Success

I think my favorite thing about this topic in general is that Patriots fans online complain loudly about the favorable officiating for the Chiefs. Completely without a sense of irony.

You've ruined my night. I was just starting to convince myself that it's just 1 hour.

Do they really leak it? I'm not as confident. I'm hopeful, but not as confident.

I'm all about "any love is good love," but man....

I'm torn on this. I know exactly what you're saying - but the league only has so many Andy Reids. And even Andy Reid was basically run out of town in one NFL city because he couldn't win "the big one." McDermott, realistically, is probably a top 6-7 guy overall. Who that's available would be better? It's a tough one. Personally, I wish we would just being in a real DC. I think if we had hired Saleh, we'd have the #1 D next year.

Some who have come out & said they voted Lamar make it sound more like a stats award. I think some do see it that way. I just take "most valuable" as exactly that.

I like to think we wouldn't be like Chiefs fans w/ similar success. Maybe I'm wrong - but I really don't think we would be. Too much heartbreak over the years. It would keep us much more grounded.

C'mon, universe. Throw us a bone.

It would be kind of fun if a completely egregious call ended up costing KC the 3-peat.

No team would give up a 2nd for Milton. He looked great - against backups.

What did he do? The guy won 1 game, and was somewhat of a turnover machine - especially on game-ending drives. He's incredibly overhyped right now based on a few "wow" plays. He hasn't proven anything in this league yet.

I haven't watched a second of any of the sports shows or podcasts or anything since we lost - and that part of it has been very positive. I think about all of the things I've done w/ my free time over immersing myself in that & everything about the Bills, and it's kind of eye-opening. I've just accomplished a lot more and made much better use of my time.

Not seeing it. They have very little talent. Could Maye be a good QB? Sure - but he could easily be pretty middlin'.

That one was actually heartbreaking for ME. My list of heartbreak as a fan dwarfs any KC fan's, or any fan for that matter. I was even a fan of Greg Norman in golf.

Man, if we just had a title under our belt - all of the second guessing, officiating & close ones would be so much easier to handle. I doubt I'd even care at this point. It's definitely hard to wait close to 30 years, live under the shadow of one dynasty most of that time, and keep butting our heads up against the new dynasty - knowing all the while that the new dynasty could be us. Being a sports fan, huh? They should really prep you better when you decide early on to follow a team.

I was a little there this season - though I definitely enjoyed some of the wins, like KC (Josh's run was amazing), and the Lions. Now? The regular season is a total formality. Round 1 of the playoffs is a formality, unless it's somehow KC. The level of futility the Bills have had over the years is almost comical. It was 4 losses in a row in the '90s, and now 4x that we can't get by the same team. It's hard to believe I'm not permanently in the fetal position on the floor, just whimpering my life away.

Your team is playing in the Super Bowl on Sunday. Why are you here trying to argue against something that there is basically a national consensus on at this point? We're in mourning here. Enjoy being in another title game, and let us complain about the refs.

Yep - Kupp is consistent, and very good.

Much-needed break for me. I still can't believe how much I lost it after the game. I was raving. Apologies once again to anyone who engaged w/ me that evening.

Being a Bills fan isn't for the weak. I just turned 60. I think about how I felt when we blew out the Raiders to get to that 1st Super Bowl. If you had told me then what lay ahead, I wouldn't have believed it. Heartbreak after heartbreak, more games w/ names than pretty much any other team, just epic disappointment. And still waiting for that elusive title. It never gets easier. But the hope remains: just one before I die. Just one. I don't think that's asking too much. And while Josh Allen is the Bills QB, it is a very real possibility. Could he end up like Marino? Maybe, but I really doubt it. He's going to get there.

Nothing is "rigged." You can't keep that kind of secret. But champs & great players tend to just get more calls. I think it's more psychological w/ refs, in every sport. In the NBA, Lebron & top players throughout the years have gotten more favorable treatment. Allen, I believe, gets some of that. Just not as much as Mahomes or KC. I can't complain about it. "You have to knock the champ out" - you can't leave it to the judges.

I've seen a lot of McDermott's defenses at this point. They are too soft. I actually think we have the personnel to have a much more swarming, aggressive defense - but it seems like we play safe a lot. That last drive Baltimore had was a prime example, as were the 2 first downs KC had at the end of last week's game. I like McD as an HC. He's a good culture guy & good w/ the players. But can you imagine how different this team would be if we had hired someone like Saleh as our DC? The defense has cost us in these playoff games, and they have cost Allen as far as legacy.

This is kind of what gets me. It's hard to imagine getting to the playoffs as healthy as we were this year again. Feels like we didn't take advantage of that. Of course, KC was actually a little healthier. We had a really good opportunity to finally get a title this year, and it's gone now. That might always sting if it never happens. Maybe it will and all of this will be erased, but my optimism isn't as strong as it used to be.

Yeah - I go over that in my head a lot (how talented the D is). The talent acquisition needs to improve. We need some stars. We need a Garrett, or Crosby Beane tried to do that w/ Miller, but he was past his prime. And you can't call any of his early round picks on D busts, really - but none have panned out into stars, which you'd like to see once in awhile. I still think maybe Groot could be, but he's not there yet. We haven't had what most would call a championship-caliber defense. It has been a fine regular season defense, but once we get to the playoffs, the flaws are glaring.

I feel like we keep looking for blame, because it's so frustrating. But it might just be that McD is just not quite as good as Reid, and Beane is not quite as good as Veach. And Reid & Veach are almost inarguably the 2 best in the game.