Serious question - did you really think THIS was the team that would win a championship?

[ngbills]

Any year there a a handful of teams in the could win it conversation. We were one of those teams. Helping matters was Burrow going down and KC struggling on O. So yes we should have been a contender and we were. 

[Draconator]

I totally thought this would be the team that would get to the Super Bowl. I'm bummed that we lost, but I'm hoping we retool to get us to where we need to be. Not sure if McDermott is the answer.

[nedboy7]

No I did not.  Even with the 5 game win streak.  I did think it was very admirable how they took the division but I thought Baltimore was as far we go.  You could tell something was off with the offense, especially concerning Diggs.  And the defense never had a chance even if some of the players were able to suit up.  I oddly have a good feeling about next year.  Maybe I'm crazy. 

[Meatloaf63]

40 minutes ago, Steptide said:

I'm just as mad/dissapointed that we lost last night as any other bills fan today. Last week I heard alot on local sports talk radio about how this was our year and how if we just beat kc, it's gotta be our year finally. OK, based on what?! 

 

The last 8 games have been fun. Nobody thought this team would win the division, let alone be the 2 seed and host 2 home playoff games. Having said that, our offense needs serious help. Allen is an absolute animal, but he can't do absolutely everything. I've seen Diggs take alot of flack today on social media and it's well deserved. He's been non existentent the last 8 or so games. Harty and sherfield were complete non factors the entire season. Gabe played nowhere near what we (and the team) expected. Knox was hurt and even when he wasn't, he wasn't exactly a game changer. Kinkaid and Shakir were the lone bright spots, and Shakir really didn't show up until after Dorsey was gone. Cook was great, but we need more. The defense came through, even as beat up as they've been, but in today's nfl you cannot rely solely on the defense. WGR brought up a great point this morning, saying how kc has won superbowls when their defense was ranked in the mid 20's. We need more offense. 

 

I could go on and on, but Imo this wasn't the team that was gonna win it all. I was worried about last night's game, and even had they pulled it out, I'd never believe they could get through Baltimore. Houston has a similar offense to Buffalo and they couldn't muster more than 3 points on offense against Baltimore. Ya I know they have a rookie qb, but stroud is a beast. It'll be super interesting to see what kc does against Baltimore next week. I think Baltimore beats kc by 10 🤷 thanks for letting me vent 

Not in it’s current condition, before the Pittsburgh game I’d give them a chance.

[Logic]

5 minutes ago, BobBelcher said:

No, but most people would have said the same thing about KC…

 

Hopefully Ravens are dominant in the AFCCG.

 

i know this game is all about matchups, but if the Ravens D shuts down Mahomes and does what we were unable to do (decent chance) then I’ll feel at least a little better.

Fair point, but I WILL say that the fact that the Chiefs have the best defense of the Mahomes era and essentially the same roster as last year's Lombardi winning squad (minus Smith-Schuster and plus Rashee Rice) makes them a bit different than the Bills.

Their offense under-achieved this year and their receiving corps regressed, yes. But at the same time, their defense took a quantum leap forward. 

Unlike the Bills, they were NOT missing their best defensive player (and one of their top three players overall) all year. Losing Milano for the year would be the equivalent of the Chiefs losing Chris Jones for the year.

The Chiefs were likely one Kadarius Toney Offside call from being the two seed again.

All of that said, I do get your point. It was a down year for them by their standards, and here they are in the AFCCG yet again. I'm just saying I think they faced considerably less adversity (struggling passing game) than the Bills (defensive injuries, OC firing, Dunne article and its fallout).

Edited January 22 by Logic

[Generic_Bills_Fan]

One of Bernard/milano healthy and my expectations probably would’ve been higher…thought we’d sneak by K.C. and get rocked by Baltimore in the afc championship 

Edited January 22 by Generic_Bills_Fan

[Bob Jones]

At the start of the year, yes. At the start of December, no.

[gonzo1105]

I think they had as good a shot of anyone but I don’t think they were the favorites by any stretch. Beating Baltimore in Baltimore would have been a chore too

[SCBills]

I thought if they beat KC, and got some guys back… yea. 
 

And I thought they would beat KC. 
 

Im officially GW Bush levels of can’t be fooled again with McDermott now, so from here on out, put me down for a no. 

