Three things life you can guarantee is Death, Taxes and the Bills losing in the Divisional Round of the Playoffs.
There are two things in life you can guarantee, death and taxes. In the NFL, there are some things you can always guarantee as well. With the Bills losing to the Chiefs in the playoffs again, you can always expect the Bills to choke especially in the divisional round. As of late, you can always guarantee that the Josh Allen led Bills are going to choke in the divisional round against, for the most part, the Chiefs. This is now the third straight year where the Bills have fallen in the divisional round. Last year it was to the Bengals and this year it's against the Chiefs. Before last year's playoffs, they fell to the Chiefs in both 2020 and 2021. In 2020, they lost to Kansas City in the AFC championship game and the next year they fell to them again. This time it was the divisional round. The Bills had their chances, but a Tyler Bass missed field goal that was wide right, ended their hopes. If Bass would have made the field goal, it would have tied the game and most likely would have forced overtime. But instead, the Chiefs ended up draining out the clock to clinch their spot in the AFC championship game for the sixth consecutive year!
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Many fans and analysts alike did not think the loss was on Josh Allen. And for the most part, they are correct. Allen played well and had one of his best playoff games in his career. It was also the best that he had ever performed against Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. In the loss, The Wyoming product did not have a single turnover in which he normally has at least two or three. Allen threw for 186 yards, 1 TD pass, a 96 passer rating and a completion percentage of 66. The former seventh overall pick also rushed for 72 yards on 12 carries and had 2 rushing TD`s on the ground. So in theory, he had a great game and was not the reason for their loss. However, when you are in the playoffs your QB needs to be the reason why you win the game in order to move on. Also when you play the Chiefs, you need to be almost perfect to beat Kansas City especially with them being the new Patriots. The Bills were far from perfect, especially when they tried to fake a punt that did not work. It set up the Chiefs in great field position and at the time Kansas City was leading. They did not end up scoring as the Chiefs fumbled near the goal line. Even though the Bills got away with faking a punt in Chiefs territory, KC used the clock and if you are winning the game in the playoffs, time is your friend. If you are losing, time is of the essence. Allen also missed some throws in the game especially at the end before Tyler Bass missed the game tying field goal. He had a wide open receiver and if they score that touchdown, the Bills probably win the game. Chris Jones was a huge reason why Josh Allen was not able to connect with his receiver. But Allen needed to find a way to get the ball in the end zone and take the lead. Even though Allen doesn't deserve all the blame, he is the QB and the leader of the team. Allen gets a lot of praise for their success, but he also deserves the blame when they lose. That's what happens when you play QB in the NFL!
Now Allen doesn't deserve all the blame. Another reason for the Bills losing, other than Tyler Bass missing the field goal, was the defense. Buffalo's defense, which had been their strength all season, was not the best on Sunday night. They also had a plethora of injuries on Sunday which caused them to struggle to stop the Chiefs high powered offense. Those injuries included big names such as CB Christian Benford (knee), LB Baylon Spector (back) and S Taylor Rapp (calf). However, despite those injuries, they still had players such as Von Miller, Jordan Poyer and Micah Hyde. The Chiefs offense had 361 yards of offense. Buffalo had a chance to stop KC at the end, but could not, as Isiah Pacheco ran all over the Bills defense. Pacheco rushed for 97 yards on just 15 carries and also added one touchdown. When you play against the Chiefs, you want your defense to get as many as turnovers. However, the Bills defense was only able to get one turnover. The defense also struggled to get pressure on Mahomes as they failed to get a sack.
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The Bills journey ended in disappointment once again as they fell to the Chiefs in the divisional round. Despite showcasing tremendous skill and resilience throughout the regular season, the Bills faced a challenge in the divisional round. The Bills' postseason struggles continued last Sunday with another tough loss. The Bills are still one of the favorites to win next season. Although, it will be tough for the Bills to rebound, they hope to bounce back and get at least the AFC championship game next season.
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