By CHUCK POLLOCK, Sun Senior Sports Columnist
It’s “next year” for the Buffalo Bills … again.
Last season, after a disappointing 6-6 start, they miraculously put together a five-game winning streak to claim their fourth straight AFC East title.
Next, at home, in the opening round of the playoffs, they easily dispatched Pittsburgh, 31-17.
Now Buffalo had its dream scenario.
The Bills would host its postseason nemesis, Kansas City, at Highmark Stadium.
But, alas, instead, they would fall to the Chiefs in the playoffs for the third time in four years.
And as embarrassing as that “13 Seconds” defeat was in KC, this 27-24 loss on Buffalo’s home field will be remembered for three galling plays in the final 13 minutes.
First, with Buffalo trailing by three early in the fourth quarter, it faced 4th-and-5 at its own 30. Normally a super conservative coach, Sean McDermott opted for a fake punt. However, the play went to Damar Hamlin who came up three yards short. It’s not great wisdom opting for a fake punt, down by a field goal with nearly a full period to play … especially 70 yards from the opposing goal. But what you absolutely don’t do is direct-snap the ball to a safety.
The other two plays came at the beginning and end of Buffalo’s final possession over a span of 6 ½ minutes. On the first snap, quarterback Josh Allen had wide receiver Stefon Diggs open for the lead touchdown but the ball slipped through his hands … a certified drop, in the clutch no less.
His body language indicated “the ball was slightly overthrown.” And if you’re wondering why the Bills ate $31 million in salary-cap dead money — the most in NFL history for a non-quarterback — to dump Diggs with Houston, there are worse guesses, especially since he also disappeared for the second half of the season all the while whining about “targets.”
His huge cap hit plus other moves as general manager Brandon Beane tried to get the team younger left Buffalo with a cumbersome $60 million in “dead” money this season.
Anyway, Diggs’ drop didn’t scuttle that drive and, with 1:44 left, Buffalo was at the Chiefs’ 27-yard line facing a 44-yard field goal to tie. Instead, veteran Tyler Bass revisited the worst two words in Bills fans’ memories, “wide right.”
SO THAT’S the most recent backdrop for the Buffalo faithful heading into 2024.
Incredibly, only 10 players remain on the roster from the 2020 season: Allen, Bass, tackle Dion Dawkins, tight end Dawson Knox, nickelback Taron Johnson, long-snapper Reid Ferguson, fullback Reggie Gilliam, edge rusher A.J. Epenesa, defensive back Cam Lewis and linebacker Matt Milano, who may not play this season with a torn biceps.
But you needn’t look that far back.
Six of last year’s captains are gone: Diggs, wide receiver Gabe Davis, center Mitch Morse, safeties Jordan Poyer and Micah Hyde and special teamer Tyler Matakevich.
All were starters and also gone are cornerback Tre’Davious White, leading sacker Leonard Floyd (9.5) and wide receiver/kick returner Deonte Harty.
In other words, come Sunday afternoon’s opener against the Arizona Cardinals at Highmark, the Bills will field nine different starters from the 53-man roster which began last season.
New on offense are two free-agent wide receivers Curtis Samuel (Washington) and Mack Hollins (Atlanta) plus Khalil Shakir (a backup last year), left guard David Edwards (free agent from Rams), center Connor McGovern (started for the Bills at guard in 2023) while on defense it’s linebacker Dorian Williams (Milano’s backup a year ago) cornerback Rasul Douglas (trade acquisition from Green Bay) and safeties Hamlin and Taylor Rapp (both reserves last season).
Next we’ll assess the Bills’ roster position-by-position and offer a season prediction.
(Chuck Pollock, a Wellsville Sun senior sports columnist, can be reached at cpollock@wnynet.net.)