[julian]

The injuries pretty much ended a real championship run, but they had enough to beat KC at home, but once again McDermott’s playoff D showed up and KC had guys like MVS make plays on the ball downfield while Diggs ***** the bed for Allen.

[nbbillsfan]

Yes, I did. 
 

No Burrow, a very beatable chiefs team and a ravens team who I think McDermott knows how to beat (unlike the chiefs).

 

my belief that we could win a superbowl was perhaps more an indication of what I thought of other teams than what i thought of the bills. 

[ChronicAndKnuckles]

41 minutes ago, Steptide said:

I'm just as mad/dissapointed that we lost last night as any other bills fan today. Last week I heard alot on local sports talk radio about how this was our year and how if we just beat kc, it's gotta be our year finally. OK, based on what?! 

 

The last 8 games have been fun. Nobody thought this team would win the division, let alone be the 2 seed and host 2 home playoff games. Having said that, our offense needs serious help. Allen is an absolute animal, but he can't do absolutely everything. I've seen Diggs take alot of flack today on social media and it's well deserved. He's been non existentent the last 8 or so games. Harty and sherfield were complete non factors the entire season. Gabe played nowhere near what we (and the team) expected. Knox was hurt and even when he wasn't, he wasn't exactly a game changer. Kinkaid and Shakir were the lone bright spots, and Shakir really didn't show up until after Dorsey was gone. Cook was great, but we need more. The defense came through, even as beat up as they've been, but in today's nfl you cannot rely solely on the defense. WGR brought up a great point this morning, saying how kc has won superbowls when their defense was ranked in the mid 20's. We need more offense. 

 

I could go on and on, but Imo this wasn't the team that was gonna win it all. I was worried about last night's game, and even had they pulled it out, I'd never believe they could get through Baltimore. Houston has a similar offense to Buffalo and they couldn't muster more than 3 points on offense against Baltimore. Ya I know they have a rookie qb, but stroud is a beast. It'll be super interesting to see what kc does against Baltimore next week. I think Baltimore beats kc by 10 🤷 thanks for letting me vent 

Yes. Yes I do. With the strong showing in the last 1/3 of the season I truly believed this was the year. Nobody knows what would’ve happened if Bass made that kick. People acting like KC was going to score on their last regulation drive didn’t see the ending to the regular season game against them and the Bills were well overdo for an OT win. Football is about matchups and I feel we matchup much better against the Ravens. I guess we’ll never know now, but people acting like it’s written in stone that the Bills weren’t going to advance past the Ravens are delusional to me. We were set to get back Bernard who I think would’ve made a huge difference considering how much Klein got abused. Lamar Jackson isn’t near the same level as Mahomes no matter what the media tries to say. 

[JohnNord]

48 minutes ago, Chaos said:

This was the week that mattered.  Prior to the season more or less 100% of Bills fans expected the team to make the divisional round of the playoffs.  And they did.  And they lost again.  This team was built to win last year.  But with an aged defense and salary cap issues, it is not clear next years team is poised to be better. 
 

So I will flip the question back to you, if not this year, when? 

I’ll agree with you.  Just beating KC would have helped.  We could avoid all of the bull#### narratives about Bills not being able to beat KC when it mattered.

 

To the original point, I thought that once Milano went down it was going to be really hard to win a Super Bowl.  You don’t just lose an All Pro player - especially one at a position of little depth and recover that easily.  
 

If the Bills somehow won this week, I don’t think they’d fare well against Baltimore but you never know 

[Livinginthepast]

43 minutes ago, Steptide said:

I'm just as mad/dissapointed that we lost last night as any other bills fan today. Last week I heard alot on local sports talk radio about how this was our year and how if we just beat kc, it's gotta be our year finally. OK, based on what?! 

 

The last 8 games have been fun. Nobody thought this team would win the division, let alone be the 2 seed and host 2 home playoff games. Having said that, our offense needs serious help. Allen is an absolute animal, but he can't do absolutely everything. I've seen Diggs take alot of flack today on social media and it's well deserved. He's been non existentent the last 8 or so games. Harty and sherfield were complete non factors the entire season. Gabe played nowhere near what we (and the team) expected. Knox was hurt and even when he wasn't, he wasn't exactly a game changer. Kinkaid and Shakir were the lone bright spots, and Shakir really didn't show up until after Dorsey was gone. Cook was great, but we need more. The defense came through, even as beat up as they've been, but in today's nfl you cannot rely solely on the defense. WGR brought up a great point this morning, saying how kc has won superbowls when their defense was ranked in the mid 20's. We need more offense. 

