The Kansas City Chiefs are on their way to their third consecutive Super Bowl after defeating Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills in the AFC championship game. The Chiefs have a chance to become the first team in NFL history to win the big game three straight times.
However, once again Allen and the Bills will have to play second fiddle to Mahomes and the Chiefs. Allen told reporters after the game about his disappointment in not reaching the Super Bowl.
“To be the champs, you've got to beat the champs, and we didn't do that tonight,” Allen told reporters postgame. “You can either get it done or you can't. And we didn't get it done.”
Buffalo hasn’t reached the Super Bowl since 1993 after a string of four consecutive appearances, unfortunately all of those appearances resulted in losses.
Since the early 90s and before Allen was drafted, Buffalo had minimal success in the regular season and even went through an 18-year drought where they didn’t reach the playoffs.
After years of struggle and inconsistency, Buffalo ended their 18-year playoff drought in 2017 with a team that was led by Tyrod Taylor. Buffalo would be eliminated in the wild card round against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The team really turned a corner after Allen was drafted. Ever since Allen was drafted, the Bills have made the playoffs every year except for his rookie year. Since 2020, Buffalo has won the division every year and have made the AFC championship game twice in 2020 and 2024.
Despite the success in the regular season and even some playoff success, Allen and the Bills have yet to come up huge and win the big games. Throughout the 2020s, Buffalo’s kryptonite has the Mahomes and the Chiefs.
The only other teams that Allen has lost to in the playoffs were the Houston Texans in 2019 and the Cincinnati Bengals in 2022. Besides those two teams, the Chiefs have been the biggest hurdle for the Bills to jump.
Allen and the Bills have found success in the regular season against Kansas City. In 2024, the Bills handed Mahomes his only loss in the regular season in his 16 starts. Thinking this was the year, the Bills had full confidence in getting by the Chiefs.
However, Kansas City successfully defended their AFC title while Buffalo will have to wait at least another year.
Unfortunately, there’s no guarantee that Buffalo will reach the AFC title game again and it seems that there are some holes for the team to fill this offseason.
Their biggest question mark throughout the 2024 season was the lack of a superstar wide receiver after the departure of Stefon Diggs. The team traded for Amari Cooper during the regular season but unfortunately didn’t pan out the way they wanted.
The team will have a chance to address their WR concern this offseason and maybe get another shot at the Super Bowl in 2025.