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

[ShakAttack]

1 hour ago, TheBrownBear said:

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.

We did get a lot of luck to stay in that game, but ultimately, KC lucked out when Allen decided to not throw an easy completion to a wide open Diggs that they didn’t cover. And that’s really all that matters in the end. 

[Awwufelloff]

Any year we have a healthy Josh Allen we have a chance at a superbowl, not sure why this is difficult to understand.

[mozillameister]

If I’m honest with myself…better than I expected coming into this season….but that was assuming this NFL season wasn’t nearly so topsy turvy as it was. I thought the AFC was going to be tough and our schedule especially brutal. Wild card is where I had us, likely injured and losing in the first round.

 

except this year was one hell of a wacky year.

 

Cincy was gone this year and a non threat. Baltimore I still think is not as good as people think (Houston just got exposed and have lost a couple games in similar fashion). KC has several holes on offense. Miami folded at the 11th hour.  Rodgers became a non factor minutes into the season. And it seemed like we were more healthy for once down the stretch than we are usually (which is saying something since we’re still pretty banged up).

 

The biggest factor? Allen unlike last year wasn’t playing hiding an hindering injury down the stretch. We have an all-around good RB for the first time since Shady. And we have potentially an elite TE, something that made the Patriots offense overpowered for a decade and that’ll set up Allen for massive success as he transitions into a pocket passer.

 

So somehow it seemed all the stars aligned for the Bills to make it even to the Super Bowl.

 

And KC was 100% beatable. 
 

if we didn’t do a dumbass fake punt.

 

if we didn’t force running Cook up the middle throughout the 2nd half despite it obviously being adjusted for.

 

if we adjusted mid game and used Kincaid like how we switched to Cook in the Cowboys game when KC had no answer for our freak TE.

 

if our defensive line played with some fire.

 

if Diggs performed even half of his 2020-2022 caliber and caught even one of his several dropped or didn’t even attempt to catch passes.

 

if our kicker didn’t crap the bed all game.

 

Take away just ONE of this…and we likely would have won.

 

All because we have the best QB in the NFL on our team and potentially one of the best TE’s.

 

So while we preformed better than I expected….we will NEVER have a season where all the stars align THIS close to get us into the Super Bowl. 

 

I truly hope this team looks itself deep in the mirror and reflect…McD humbles himself and realizes he is spread FAR too thin being both HC and DC.
 

also needs to humble himself and realize Josh makes this team by default an offensive juggernaut, so stop forcing this team into focusing on defense so much. The organization realizes it needs to pay serious dollar for an elite OC and let that person completely manage the offense without input from McD. Or hire Jim Harbaugh as GM/HC.

 

We need to upgrade the heck out of that O line. Allen disguises how mediocre it is by his ability to Houdini out of the pocket. It’s amazing we have a freak QB…but it’s time we start setting him up so he doesn’t need to be a freak QB every game to win. The Cowboys game shouldn’t be the exception. It’ll also let Cook….cook.

 

we need a WR1. Diggs is toast. Him and Miller are albatrosses unfortunately and we just need to accept that. Draft a great WR with the 1st round pick. Diggs and Shakir can share WR2.

 

moving forward Kincaid needs to be designed far more into our offense like the Pats did with Gronk. He is going to be elite as he keeps learning the game.

 

defense needs to for once play second fiddle and get little attention this offseason. The unit is old. It’ll likely stay old for a season. I’m OK with that to start building a great O line as we have a couple really solid pieces and just need to plug some holes.

 

once we get the offense to world beating, we can focus again on defense.

 

but I fear the organization will just look at us getting to #2 and close to beating KC as ‘good enough’, even though in a year where everything lined up so well for us….it ain’t.

Edited January 23 by mozillameister
Beyond pissed off….