 

I could go on and on, but Imo this wasn't the team that was gonna win it all. I was worried about last night's game, and even had they pulled it out, I'd never believe they could get through Baltimore. Houston has a similar offense to Buffalo and they couldn't muster more than 3 points on offense against Baltimore. Ya I know they have a rookie qb, but stroud is a beast. It'll be super interesting to see what kc does against Baltimore next week. I think Baltimore beats kc by 10 🤷 thanks for letting me vent 

I thought this team might be able to do it (even with the awful injuries ) if it peaked at the right moment. Ive watched football since the 79 season, Its not unusual for a team to come out of relative nowhere and win a championship. They just got hot and caught some breaks. The Raiders in 1980, The Giants against us in 1990, The Pats first SB, Baltimore's first SB with Trent Dilfer as QB. All these teams rounded into form and caught some lucky breaks on their way to winning. I really thought that might happen to us and we finally had KCs number. Now looking back 24 hours later, that was somewhat delusional, possibly nuts. The key injury for me was Milano, even as well as Bernard played this season as the leader of the defense, Milano was the glue that held it together and the playmaker when you needed him. The one guy that could by himself turn around a game by leading by example. We have not had that defensive leader since he went down. Even last night there was nobody to stem the tide when KC got rolling. Just one INT or sack might have done it but they had nothing. We did get some luck with the touchback fumble but it wasnt enough! 

 

As for KC vs the Ravens. I still think that Lamar implodes. Mahomes is just too savvy under the pressure to be beaten.

[MPL]

I thought maybe this team had a little 2007 or 2011 Giants in them. I wasn't confident that they would get there or win it but I did start to allow myself to believe that maybe it could happen. The story started to feel good. 6 wins in a row, finally a home game against KC, Allen's 3rd playoff matchup against Mahomes. Were we going to beat Baltimore? I don't know. If they beat KC, I could see that momentum vaulting them into an upset victory in Baltimore and then the Super Bowl. 

But... good stories are just that — stories. In the real world the rich get richer, they dynasties win, and the little guy loses in the end. 

[ShakAttack]

12 minutes ago, SCBills said:

I thought if they beat KC, and got some guys back… yea. 
 

And I thought they would beat KC. 
 

Im officially GW Bush levels of can’t be fooled again with McDermott now, so from here on out, put me down for a no. 

I agree with this, and I imagine we would have got some guys back if we beat KC. 
 

This is a tough one for me. Yes, we were badly injured, etc, but we found a way to play well again, and down the stretch we were able to beat 3 teams that ended up in the playoffs. So, while I did believe Ravens would most likely beat whoever they ended up playing in the AFCCG, I also believe that Allen would have found a way to produce against that defense and it may have been close. 

[CoudyBills]

Nope. 

[BillsPride12]

No I wasn't realistically expecting a Super Bowl this year but as a fan you watch and root for the best outcome.  Having Josh Allen we will always have a puncher's chance at beating anybody.  I did think and was really rooting for us to beat Kansas City to exorcise some demons from the past but even then I was really nervous about this game at the same time.  I made a post in another thread before the Chiefs game saying the people that thought we were going to run through KC and then Baltimore and just waltz into the Super Bowl like this was our year were going to be in for a rude awakening.  

[LarryMadman]

Yup, sure did, just like the past few years. The roster is there, the coaching isnt.

[Buffalo03]

1 hour ago, Steptide said:

I'm just as mad/dissapointed that we lost last night as any other bills fan today. Last week I heard alot on local sports talk radio about how this was our year and how if we just beat kc, it's gotta be our year finally. OK, based on what?! 

 

The last 8 games have been fun. Nobody thought this team would win the division, let alone be the 2 seed and host 2 home playoff games. Having said that, our offense needs serious help. Allen is an absolute animal, but he can't do absolutely everything. I've seen Diggs take alot of flack today on social media and it's well deserved. He's been non existentent the last 8 or so games. Harty and sherfield were complete non factors the entire season. Gabe played nowhere near what we (and the team) expected. Knox was hurt and even when he wasn't, he wasn't exactly a game changer. Kinkaid and Shakir were the lone bright spots, and Shakir really didn't show up until after Dorsey was gone. Cook was great, but we need more. The defense came through, even as beat up as they've been, but in today's nfl you cannot rely solely on the defense. WGR brought up a great point this morning, saying how kc has won superbowls when their defense was ranked in the mid 20's. We need more offense. 

