The Buffalo Bills' great season has ended after bowing to the defending champions Kansas City Chiefs, 24-27, in the Divisional Round.
This is the third time the Bills lost to the Chiefs and Mahomes in four tries, and fans are now looking more baffled than ever because they don't seem to have an answer every time they meet. To them, it is hard to call this one a rivalry if it is one-sided.
Coach Sean McDermott refused to throw his players out of the bus, but he knew what happened was a disaster.
"We were within a whisker of tying that game & maybe even taking the lead there against the defending world champs," he told reporters in a press conference after the match.
"It starts with me. I take full responsibility. We didn't do enough to win."
Still, it is hard not to dwell on the "what-ifs" and "what-could-have-beens." They were one play away from slaying their ghosts.
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They will regroup for next season and reflect on their 2023 season, best described by the phrase "almost but not quite" - just like the previous seasons.
So, who is to blame for their collapse? This is more about players who could have done better or plays that could have changed the game's direction if only they completed the play.
1. Josh Allen
Allen is the Bills' ride-or-die this season, and for the most part, his stellar play and great football I.Q. has taken them where they needed to be.
However, lapses in the last quarter against the Chiefs cost them the game. This is not to say that he sucked in the game, as he claimed. He recorded three total touchdowns (two rushing and one passing) and 258 total yards (186 passing and 72 rushing).
They had a chance to steal the win with 1:47 remaining in regulation. They needed just 26 yards and nine yards on the first down. However, Allen went for the home run instead. He also missed a wide-open Steffon Diggs on a crossing route that could have gained them an advantage on a first down.
He threw the ball away in the next play and set up a 44-yard field goal that Tyles Bass kicked wide-right.
2. Tyler Bass and his missed field goal
Bass has been sensational for the Bills all season long, but his missed 2nd field goal attempt against the Chiefs totally flipped their season.
He converted his first field goal in the game and had to attempt the second one, which was packed with more pressure as it could have tied the game.
It was not from an ideal position - 44 yards. The miss sucked the spirit out of the home fans and players.
"It's completely on me," Bass said via the team's website. "I've got to do a better job of getting through to my target. I've got to do a better job of playing it a little bit more left when you have a left to right [wind].
KICK IS NO GOOD.
— NFL (@NFL) January 22, 2024
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3. Stefon Diggs
Diggs is one of the best wide receivers this season, arguably the best on the field at the Highmark Stadium last Sunday.
However, it did not show in the fourth quarter. The whole game, actually.
Allen targeted him eight times, with most of the passes as accurate as they can be. He only caught three of them for only 21 yards and no score.
At the eighth-minute mark, he dropped the ball. Had he caught it, the complexion of the game would have changed. The result would have been different.
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