The Buffalo Bills are officially in offseason mode after losing to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game. Fans who thought this might finally be the year the Bills break their Super Bowl appearance drought and finally get the coveted Lombardi Trophy will have to wait another year.
That doesn't make this loss any easier, however, especially since it truly did feel like the officials had some crucial calls that went in Kansas City's favor. One of the biggest "whoops" calls made by the officiating crew was early in the fourth quarter when the Bills went for it on 4th-and-1 using a quarterback sneak and were ruled short.
The officials even went back and reviewed it and it looked pretty clear that Josh Allen had the first down but alas, the refs said it was a turnover on downs. The ball went back to Kansas City and head coach Sean McDermott was dumbfounded.
“I thought he had it,” McDermott said. “Just short of the line was actually the first down, what it looked like to me when it was sitting next to me with the marker. Just inside that white stripe was the first down. And it looked like he got to it. That’s all I can say.”
Sean McDermott wasn't happy about controversial fourth down ruling
There were other moments during the game that made Bills fans think "Hmm" as well but this fourth down ruling is one that might hurt the most because of how late it was in the game. A conversion there gives the Bills a chance to extend their lead from one point to potentially eight points (or even nine if they opted to go for the two-point conversion).
What happened instead was that Kansas City got the ball back, went down the field and scored a touchdown. That gave the Chiefs a 29-22 lead and while the Bills went on to tie it on the next play, the Chiefs kicked a field goal on their ensuing possession while the Bills got stopped on downs once again.
The refs are an easy culprit to blame, sure, but James Cook was also ignored toward the end of the game and that's got to be addressed as well. Even with the officials against them, the Bills still had a chance to win this game and they couldn't get it done. Sure, those bad calls are going to hurt, but Buffalo knew what it needed to do down the stretch and didn't execute.
It's going to be a long offseason, to say the least.