Success

Football is actually a team game. Quarterbacks don't beat other quarterbacks, or lose to other quarterbacks. If this was golf or tennis, your post would have more relevance.

NFL narratives have always been QB-centric, but that's gotten even more pronounced. I hear Pats fans say that Mahomes can never be GOAT, because Brady beat him both times head-to-head. One of those was Dee Ford being Offside, and one was a game where Mahomes was missing 2 key O-linemen and was playing a world class defense. And it's the same w/ Allen. He carried the team a few weeks ago against KC - but it felt like all of the coverage afterward was his decision to play "hero ball" and go for Shakir in the EZ (which was the right decision). And it was all "Mahomes bested Allen, again." I agree w/ you. I don't think Mahomes could carry some of the Bills teams Josh has had quite the same way.

Allen didn't get anywhere near the defensive support that most of the other playoff teams got. Watching KC & SF in the Super Bowl was eye-opening. That was much more of a defensive game. And it's really been like that almost every time in the playoffs. The Bills D is usually ranked high and plays well most of the regular season, but disappears in the playoffs. Against KC, the pressure was on almost every drive to score, because our D could not get stops.

They were much healthier than the Bills heading into the game. It's not really comparable.

But KC's receivers didn't have those drops against the Bills. They uncharacteristically made spectacular catches, all game.

Ah yes - the goal line fumble. The only mistake made in the game, apparently. Well, except for the 60-yarder to Diggs that was on a rope & dropped, or the similar pass to Sherfield. And the missed FG. I didn't hear "every pundit" say that the Chiefs looked like the better team. That was a coin flip game.

Love & kindness is going to win in the end. I'm sure of it. In the meantime, it's just brutal hearing about these kinds of incidents. Sending as many good vibes as I can to the good people of Kansas City & everyone impacted by this.

If we have lesser talent - but they're healthier when we get into the playoffs, we'll have as good or better of a shot as we did this past season. And here's the thing: we'll have a chance at that every season w/ Josh. There will be some years we'll have a SB caliber roster, but then some seasons we're not quite there - but if in those seasons, we stay relatively healthy, it works out about the same. Allen keeps us in every game, no matter who is playing w/ him. We'll have a chance for a title every year we have him, just like the Pats did w/ Brady, and KC does w/ Mahomes. Even Peyton Manning's teams had that, though he didn't cash in as much.

It's not one reason. Luck is a part of it - we really did have some untimely injuries this year. I hate it when people call that an "excuse." It's just reality. And the Chiefs are a real nemesis. They're better when it counts, at least to this point. They have more of a pedigree for that now, and more confidence. That's a big thing as time goes on. The Bills will just get tighter & tighter until we can overcome that, while the Chiefs play it pretty loose.

I could only watch it once. It was excellent - but too many painful memories.

If KC had been missing their top 2 CB's, their top 2 LB's, their #2 WR, and 2-3 other key players - does anyone think they would have beaten the Bills in the divisional?

Yes.

I feel like Allen has outplayed Mahomes in almost every match-up. But, they don't play each other. Allen plays against KC's defense.

We're going to turn the narrative on its head in the next decade, and the Bills will have a more prolonged & successful dynasty than KC.

Huh?

This post is almost incomprehensible to me. It's a pre-2004 Red Sox fan post. "Buffalo will never win a major sports title. Take that to the bank." What the heck is that? If you want to speak something into existence, have at it. I choose to believe will end up w/ a winning record in Super Bowls at 5-4.

I was - but I actually didn't get a sense of that. I think the internet & 24x7 sports culture and coverage really changed things.

In retrospect, this thread was a perhaps feeble attempt to try to overcome the standard, predictable toxicity in sports. Team wins a lot, beating a lot of other teams. Other teams fans hate, hate them. They're the worst. It's kind of a sad cycle, that seems destined to repeat itself over & over. If we somehow win a couple, it's crazy to think that other fans would HATE us - especially after all of our suffering. But, they would. Assuredly.

Not related to talent - but I'm surprised that there is a QB (Mahomes) who makes me appreciate Brady's phony "respect talk" whenever he faced other teams & QB's, and beat them. Mahomes seems to love the villain role. He's almost the perfect "Nick Wright" QB - we beat you, we're great, and you suck. His arrogance is almost comical. Very easy QB to dislike.

The Patriots will always be top dog. Always. It's recency bias to rank the Chiefs even close to them. I hope no Boston team ever wins again. That entire fanbase is cartoonishly unsufferable. Chiefs fans are full of themselves right now - but they didn't have much to cheer about prior to the past 5 years or so, and it's not like any other teams there are doing much..

I hate the Allen/Mahomes comparisons. I think the only time Allen's D played as well as Mahomes' D plays every week was the Ravens playoff game. Mahomes has Reid and Spags. I like McD, but both of those guys are legends.

The only team I've seen win a championship is my alma mater, Syracuse. That was amazing. I like the Knicks & Bills, and only started liking the Yankees & getting into baseball over the past 5-6 years or so. Crazy. To put so much time into sports, over decades, for mostly heartbreak and disappointment. It's a weird thing, being a sports fan.

I'll keep hoping.

I mean, that IS true, actually. That place is beyond toxic. I've gotta try for the good karma though.

It's good karma.