The Bills Dynasty IS Finally Over

It is with a heavy heart I wrote that headline. I am saddened to say this, not gladdened. But I must. That declarative sentence is in answer to a question I posed 364 days ago:

Sometimes it happens in sports where a great athlete or team simply comes along at the wrong time. And they're cursed with the misfortune of existing alongside someone who is generationally great that they cannot beat. Whoever the No. 1 contenders where when Joe Louis was the champ. There was a horse named Alydar who came in second to Affirmed in all three legs of the Triple Crown. In the 1950s, it was the Brooklyn Dodgers losing World Series to the Yankees. In the '60s, the Lakers to the Celtics, and so on.

And the contemporary version of this is the Buffalo Bills, who have the misfortune of hitting their peak at the same time and in the same conference as the Chiefs and Bengals. After waiting 20 years for the Patriots to lose Tom Brady and have to rebuild without him, they've made the playoffs four straight years and have nothing to show for it but three "AFC East Champions" hat and t-shirt combos. The kind the stores trick your grandmother who doesn't understand sports into buying for you because she thinks that's an accomplishment. Sad. 

The only thing that differs from what I wrote then to today is that Brady has been out of their division now four seasons, and still they have nothing to show for it. Sean McDermott took over a 7-9 Bills team and in seven years has gotten them as far as one conference championship. Dan Campbell took over a 5-11 Lions team and accomplished the same thing in his third year. The difference is, Campbell's team is still ascending. But it would appear that the window that fate had opened for Buffalo is about to slam down on its fingers:

As the sun rises on its offseason, Buffalo has the 4th worst salary cap number in the league, at $43.7 million over. Which is about $20 million more than the 5th worst team, according to Over the Cap. And 2025 is almost as bad.These past few seasons have seen them [spins the cliche wheel] going for it. Loading up. Making a run in Josh Allen's prime. With no hardware to show for it. Not even a single Lamar Hunt Consolation prize. 

In a year they went from this:

… to this:

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Of course everyone will remember Tyler Bass battlefield reenactment of Scott Norwood's Wide Right as the final death spasm of the Bills dynasty. But we could've declared the official time of death after several other blown opportunities. Diggs dropping that perfectly thrown 80-yard (!!!) smartbomb being the best example. 

There was also Allen missing a wide open Diggs on a shallow crosser on the final drive and missing a deep post by Khalil Shakir instead. And when the Bills got the break of the century because Mecole Hardman fumbled through the end zone and one of the most feared offenses of our times took over at their own 20, they responded with a 3 & out and -2 yards.

Then there was also last year's inspirational story Damar Hamlin not being able to pick up a 1st down on a fake punt against just 10 Chiefs special teamers:

These are all the things that a not-quite-good-enough team does in the big moments. They're what turn a potential champion into just another contender. That make it so history books aren't written about you, but trivia questions are. That turn you from a dynasty into a footnote of history. 

And while last year this was a question, now we can confirm it's a definitive statement. The Buffalo Bills of the 2020s will never achieve the greatness that seemed inevitable just a few short years ago. Instead they'll take their place among the dozens of other would-be football dynasties that never managed to actually be. 

This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang:

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… but a whimper:

Oh well, it was fun while it lasted.