[zow2]

No, did not really think we’d win a Championship, or ever in my lifetime.  But since the Bills were hot at the right time the wins kept the dream going.  We are right there, but the problem is Mahomes and to some extent Burrow just have the Bills number in the Allen era.  We can’t stop those guys.

[mozillameister]

Just now, zow2 said:

No, did not really think we’d win a Championship, or ever in my lifetime.  But since the Bills were hot at the right time the wins kept the dream going.  We are right there, but the problem is Mahomes and to some extent Burrow just have the Bills number in the Allen era.  We can’t stop those guys.

We literally almost did. 
 

like I said: 

 

if we didn’t do a dumbass fake punt.

 

if we didn’t force running Cook up the middle throughout the 2nd half despite it obviously being adjusted for.

 

if we adjusted mid game and used Kincaid like how we switched to Cook in the Cowboys game when KC had no answer for our freak TE.

 

if our defensive line played with some fire.

 

if Diggs performed even half of his 2020-2022 caliber and caught even one of his several dropped or didn’t even attempt to catch passes.

 

if our kicker didn’t crap the bed all game.

 

Take away just ONE of this…and we likely would have won.

 

this was 10000000% winnable. Heck, JA was by far the better QB and played his heart out. Him, Shakir, Kincaid, and Cook did the best they could.

 

This narrative is what pisses me off….its high time we shake off the complacency.

[stuvian]

There's a difference between thinking this was a championship team versus this year was our best chance. I thought we could catch KC in a SB hangover year and that our real nemesis was Cincy. After Burrow went down, I thought things were starting to fall our way.

 

When we slid to 6 - 6, I didn't think we'd make the playoffs. But as we chalked up wins to 11-6 it felt like we had momentum. Beating KC and Dallas gave us our bona fides.

 

Now that I look back, did I really think Andy Reid would lose to us twice in one season? Probably not. Did I think we could beat the Ravens? Definitely not.

 

Clappy coached some good performances out of the D but even at full strength our defense scares no one. 

[Búfalo Blanco]

No, I never thought the team was good enough this season. I had hope, but knew it would be very difficult realistically… before and during the season.
 

I thought the 2021 and 2022 seasons were their best shots under this regime. 

 

I’m perfectly happy with Beane as GM. He’s proven himself beyond a reasonable doubt. But with this coaching staff, the Bills will most likely never win a Super Bowl. Beane would have to bring in multiple difference makers, all players stay mostly healthy throughout a season and Allen and the offense would have to click on all cylinders consistently for this coaching staff to go all the way. 
 

The Reids and Shanahans of the NFL are going to always out coach McDermott when it matters.. It’s that simple.. 

[jkeerie]

4 hours 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 

At the beginning of the season I thought with the depth that Beane created this team could do it especially defensively.  Then the injuries started happening and that depth was strained.  Offensively we were inconsistent under Dorsey.  When McD replaced Dorsey with Brady...we started moving in the right direction...but the injuries kept coming.  And suddenly our special teams became problematic.  Winning out to win the AFCE and take the 2 seed gave me hope.  That hope was dashed with the wildcard win over the Steelers with all the injuries in that game.  So I was not optimistic playing a healthy KC team.

[schoolhouserock]

Yes. I let myself Billieve. Partly because I thought they could actually do it and partly because I think it is more fun to Billieve.

[PromoTheRobot]

I thought they had destiny on their side after winning 6 in a row. But injuries crushed that dream.

[JMM]

By the end of the season and before all those D injuries,  I did start to believe it was possible.  Unlikely but possible. But I knew it meant Josh would have to go completely ALIEN for 4 straight games and we would need some luck.

[BullBuchanan]

exactly. This version of the Bills was probably the worst one we've put out there since 2019. There was no chance they were beating the best teams in the league. They just didn't have the horses this year and the offense never looked strong.

