We are about to watch yet another Super Bowl that involves the Kansas City Chiefs. As they prepare to go for the first ever three-peat in NFL history, Buffalo Bills fans can only think and reflect on what could have went differently in the AFC championship game.
Maybe we can put a little blame on the calls by the refs. However, the Bills just simply weren’t the best team on the field in that game.
Having a quarterback like Josh Allen and not reaching a Super Bowl yet is ridiculous. However, we are in the Patrick Mahomes-era and the Bills have to find a way to overcome their biggest nightmare. The funny part about this whole dilemma with the Bills is that they are solely responsible for the Chiefs even getting Patrick Mahomes and CBS Sports’ Garrett Podell reminds us how it happened.
Podell created a list of the most important people in the building of the Chiefs’ dynasty and a former Bills general manager made the list (unfortunately).
Former Bills general manager Doug Whaley started this nightmare for the NFL
"There is no Chiefs dynasty if the Buffalo Bills don't allow Kansas City to trade up 17 spots from No. 27 overall to 10th overall in the 2017 NFL Draft to select quarterback Patrick Mahomes. "Garrett Podell, CBS Sports
Sean McDermott had just arrived to Buffalo as the new head coach for the Bills and at first, he was set to work with then-general manager Doug Whaley. However, that pairing was short-lived.
"Then-Bills general manager Doug Whaley was fired the morning after the 2017 draft was completed, and looking back on it, that firing was more than justified. Mahomes and the Chiefs have ended Buffalo's season four times in the postseason."Garrett Podell, CBS Sports
The Chiefs traded the No. 27 overall pick, a 2017 third-round pick and 2018 first-round pick to the Bills in order to acquire Mahomes. With those three picks that Buffalo acquired, the only true impactful players that they brought in were cornerback Tre’Davious White and linebacker Tremaine Edmunds. White was a lockdown corner for the Bills up until he tore his ACL in 2021 and then tearing his achilles in 2023. He was not the player he once was after those injuries.
Buffalo moved off of White last offseason in which he signed with the Los Angeles Rams. However, his struggles continued and he was traded to the Baltimore Ravens.
Edmunds was a solid linebacker, but he started to regress near the end of his tenure in Buffalo and the Bills didn’t have the financials to bring him back. He now plays for the Chicago Bears after joining them in 2023.
Even though the Bills have a star quarterback in Josh Allen and have built a great culture, they are the first big reason as to why the Chiefs have been building their current dynasty. While Doug Whaley has been long gone out of Buffalo, the damage was already done and now it’s up to McDermott and Brandon Beane to find a way to get Buffalo past Kansas City.