantage, especially over time.  

Edited Wednesday at 12:08 AM by Georgia Bill
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