[Dr.Mantis_Toboggan]

I don’t believe this is the best Bills team we’ve seen under Josh, and this kinda underscores that 13 seconds was MiDermotts only legitimate chance at getting the job done here in Buffalo.  I believe we’ll see better, more complete Bills teams with Josh over the next few years, but it won’t happen until they realize they got Doug Collins and not Phil Jackson (tired reference, but it’s on point).

 

But that being said, I did buy in for a second that they might be able to get one this year in what seemed to be an real up for grabs situation.

Edited January 23 by Dr.Mantis_Toboggan

[billsherd]

We still needed a very good WR to be an elite offense to win it all. 

[DanInUticaTampa]

I didn't think that THIS was the team, but when the rest of the league looked vulnerable (burrow injury, chiefs sloppy offense, Aaron rodgers injury, miami's late season collapse) it felt like there was opportunity 

[90sBills]

5 hours ago, Buffalo03 said:

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?

No. No they couldn’t. They had a chance to close out the game last night. It was right there for them. And they failed. It has nothing to do with luck. If anything luck were on the Bills side last night. It was all about execution and this team fails time and time again at the most crucial moments. So no. They could not have beaten Balt or SF. Could’ve should’ve would’ve only works for so long before it becomes delusional. 

[Buffalo03]

26 minutes ago, 90sBills said:

No. No they couldn’t. They had a chance to close out the game last night. It was right there for them. And they failed. It has nothing to do with luck. If anything luck were on the Bills side last night. It was all about execution and this team fails time and time again at the most crucial moments. So no. They could not have beaten Balt or SF. Could’ve should’ve would’ve only works for so long before it becomes delusional. 

Yes. They could have. If they won last night, they absolutely could have beaten the Ravens or either one of the NFC teams. Forget about the execution part of it and just look at talent alone. I believe we were better than the Chiefs but we didn't play like it last night. Execution can be corrected, talent can't. Let me ask you, have you looked at the Chiefs at any point this season and said "that's a team that can win a title right there"? A team that has looked dreadful and had a hard time scoring and had a bad loss to the Raiders on Christmas Day where they got man handled. Guess what...they're right back to being one game away from the Super Bowl again. I never thought ince this season that the Chiefs were a better team than us. They are beatable and had we executed like we should have, would have beaten them like we should have. 

[GoBills808]

Kind of 

I mean not really

But kind of a little I did 

[Buffalo_Stampede]

They can beat anyone and lose to anyone. When we had all the injuries after the 1st Miami win I thought the season was over. Losing White, Milano, and Jones in back to back weeks was tough. I really thought this was the best roster we’ve had under McDermott.

 

Then the team stuttered. Fired the OC. I thought they of all apart and McDermott possibly lose his job. I predicted 7-10 when they were 6-6. Then they found their way. They figured out how to replace Milano and Douglas was playing as good as Tre at his best.

 

Yes, I thought they could do it. Their depth was extremely thin at LB after Bernard went down but I still thought they could beat the Chiefs. I thought they had a shot to win it all.

 

It was much like previous playoff losses. The defense crumbled. In a game we needed the healthy DL to step up they didn’t.

[John from Riverside]

I was until I started seeing our defensive players, dropping like flies
 

I don’t think people understand how big that was in this game with the exception of our defensive line we were playing guys that weren’t at 100% or back up almost every other defensive position

 

We pulled a guy off of going on vacation to play middle linebacker for us who we basically cut earlier in the season. That player got hurt in the game and continued to play because we didn’t have anybody else. Supposedly, I still feel the Dorian Williams would’ve been the better bet.

 

doesn’t matter they didn’t count on Dorian Williams Douglas was not 100%. Binford was out our star middle linebacker was out in. Bernard was out Jackson is not the corner that you want covering people that Mahomes is throwing to, and they basically just destroyed us over the middle again and again and again. They punted one time in the entire game.

 

I thought this team had a legit shot if they had their health

Edited January 23 by John from Riverside

[JoPoy88]

9 hours 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 

No I agree. They would’ve been waxed by Baltimore either way.

