Radio Host Rips Bills for Playoff Losses vs. Chiefs: 'If Not Now, When?'
Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott’s arrival would coincide with a core that gave them a legitimate chance to win a Super Bowl. Adding Josh Allen in 2018 cemented the Bills as perpetual competitors in an evolving conference.
Yet, the playoff success never truly followed. Despite the AFC East titles, the loaded secondaries, and the trade for receiver Stefon Diggs, it was never enough to climb the mountain.
Now, as cornerback Tre’Davious White joins safeties Micah Hyde and Jordan Poyer in free agency, Bills Mafia mourns an era that ended seven years into McDermott’s tenure.
© Mark J. Rebilas, USA TODAY
Buffalo, of course, lost to Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs again in the playoffs. It came in the familiar heartbreaking fashion. But the finality of this loss is a different beast.
As long as Allen is under center, the Bills are going to have a chance. It just won’t look like the last half-decade of football in Western New York. Adam Schein grappled with that reality on “Schein on Sports.”
“We said if not now, when? If not now, this year, having a flawed Kansas City team at home in Buffalo, finally in the postseason,” Schein said. “When you have the lead on Kansas City at halftime. If you couldn’t beat this version of the Kansas City Chiefs this year, when?”
It’s a sobering thought. This was Buffalo’s year – at least in terms of the best chance to take down the Chiefs. However, that doesn’t mean the dream is dead. It just got significantly more difficult.
“I’m gonna give them a minute to figure out the roster,” Schein said. “I am not declaring the window closed. I am not declaring the Buffalo Bills dead. But I am declaring that the last three years were a complete and utter waste of time.”
Having one of the handful of quarterbacks worthy of going toe-to-toe with Mahomes, the unilateral best player in the sport, puts the Bills in a fairly envious spot. But after a bad loss to the Bengals in 2022 and missed opportunities sinking their season against Kansas City multiple times, it’s a little harder to feel confident.
Subsequently, this offseason is pivotal. General manager Brandon Beane’s track record as a drafter is questionable. Now, more than ever, they’ll need a youth movement to replenish the talent around Allen.
They’ll go to the discount rack in free agency to replace a core that simply aged out of its prime. But there’s no guarantee Buffalo manages to support Allen with the kind of talent necessary to take down Mahomes and ultimately win a title.
It’s on Beane to prove he can navigate a mess few would care about if it had brought home a championship.
