Teams truly capable of winning the Super Bowl don’t fail to exploit an opponent starting three fill-in offensive linemen. They don’t end the first quarter of a home playoff game with no first downs and 24 feet of offense. They don’t have a star receiver who spends the final moments brooding on the sideline and then dashing out of the stadium. And they don’t get gutted as a favorite.
Ladies and gentlemen, your 2022 Buffalo Bills, the owner of gaudy statistics and rankings and star power … but no steps forward in a season that was officially cemented as a disappointment at 6:04 p.m. Sunday when they lost 27-10 to the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC’s divisional round.
Season over, two wins short of reaching the Super Bowl and three victories short of the franchise’s first Lombardi Trophy.
Season over, handled by a team that was more talented (I say so), more physical (coach Sean McDermott said so), more everything (if you watched the game, you would agree).
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Season over, the instant analysis being the Bills are further away from winning a championship than they were two years ago, when they lost the conference title game at Kansas City, and certainly last year, when they lost a second-round overtime game to the Chiefs.
The Buffalo Bills were not in the Cincinnati Bengals’ league Sunday. As painful as that is for Bills fans to read, it’s reality. The Bengals were the better team in every way, shape and form in their 27-10 victory at Highmark Stadium, Jay Skurski writes.
“Definitely shocking,” running back Devin Singletary said. “It’s a sick feeling.”
The Bills never led. The Bills were down at least two possessions for 36 minutes, 48 seconds of the game. The Bills committed three defensive penalties in one third-quarter possession. The Bills didn’t create a takeaway.
This was a disappointment wrapped around a debacle. A disappointment because the Bills believed they had the goods to be the last team standing next month in Glendale, Ariz., and a debacle for how it ended.
Hard truths produce hard lessons, though. The truth is their hopes disappeared when defensive end Von Miller tore his ACL on Thanksgiving, taking the four-man pass rush with him off to surgery. The hard lessons are they need to think about their plan at cornerback and running back, for starters, and are looking up – way up – at the Bengals and Chiefs in the conference. (They play at both teams in ’23.) The Chiefs have made five consecutive conference title games (the Bills have two in the last 29 years). The Bengals have now made consecutive appearances for the first time in franchise history.
Sean McDermott speaks to reporters following the loss to the Bengals in the AFC divisional round.
“For right now, this stings,” McDermott said. “I wish it was a different result.”
So does quarterback Josh Allen, outperformed by Joe Burrow. So does the offensive line, which allowed eight hits. So does receiver Stefon Diggs, who had only one 100-yard receiving game over the last eight and was acting out on the sideline late in the game. And so does the defense, which was rolled for 412 yards and a season-high 30 first downs (30!).
The bit of aforementioned instant analysis – the Bills have slipped down a peg or two in contending position for the Super Bowl – is what resonated as the Bengals were bounding up the tunnel to light cigars in the visitor’s locker room and some Bills players high-tailed it out of theirs.
What an opportunity lost. A win and they would have faced the Chiefs and ankle-sprained quarterback Patrick Mahomes on a neutral field, the stadium theoretically split 50-50 between Buffalo and Kansas City fans.
What a chance squandered. These are precious in the NFL, a league built on the haves being forced to constantly re-tool their roster and deplete their depth to be salary cap compliant, which gives the have-nots a chance to storm through the door if they draft the right quarterback and surround him with the right talent.
A season that began with the sky-high expectations ended with a thud Sunday as the Bills never led and never threatened the Cincinnati Bengals, falling 27-10 in an AFC divisional round game at Highmark Stadium.
The Bengals have hit the jackpot with Burrow and coach Zac Taylor, whose play-calls had the Bills defense playing on their heels. Burrow and Mahomes represent the top tier of AFC passers. When the Bills were on offense, they were flummoxed by Bengals coordinator Lou Anarumo, forcing two three-and-outs to start the game. Not a great end for Bills offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey.
This was about the Bengals just being better. A lot better. Taylor vs. McDermott. Burrow vs. Allen. Ja’Marr Chase vs. Diggs. Joe Mixon vs. Singletary/James Cook. Hayden Hurst vs. Dawson Knox. They came to Buffalo and rolled. Up 14-0 in a blink. Answering the Bills’ first score with a field goal (17-7). Forcing the Bills’ 15-play to end with a field goal and answering with a put-away touchdown (24-10).
Josh Allen speaks to reporters following Sunday's loss to the Bengals in the AFC divisional round.
“It’s devastating,” Bills right guard Ryan Bates said. “We had very high expectations this year. We wanted to go to the Super Bowl and that was our plan and that everybody’s plan every year, but we had a great shot. It just didn’t click (Sunday).”
Their season suddenly over, the Bills will have to decide which free agent players on defense to keep (some combination of tackle Ed Oliver, linebacker Tremaine Edmunds and safety Jordan Poyer), find ways to improve in-house players or acquire new ones who can help Diggs carry the big-play responsibility and, most importantly, be hellbent on making sure Allen doesn’t have to be their go-to running back in 2023.
Is it valid to say the Bills’ Super Bowl window creaked closer to completely shut?
“No,” McDermott said. “This is a good football team and you learn from things like this and you keep knocking on the door. That’s what you do. You stay steadfast in your focus and your approach (and) you work your tail off.”
The Bills will get back to work and they should use this gut-punch as motivation to not let it happen next season. But it will only get more difficult as the teams around them add talent while the Bills struggle to hang on to theirs. The window is open … barely.
The Bills player speaks to reporters following Sunday's loss to the Bengals in the AFC divisional round.
January 23, 2023 at 10:29AM
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Ryan O'Halloran: The hard truth after playoff loss – Super Bowl further away for Bills than entering season - Buffalo News
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