[90sBills]

1 hour ago, Buffalo03 said:

Yes. They could have. If they won last night, they absolutely could have beaten the Ravens or either one of the NFC teams. Forget about the execution part of it and just look at talent alone. I believe we were better than the Chiefs but we didn't play like it last night. Execution can be corrected, talent can't. Let me ask you, have you looked at the Chiefs at any point this season and said "that's a team that can win a title right there"? A team that has looked dreadful and had a hard time scoring and had a bad loss to the Raiders on Christmas Day where they got man handled. Guess what...they're right back to being one game away from the Super Bowl again. I never thought ince this season that the Chiefs were a better team than us. They are beatable and had we executed like we should have, would have beaten them like we should have. 

Yes KC is very vulnerable this season. The fact that they advanced and Bills didn’t should tell you something. 

[Buffalo03]

4 hours ago, 90sBills said:

Yes KC is very vulnerable this season. The fact that they advanced and Bills didn’t should tell you something. 

The point is that the Bills COULD HAVE advanced. Just like the Chiefs did and can beat the Ravens just like the Chiefs can. If the Chiefs come out and play like crap this week, does that mean that they can't beat them if they execute or don't execute? Every team has mishaps. Even the best teams I have seen. The Chiefs are very vulnerable but can be beaten. We absolutely could have beaten every team left. It's about being better that day. Unfortunately, we weren't when it counted. It doesn't mean we couldn't have been. Have you ever looked at a 5th or 6th seed and thought "they can win a championship"? The Steelers did it in 05, the Giants did it in 07. The 2000 Ravens had absolutely no offense to speak of and won a title. We have the team that can win it all. We just have to be on top of our game in the crucial moments. We just didn't this week. 

Edited January 23 by Buffalo03

[Orlando Tim]

Depended on day of season- at begining I did, after London we couldn't, when we destroyed Cowboys I was back on the bandwagon, when the TB and Benford went down I knew it was over, KC would punish us there and they did. 

[Call_Of_Ktulu]

I didn’t, too many key injuries on defense and I think this year we can see how important it is to have a good #2 WR. 

[Gugny]

Sitting at 7-6, I thought that if the Bills made the playoffs, then they would get to the Super Bowl. 
 

I still think they should have. 

[Gregg]

I don't think they would have beaten the Ravens if they got by KC. Baltimore has been the best team in the AFC and maybe the league. I think they will beat the Chiefs this Sunday. No matter what I am rooting for the NFC in the Super Bowl. I don't want Mahomes getting a 3rd ring and I don't want LJ getting one either. Then all of the media "experts" will be saying Jackson is a much better QB than Allen if the Ravens do win it all.

[BillsMontreal]

1 hour ago, Buffalo03 said:

The point is that the Bills COULD HAVE advanced. Just like the Chiefs did and can beat the Ravens just like the Chiefs can. If the Chiefs come out and play like crap this week, does that mean that they can't beat them if they execute or don't execute? Every team has mishaps. Even the best teams I have seen. The Chiefs are very vulnerable but can be beaten. We absolutely could have beaten every team left. It's about being better that day. Unfortunately, we weren't when it counted. It doesn't mean we couldn't have been. Have you ever looked at a 5th or 6th seed and thought "they can win a championship"? The Steelers did it in 05, the Giants did it in 07. The 2000 Ravens had absolutely no offense to speak of and won a title. We have the team that can win it all. We just have to be on top of our game in the crucial moments. We just didn't this week. 

Exactly.  We dont know if the Bills would win against the Ravens, but  their chances would be better...if they play that game, it's the least i can say. 

 

[BarleyNY]

1 hour ago, Gugny said:

Sitting at 7-6, I thought that if the Bills made the playoffs, then they would get to the Super Bowl. 
 

I still think they should have. 

