Have a clearer mind and the opportunity to actually look back and fully understand The mayhem that happened on Sunday night At Arrowhead Stadium, as expected, Buffalo Bills lose to Kansas City Chiefs in 42-36 overtime It’s the same as biting.
You experience something similar, trying to understand how Bill was destined, then won, then again destined, and then again won, and finally, finally destined. And I think you are.
The drama reopened on Broadway Sunday night is less than the last six minutes of this instant classic. This game will forever be on top of the NFL Films archive shelves.
Certainly for franchises that don’t have a deep reservoir with playoff appearances-as you know, only 21 out of 62 years, just three more than New England patriots had in the 21st century. -Bills is certainly a habit of participating in some all-timers.
Super bowl 25 It continues to be one of the greatest and most dramatic in history. Comeback game It’s still the best post-season rally. the Music City Miracle Will be played forever. And now, this latest giant epic, already called, is the biggest playoff game in the NFL chronology.
more:Greatly off to the right. Music City Miracle. Is there a nickname for this rooted bill loss?
Report card:Josh Allen’s legendary efforts were wasted by a defensive blunder against the Chiefs
“That’s not much to say. Everyone feels the same. It was devastating,” said tight-end Dawson Knox about the sad ending. “But everything that happens can be turned into something good in the future. I think it will be a good foundation for us.”
Here are some final observations I had:
That’s why Gabriel Davis should have played more
It didn’t make any sense to me why he didn’t play a bigger role until Emmanuel Sanders suffered a knee injury in Tampa Bay and Bills was forced to take Davis to the field.
This is the player who led Bill as a rookie in 2020 and caught seven TD passes with an average catch of 17.1 yards. When Bills signed the Sanders, Davis was fourth on the depth chart, playing only 47% of the offensive snaps.
We all saw what Davis could do when he became the first player in NFL history to catch four TD passes in a playoff game on his way to eight receptions at 201 yards.
“He is always the right person,” said Josh Allen. “I don’t realize he’s just a second year guy in the league. He feels like he’s been here much longer, but yesterday it was incredible for him to do it. At the beginning of the season he was begging for more opportunities. I just told him to “continue the course” and that’s exactly what he did. “
Whether it’s Brian Dayball or someone as an aggressive coordinator, Davis must be considered the key to becoming a 2022 starter.
The performance of Stephen Diggs was unacceptable
It’s hard to argue a lot on the night when Bills scored 36 points, scored 422 yards and never flipped the ball. However, it was terrible to fail to involve the Diggs. He caught only 3 passes in 7 yards and was targeted only 6 times in Allen’s 37 attempts.
Yes, the Chiefs were doubling him. so what? He always doubles, but sometimes he has better path defense than Kansas City. Allen is the man who decides where the ball goes, but I think Digges didn’t win enough to play quarterbacks against unsafe Tyrann Mathieu, cornerback Rashad Fenton, and the mediocre secondary. -Daniel Sorensen is the safest in the field with 92% of Chiefs’ defensive snaps.
“I think they had a good plan to double him, especially in some of these third downs,” Allen said, adding that Davis was able to take advantage of it because he paid all attention to the Digges. rice field. ..
Allen and Digges have been a great duo together for two years, but after Digges played two 100-yard matches between Indy and Baltimore after the season, his last three matches (including two against the Chiefs). Was caught only 12 times at 144 yards. ..
Bad time for LB to play badly
Matt Milano and Tremaine Edmunds have been the mainstays of Buffalo defense for five and four years, respectively. For good reason, they rarely leave the field. But when I played all 76 snaps in this game, they were terrible.
One of Bills’ consistently best players, Milan died last of the 17 players who played in defense at Pro Football Focus. PFF gave up seven receptions with seven targets at 76 yards, including a 25-yard player to Travis Kelce who set a tying field goal and a TD who won the match against Kelce.
Edmonds graded out in 16th place after allowing 10 receptions with 11 targets at 108 yards, including 54 yards after catching.
On the outside, Levi Wallace, perhaps the last Bills match, abandoned 130 yards on six targets, five of which were completed. The 90 was after the catch, and the big one was the 64-yard catch-and-run TD at Tyreak Hill.
In the last 15 plays of Kansas City, he averaged 12.9 yards and scored two TDs and a field goal against what was supposed to be the NFL’s best defense.
“We were in an unfortunate situation and things went wrong,” Edmonds said.
Patrick Mahomes offers tough real estate
Much has happened last year after Bills lost the way to create a roster to defeat the Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game. It worked well in regular season games, but when it was most important, Mahomes had his bills built in for the second year in a row.
He is currently 3-1 against Bills, and it is becoming clear that if Bills wants to make a dent in the playoffs, he will have to scale Mahomes Mountain.
“That’s the reality of the situation, isn’t it?” Said Sean McDermott. “Yes. It’s a reality of our situation and we have to keep trying to beat him. Give him credit, he played a couple at once, and He played a great game. That’s what great players do. They played big at big moments in big games and he played big. “
Mitch Morse, who was the center of Mahomes during the groundbreaking season of 2018, said: I am looking forward to the next opportunity. “
“Be a Grim Reaper”:How Chiefs Patrick Mahomes Makes Bills and Josh Allen Last Longer in the Battle of QB Excellence
more:Patrick Mahomes stopped celebrating the Chiefs’ victory and ran through the field to hug Josh Allen.
Overtime rules need to be changed
I know it sounds like a kneeling reaction, but it’s not. I didn’t like OT rules. Major League Baseball provides a complete additional inning. The NBA plays a 5-minute OT period. The NHL will die suddenly for 5 minutes, a game in which both sides have equal chances of winning.
In the NFL it’s stupid Both teams do not take ownership of one And at that point, if it is still tied, the next score wins.
“It’s just terrible,” said the aggressive tackle Dion Dawkins. “Is it possible to combine the games into one possession? If they score, the game ends. If they kick a field goal, the game does not end and there is a chance. It’s just strange. “
“It gives off a kind of stink”:Chiefs, Bills Avoid Controversy over NFL Overtime Rules
Yes, it is. The NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport has tweeted OT statistics for playoff games since the new rules came into force in 2010. This is the 11th OT game, and the team that won the coin toss is currently 10-1, with 7 of the winners being the first to own it.
“It’s just terrible,” Dawkins said. “I hope they can use us as an example. They’re talking so high about this game that they definitely need to rethink something.”
Allen showed a more uniform keel reaction. “Yes, the rule is what it is, and if it’s the other way around, we’re celebrating too, so I can’t complain about it,” Allen said. “So that’s at this point, and I just didn’t play enough tonight.”
You can contact Sal Maiorana at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @ salmaiorana.