So close yet so far away. That was yet again how the Buffalo Bills' season can be summed up, as the Bills failed to reach the Super Bowl despite looking like this was their year.
Quarterback Josh Allen put together an MVP-caliber season (we'll see if he gets the award later this week) but sadly the team wasn't able to overcome the Kansas City Chiefs and fell 32-29 in the AFC Championship Game. It was a fourth straight loss to the Chiefs in the playoffs and Allen is still up at night thinking about the loss.
“It sucks. Just sitting here thinking about everything that you could’ve done differently,” Allen said in an interview with Rob Maaddi. “I’m having dreams about certain plays that I wish I could have back. There’s no easy way about it.”
Josh Allen wishes he could have a mulligan on a few plays in the AFC Championship Game
Bills fans can relate to what Allen is saying here. Losing these games hurts and never gets easier. It's not crazy for anyone to look back at the worst plays of the game and wonder how differently things could have gone if the playcall was different or if the play had simply worked better.
One play that will stay in fans' minds (and likely Allen's too) for the foreseeable future was the Bills' final play of the game where Dalton Kincaid failed to catch the fourth down that would have extended Buffalo's drive. Catching that ball puts the Bills in field goal range where they could have at least tied the game and hopefully sent it to overtime.
Losing in the playoffs is a tough blow but losing in the AFC Championship Game when the Bills were so close to reaching their first Super Bowl since the 1993 season is an even tougher blow. "There's always next season" has gotten really old for Bills fans, especially with it feeling as though Allen's prime is being wasted.
Let's hope this team can eventually get over the hump once and for all.