Sunday night’s playoff showdown between the Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills was, as is tradition, beautiful chaos. And it ended, as is tradition, with Patrick Mahomes standing tall and Josh Allen’s season over.
The result of Kansas City’s first trip to western New York in six matchups was a brutal one for Bills fans. Two straight regular wins over the Chiefs only paved the way for more heartbreak when the games mattered most. Buffalo has made it to the postseason five straight seasons after 19 years without double-digit regular season wins. Kansas City has been their terminus in three of the last four Januaries.
2024’s loss may not have been as devastating as watching a three-point lead evaporate in the final 13 seconds of 2022’s divisional round matchup, but it will haunt the Bills until they finally break through to a Super Bowl win. Buffalo is an estimated $43 million over next year’s estimated salary cap, per Over the Cap. The team has an aging roster and key veterans like Micah Hyde and Leonard Floyd are free agents. It’s going to take a lot to recapture the brilliance of the Bills’ late-season rally to claim the AFC East title.
If Buffalo can’t do it, it will only make Sunday’s divisional round loss feel even worse. There are no fewer than five crushing fourth quarter moments that showcased the Bills’ inability to seize the moment and move one step closer to a Super Bowl.