At that point I thought the Billsiest thing possible would be to go on a run, make the playoffs and then fall short. As we got to the end of the season I thought we’d win the WC game, beat the Chefs and make it to the AFCCG, but lose there. IMO at this time the Ravens are the best team in the league by a fairly wide margin.

 

But a little voice of hope told me that if we got past the Ravens (or they got upset first) and we got to the SB, then we might match up very well against the 49ers. Same Shanahan scheme (basically) as the Dolphins run and we don’t run a Fangio defense which that scheme murders. We run a defense that fares well against it. So if we could get there I had real hope of winning a championship. 

Edited January 23 by BarleyNY

[Buffalo03]

25 minutes ago, BillsMontreal said:

Exactly.  We dont know if the Bills would win against the Ravens, but  their chances would be better...if they play that game, it's the least i can say. 

 

Right. I'm not saying we would have, but we definitely could have. We probably would have only been 3 point underdogs in that game. Apparently the OP of this thread thinks we would be 10 or 15 point underdogs lol. We are a very hard team to beat. We beat ourselves most weeks. Probably more than most teams. And if we played to our potential every week and cleaned that up, we would literally only lose maybe 2 or 3 games a season. We should have been 14-3 this season if we didn't blow the Jets, Patriots and Broncos games

[Wayne Arnold]

They never looked like a championship team this season. Maybe that's why I wasn't truly devastated on Sunday night like the previous two seasons.

 

AFC East championship, sure. But considering the competition that's the equivalent of a Little League trophy at this point.

[Ralonzo]

Serious answer: A team with Allen at QB has a puncher's chance. He presents too many problems for any team to completely shut down. They've been in every game for a couple years now. They nearly took out KC even with an all-time bad defensive performance.

[Just Jack]

This guy makes these after every weeks games, and he’s a Bills fan

 

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZPRcwwFce/

 

[hondo in seattle]

During the offseason, I thought this was the best roster Beane had put together yet.

 

The Jets game put me in confused WTF mode.  

 

Then I regained my optimism when we reeled off three consecutive 28+ point victories.  

 

And then I was confused again when we went into a funk.  And dismayed as we started losing key players.  

 

Even when we rebounded and won the AFCE, I didn't expect a Super Bowl run.  The limitations of the roster had been exposed and, more importantly, the defensive injuries were just too substantial. 

[TheFunPolice]

One silver lining from this year is that we'll have Milano and Bernard out there at the same time, with Williams as the athletic hard hitting backup. Even Spector did a decent job as a backup/depth player. It's almost like we have 2 Matt Milanos now. 

 

Obviously we had 0 Milanos this weekend, but going forward that's 2 stud LBers who make plays all over the place. 

 

The biggest disappointment, aside from Oliver, is at DL. So much investment for so little return when it matters most. Just no impact at all, and no ability to stop the run. And it's a pattern, not just a one off game. 

 

[london_bills]

17 hours 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 

All this Baltimore will beat KC by ten stuff. Chefs showed how good they are and that's what's depressing. Actually I thought or hoped we would get the the big one and win it this year, through the adversity

[TheFunPolice]

Just now, london_bills said:

All this Baltimore will beat KC by ten stuff. Chefs showed how good they are and that's what's depressing. Actually I thought or hoped we would get the the big one and win it this year, through the adversity

 

That's the thing... KC will 100% load up on offense this offseason. This was their "down year." 

[KOKBILLS]

17 hours 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 

 

Talent-wise... Sure... They can beat anyone on their good days... Anyone...

 

Coaching-wise... No... No chance...

[london_bills]

9 minutes ago, TheFunPolice said:

 

That's the thing... KC will 100% load up on offense this offseason. This was their "down year." 

They have better coaches as well. I actually want an offensive mind now 

[Rocbillsfan1]

No. They didn’t have the talent on the offensive side of the ball and had too many injuries on d. Nice to see they fought like hell though. 2021 was their opportunity and they blew it. 2022 was a good shot but coaches had horrible gameplans.