Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

‘Even when the deplorable drought ended with Sean McDermott, Brandon Beane and Josh Allen blazing a new path and leading the Bills out of the wilderness by delivering five straight AFC East division titles, to even dare ponder what it might be like to see the Bills – their Bills – reach a Super Bowl became a pointless exercise because season after season ended in such bitter, gut-wrenching disappointment.’

‘But the reason why Patrick Mahomes, Andy Reid and the Chiefs have now eliminated Josh Allen, Sean McDermott and the Bills in four of the last five seasons is that when the time comes for the biggest plays in these games need to be made, the Chiefs make them and the Bills don’t.’

‘Play-by-play: Jim Nantz. Analyst: Tony Romo. Sideline reporters: Tracy Wolfson, Jay Feely, Evan Washburn.’

‘Sal Maiorana’s prediction: Bills 26, Chiefs 24.’

‘“They’ve been great, they really have, led by Connor (McGovern) at the center position and having those guys pretty much all season long working hip-to-hip, side-by-side all year has been tremendous for our offense and for our team,” McDermott said. “I just can’t say enough about their brotherhood, their camaraderie if you will, and I think that just fosters into the rest of our team.”’

‘Elsewhere, the news was mostly promising as linebacker Matt Milano (hamstring), cornerback Christian Benford (concussion), and nickel cornerback Taron Johnson (neck/shoulder) were not ruled out, though there is some mystery surrounding Benford.’

‘The Bills gave up 416 yards, including 88 that came way too easy on Baltimore’s final TD drive. The Ravens averaged 7.3 yards per play, they ran for 176 yards and a 5.9 average, Lamar Jackson threw for 254 yards and had only six incompletions, three of those on drops, and that didn’t include Mark Andrews’ epic dropped two-point conversion, and they converted 8-of-11 on possession downs (third and fourth).’

‘The team’s best cornerback, Christian Benford, remains in concussion protocol; perhaps its best linebacker, Matt Milano, is battling hamstring soreness; and its best safety, Taylor Rapp, has a hip injury. However, there was good news on Thursday as both Benford and Milano were on the field.’

‘Well, maybe Hamlin will get recognized a year too late because he really didn’t comeback from anything this season. What he did, though, is win a starting job after being active for only five games in 2023, and as he heads into the AFC Championship Game Sunday, he has 101 tackles, two interceptions, one sack, a forced fumble, and a recovery in 16 games (all starts) counting the postseason.’

‘Not that the Bills and their fans need another reason in their desperation to win Sunday’s AFC Championship Game, but going to the Super Bowl would keep Brady away from any of these teams for another two weeks, and they may not decide to exercise patience if he’s truly a candidate. Teams want to get on with their preparations for next season, and waiting until mid-February is not ideal.’

‘“Pray hard,” Babich said with a smile. “We just got to sit down as a staff and come up with a plan. You know this is the Kansas City Chiefs, and we know what they’ve done in the postseason. We know what they’ve done to us in the postseason, sent us home multiple times. So we got to do a great job of putting together the best plan, and not only to handle all the weapons that they do have because they have a tremendous amount of weapons, but one that our guys are able to execute.”’

‘The team’s best cornerback, Christian Benford, remains in concussion protocol; perhaps its best linebacker, Matt Milano, is battling hamstring soreness; and its best safety, Taylor Rapp, has a hip injury.’

‘You can’t tell by looking at his diminutive 190-pound frame, but wide receiver Khalil Shakir has been gorging himself at the Bills’ buffet as he led the team with 76 catches for 821 yards, and has since added 12 catches (tied for the most in the NFL this postseason) for 128 yards in Buffalo’s two playoff victories.’

‘But in their 30-21 victory over the Chiefs in November, the Bills managed just 104 rushing yards and 3.4 per attempt with 26 yards coming on that incredible Josh Allen TD scramble late in the fourth quarter. In that game, Allen completed 27 of 40 passes for 262 yards and he needs to have a similar-type performance if the Bills are going to win.’

‘Well, here we go as the Bills defeated the Baltimore Ravens 27-25 on a night not even an ice cube could enjoy, a pulsating, down to the final minute thriller, and Buffalo will indeed get the chance to exorcize its postseason demons against a dynastic Chiefs team that has ended its season in three of the previous four Januarys.’