Read more from Chuck:
• Bills took some risks with the roster cuts
• Preseason has not panned out the way McDermott planned
• Suddenly, major injury issues for the Bills
• It was a win over the Steelers but a loss in other departments
• McDermott on the Bears game: That’s not how we play
• Bills to debut new ‘dynamic kickoff’
• Beane says this is a new NFL team
• Beane responds to Josh Allen critic
• Chuck Pollock with a historical look at Bills training camp for fans and the media
• Tony Hunter’s passing evokes memories of Jim Kelly in the draft
• Mark Schmidt on the NIL deals and the Bona NIT mess
• Pollock on listening to the radio and the days of Willie Mays
• Houghton’s Phil Stockin gets Cazzie Russell to the Castle in Olean and then a title for the Knicks?
• The right hire for St. Bonaventure to lead the athletic department
- Bill Walton was must-see basketball when he played in Buffalo for the Braves
- • Memories of the Indy 500 and a look at racing NASCAR on the same day
- • Looking ahead at another rebuild for Coach Schmidt and St. Bonaventure basketball
- • A look at the early and late schedule issues for the Buffalo Bills
- • John Murphy left a legacy in broadcasting for the Buffalo Bills
- • Beane assesses the Bills’ draft picks
- • A look at the first three picks by the Bills
- • Will the Bills regret trading out of the first round?
- • A look at the Buffalo Bills going into the NFL draft
- • Pollock on the Bonnies and the need for a defensive lineman in the NFL draft for the Bills
- • O.J. Simpson left a mixed legacy … in the wrong order
- When do we hear from Schmidt?
- • Barb Questa to the rescue once again for St. Bonaventure with the AD situation
- • Bona’s Manhertz’s self-inflicted NIT embarrassment ended his tenure
- • St. Bonaventure made every excuse to skip the NIT except the eclipse
- • A look at the current Bona player situation and how it relates to the past
- • The Buffalo Bills have had darker days with cuts during off-season
- • Caitlin Clark brings up memories of St. Bonaventure women and men’s basketball players
- • St. Bonaventure primed for strong finish in Atlantic 10
- • Feature on the Bonnies as the season winds down
- • What to make from the Super Bowl
- • A look at free agency with the Buffalo Bills
- • Don’t blame Bass for the playoff loss
- • St. Bonaventure coach Mark Schmidt was right about the Atlantic 10 and the Bonnies
- Why the Bills and Steelers might be the best wild-card game this weekend
- • Bills claim the No. 2 seed
- • Pollock predicts a 35-30 Dolphins victory
- • It’s 2024 and the Bonnies season starts for real
- • The inside story on why WPIG left the Bonnies after 74 years and a Gary Nease update
- • Bonnies look sharp in tune up to season
- • Pollock’s playoff picture
- • It wasn’t pretty, but it was a win for the Bills
- • The Bills need a win, not a blowout
- • McDermott deserves praise after win vs. the Dallas Cowboys
- • On this day, the Bills manhandled the Cowboys
- • The Bills win at KC turned the heat down on McDermott and Miller
- • At last, another teams gaffe helps the Bills win
- • The Bills must beat the Chiefs and distractions
- • Who is this Ty Dunne?
- • Why Chuck Pollock returned to writing and covering the Bills after a two-week “retirement”
- • Flags? Taking a knee before the half? Buffalo Bills’ apologists are whining in the wrong place
- • Was Dorsey the latest sacrificial lamb?
- • POLLOCK PREDICTION: McDermott will fire Dorsey next
- (You can support the work of our journalists and keep this site free with a PayPal donation HERE)
- • Awkward press conference for the Bills and McDermott
- • If season ended today, the Bills are out of the playoffs
- • Are the Bills a playoff team?
- • Bills produce a third straight stinker
- • An ugly win for the Buffalo Bills
- • The AFC is wide open with Buffalo injuries
- • Injuries were worse than a loss in London
- • Bills prepare for Jacksonville
- • The passing of Russ Francis and what it was like covering the Bills in the 1970’s
- • News and notes from a costly win by the Bills over Miami
- • A look a high school, college and NFL blowouts
- • Did the Bills find a middle linebacker in win vs. Washington?
- • Pollock Predicts: Take the Bills over Washingto
- Tags: #Buffalobills
- #billsmafia
- #NFL