 

I could go on and on, but Imo this wasn't the team that was gonna win it all. I was worried about last night's game, and even had they pulled it out, I'd never believe they could get through Baltimore. Houston has a similar offense to Buffalo and they couldn't muster more than 3 points on offense against Baltimore. Ya I know they have a rookie qb, but stroud is a beast. It'll be super interesting to see what kc does against Baltimore next week. I think Baltimore beats kc by 10 🤷 thanks for letting me vent 

Why couldn't they win it all? You do realize all it takes is to get to the playoffs and have some luck, right? I understand this wasn't our best team. But they absolutely should have won that game last night and absolutely could have beaten the Ravens and either one of the 49ers or Lions. We were good enough to do it. I think you're looking too deep into this. There have been many teams that have won Super Bowls that probably weren't as good as other teams that should have

[JaCrispy]

No…too injured on defense and not enough talent on offense 

[ShakAttack]

2 minutes ago, Buffalo03 said:

Why couldn't they win it all? You do realize all it takes is to get to the playoffs and have some luck, right? I understand this wasn't our best team. But they absolutely should have won that game last night and absolutely could have beaten the Ravens and either one of the 49ers or Lions. We were good enough to do it. I think you're looking too deep into this. There have been many teams that have won Super Bowls that probably weren't as good as other teams that should have

And that is exactly why I am so amazed that KC constantly has luck on their side in the biggest moments.

 

I.e. the Chiefs were “lucky” that we did not throw the wide open underneath short pass to Diggs who had at least a first down on 2nd and 9 from the 25.  Who knows what happens from there?

[hikerprof2]

I believed they could go all the way this season, but not that they would.  We saw several versions of the Bills this year, with no consistency. The Bills that hammered Dallas and Miami in the first game could beat any team in the NFL.  There was also the Bills that lost to the jets and the pats, so they could lose to the worst teams in the NFL.  We had KC in a good position this year, as the game was at home and their receivers were not spectacular.  Sure, we had a banged up defense. The one miracle play in the game, Poyer's forced fumble, went our way.  35 years a Bills fan and all I want is for them to win one SB before I die.

[BBFL]

From where we were to claiming the #2 seed, finally getting KC @ Buffalo… yeah, I thought this was the year. 

Really believed they were going to overcome anything that went against them. 

[Buffalo03]

Just now, BobBelcher said:

And that is exactly why I am so amazed that KC constantly has luck on their side in the biggest moments.

 

I.e. the Chiefs were “lucky” that we did not throw the wide open underneath short pass to Diggs who had at least a first down on 2nd and 9 from the 25.  Who knows what happens from there?

Yes, the Chiefs were lucky that we didn't keep doing what worked all night long on offense. Which was taking what they gave us and going down the field. If Allen hits Diggs underneath, keeps running clock, and we get into the endzone with little time left, odds are we win the game. The Chiefs were also lucky we were missing Bernard and Benford which would have made a little bit of a difference. Bottom line, yes. This team should have won last night and could have beaten Baltimore as well as either the 49ers or Lions. You're telling me they couldn't?

[Ramza86]

Yes but not because of our roster but because of the rest of the leagues rosters. 

Every one of the teams that entered the playoffs were very beatable with our roster.

[vanislebills44]

at about 8 phone calls today from buds concerned for my sanity n well being, n about 10more from others snickering...gettin sick of it 

[MainEvent]

Yes! Any of the last 4 teams had the talent to win it all. There’s other factors.

[97bills]

1 hour ago, Lost said:

I thought going into this year that it was a slight setback season mostly because how difficult our schedule looked and not so much because of lack of talent.   I guess in the end the team performed above expectations or about as expected.  Had we not sustained so many injuries down the stretch I think the team would have overperformed my expectations for the season.    Looking at individual players, some have overperformed and a bunch more have underperformed this year.   The good news is the players that have played above expectations are all the young guys.  So we have a good foundation to build off of. 

 

Overperformers

Dalton Kincaid

O'cyrus Torrence

Kalil Shakir

Terrel Bernard

James Cook

Josh Allen

 

Underperformers

Gabe Davis

Dawson Knox

Deonte Harty

Stefon Diggs

Von Miller

Greg Rousseau

Tyler Bass

 

 

I really hope Greg Rousseau takes a big step, next year.. we need someone the defense can count on, every year in big playoff games our Dline gets pushed around. 

