Why Bills' latest playoff loss is worse than previous exits in Josh Allen era

This season was supposed to be different for Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills. 

Instead, it ended up being just like all of the previous ones and concluded with a devastating postseason loss that saw the Bills fall short of a Super Bowl appearance and championship. This time, it was a 33-30 overtime loss to Bo Nix and the Denver Broncos. 

While all of the previous playoff losses have had their own version of agony, this might be one of the worst of them all. 

Why this playoff loss seems worse than previous ones for Bills

This Bills team was far from perfect. It clearly had flaws on the defensive side of the ball and in the wide receiver room. It also was in a position where it was going to need to play every game on the road and away from the friendly confines of its home field. 

But even with all of that, this seemed like the year Buffalo was going to have its best chance to get the job done. Not necessarily because of its own team but because of who was not in the playoffs standing in its way.

This was the most wide-open AFC field of the past decade. All of the Bills' past playoff demons were already gone. There was no Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs waiting for them. There was no Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens lurking. There was no Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals ready to spoil the party.

All of the other preseason favorites in the AFC were either already eliminated or not in the playoffs. Buffalo was not only the lone preseason favorite in the field, but it had the best quarterback in the AFC. That alone should have made it a favorite. 

Not only did the Bills bow out before the AFC Championship Game, but they did so in large part because that quarterback who should have made them a favorite played one of the worst playoff games of his career. This was not a game where Allen played flawless football and the rest of the team held him down.  

If Allen had simply protected the football before and immediately after halftime, Buffalo probably wins. If he does not miss on a wide-open throw late in regulation, Buffalo probably wins. 

This game was there for the taking. The entire AFC was there for the taking. And they let it slip away.

The only other playoff loss of the Allen era that might compare to this is the 2021 divisional game in Kansas City where they allowed Mahomes to tie the game with only 13 seconds to play in regulation. That might have been Buffalo's best chance prior to this. This was its best chance after that.

They missed both of them. There is no guarantee they will get a better one in the future. That is what makes this one hurt the most. You only get so many kicks at the can before it is gone. That is a reality everybody in Buffalo is going to have to face.