After another loss to the Chiefs, the Bills are still closer than they seem

Sunday’s AFC championship game was an all too familiar sight for Buffalo Bills fans: Their favorite team walking off the field dejected in defeat, while the Kansas City Chiefs celebrated moving on in the playoffs.

Four times in the last five years, the Bills’ postseason has ended at the hands of the Chiefs. Kansas City also beat Buffalo in the AFC championship in the 2020 season, and in the divisional round of the 2021 and 2023 seasons.

“To be the champs, you’ve got to beat the champs,” Bills quarterback Josh Allen said after his team’s latest defeat Sunday. “And we didn’t do that tonight.”

Allen, despite throwing for 237 yards and two touchdowns, rushing for 39 yards and having no turnovers Sunday, is now the owner of an ignominious record: the most losses to a single quarterback in NFL playoff history, as he’s 0-4 against Patrick Mahomes in the postseason.

This is especially troubling for Buffalo fans of a certain age: those old enough to remember when the Bills lost four — four! — Super Bowls in a row from 1990 to 1993. Is Buffalo simply destined to lose over and over when it’s on the precipice of ultimate success?

Bills fans probably don’t want to hear this right now, but this team is extremely close — extremely — to beating the Kansas City. And that’s why Buffalo shouldn’t lose hope.

Let’s start with the fact that, well, the Bills have actually beat Mahomes on several occasions.

In the regular season, Allen has a 4-1 record against Mahomes and the Chiefs. Buffalo has even won its last four regular season matchups against Kansas City, including three times on the road.

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCBP leaders cut out of Trump ad buy decision

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAmerican passenger drafted goodbye texts to her family as Flydubai plane plummeted

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation pushes embattled New York prosecutor into national spotlight

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

So it’s not as simple as the Chiefs’ having the Bills’ number. Buffalo has proven it has a formula to beat Mahomes. It just can’t get it done in the playoffs.

And those last three postseason losses? All have swung on a couple plays, and some of those plays were swung by inches.

There’s was the infamous 13-second game in the 2021 playoffs, when the teams scored 25 combined points in the final two minutes. What if the Bills had won the overtime coin toss and drove down the field instead of Kansas City?

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCBP leaders cut out of Trump ad buy decision

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAmerican passenger drafted goodbye texts to her family as Flydubai plane plummeted

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation pushes embattled New York prosecutor into national spotlight

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

In the 2023 divisional round, Buffalo missed a game-tying kick with under two minutes to go.

And on Sunday, the Bills may have won if not for two wild fourth-down plays. The first was a sneak by Allen that arguably should have been ruled a first down. The second was a desperate throw by Allen that bounced off the hands of a diving Dalton Kincaid.

To further drive home how thin the margin is between these two teams, they’ve played nine times since 2020, all started by Allen and Mahomes. The combined score is 245-240, Kansas City. The Chiefs are 5-4 in those contests — their average margin of victory is literally 1 point.

Yes, it’s more heartbreak for Buffalo. But this is not like the Super Bowl streak of the early ‘90s. The Bills lost their first Super Bowl largely because of a missed field goal, but they lost by multiple scores in each of the next three games, and the last two were especially not close.

This time, Buffalo isn’t fading. Even as the mystique of the Chiefs and Mahomes grows, the Bills are still right there with them nearly every step of the way — save for the bounce of the ball, or an obstructed angle on a replay review.

Buffalo, of course, isn’t guaranteed to be back here next season. But if the Bills play Kansas City again, as close as the teams have been, it’s not a foregone conclusion the Chiefs will win.

“We’ve got to keep working to get over that hump,” Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott said Sunday.

He added: “This is obviously a challenge for us. We’ll figure it out.”