[Radar]

No. I said pretty much from early on this wasn't a Super Bowl team and that was before the injuries hit. A good to very good team not a championship team.

[TheBrownBear]

I liked our chances until the most recent spate of injuries.  I thought we had a puncher's chance if we could sneak by the Chiefs and get guys healthy before the Ravens.

[NeverOutNick]

These questions like “did you really think THIS was the team that would win a championship?” would be laughed out of the forum if we had Andy Reid as our HC. That team has nothing at WR but because their HC isn’t coasting through excuses year after year his fans don’t have to ask moronic questions like this because even if the team is less then, they still have a great coach and franchise quarterback. Fire McD already and let’s right the ship so we don’t have to worry about ludicrous questions like this when we have a once in a lifetime QB leading our team

[frostbitmic]

To be honest, I didn't think they'd win the Lombardi from the moment I saw the schedule. When I saw that the Bills got screwed out of a home game, to play a team in London that had been there a week and a half, I had bad feelings.

 

When I saw that, I turned to my google box to see how many teams that played in London went on to win the Super Bowl in the same season, and that number was 1 ... In the very first year they played in London, 2007, the Giants went on to beat the patriots. Hasn't happened since.

 

Last night the Bills lost to one of the top 2 teams in the AFC. I'd rank the Bills #4  behind the two remaining teams and a Bengals team they can't seem to beat.

 

I want to thank Tre', Dr. Poyer and Mr. Hyde for all they've done for this team, sadly I think their time here has come to an end.

[TheBrownBear]

22 minutes ago, BobBelcher said:

And that is exactly why I am so amazed that KC constantly has luck on their side in the biggest moments.

 

I.e. the Chiefs were “lucky” that we did not throw the wide open underneath short pass to Diggs who had at least a first down on 2nd and 9 from the 25.  Who knows what happens from there?

That's not luck.  That's execution.  More than anytime I can remember, luck was on our side last night.  All the fumbles went our way.  The Chiefs made more plays than us, as they have in all of our playoff losses.

[BillMafia716ix]

We were playing on borrowed time. I knew the injury bug would come back to bite us eventually . The fan in me was expecting us to overcome it but the realist in me is not surprised we lost. 
 

How the hell are we going to beat Andy Reid and Mahomes with 3rd and 4th string players on defense? Pipe dream. 

[Goin Breakdown]

I think this loss was going to happen given the injuries, drops and special team blunders that have been happening all year. I just didn't want it to be this game. Ok or any game. 

[Georgia Bill]

1 hour ago, Clyde Smith said:

Yes, it's not going to get easier next season.

The schedule sure looks easier.  But too early to tell what's going to go on in the offseason for us and our competition.

Edited January 23 by Georgia Bill
typo

[LABILLBACKER]

27 minutes ago, 97bills said:

I really hope Greg Rousseau takes a big step, next year.. we need someone the defense can count on, every year in big playoff games our Dline gets pushed around. 

I've given up ever expecting our DL to rise up in the playoffs against teams like KC or Cincy.  

[Best Williams Available]

1 hour ago, Steptide said:

Imo McDermott has taken alot more criticism than deserved. If anything, I think they failed with the sherfield and Harty signings. They litterally got nothing out of them. I'll say too that maybe McD held onto Dorsey longer than he should've. A full off season with Brady might change this offense alot. Who knows though 

Well he deserved a lot for blowing 3 winnable games for sure. This last one was not that, though.

 

The DL yesterday was abysmal and that is damning as it’s what McD/Beane have spent so much on while neglecting the WR room. Apart from Allen and the OL there isn’t another dominating group (maybe a full healthy LB core is another).

 

Personally I don’t want Brady back unless he wins a legit and thorough/extensive search. Dorsey making it through a lame search got them in the 6-6 position in the first place.

[DapperCam]

I think expectations any given year for a great team should be making the Divisional round. Football has too much luck, which combined with single elimination sends great teams home.

 

I would say the Bills actually accomplished pretty much exactly what their preseason expectations were. However, the fact that there are no great teams this year does make it feel like a missed opportunity. The Chiefs and Bengals from last year were better than any team in the AFC this year.