Once again, Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills’ season ends short of the Super Bowl.
And once again, the Kansas City Chiefs were the team knocking the Bills out of the playoffs, winning the AFC Championship 32-29. It’s the fourth time since 2020 that quarterback Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs have eliminated the Bills in the postseason.
On ESPN’s NFL Primetime afterward, co-host Booger McFarland said Allen must be wondering if he picked the wrong era to be an NFL quarterback, with Mahomes wearing the crown as the league’s best quarterback.
McFarland compared Allen’s situation to that of many NBA stars in the 1990s who saw their dreams crushed by Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls.
“Josh Allen in the back of his mind has to wonder, ‘What do I have to do?'” McFarland said. “He played a good game today. … He needs more weapons offensively but in the end, this goes on the quarterback. Wins go to the quarterback, losses go to the quarterback.
“I think Josh Allen has to ask himself, ‘Was I born in the wrong era?’ ‘Cause Mahomes is not going anywhere … At some point, [the Bills] gotta figure out a way to get over the hump …”
“I think Josh Allen has to ask himself, ‘Was I born in the wrong era?’ ‘Cause Mahomes is not going anywhere… [The Bills] gotta figure out a way to get over the hump…” – Booger McFarland, who also compared the situation to Michael Jordan vs other NBA stars in the ’90s. #NFL pic.twitter.com/x7YhovBV2l
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 27, 2025
As McFarland noted, Allen played well. If a play or two had gone the other way, the Bills might have prevailed. Then again, you could say that about almost any close sporting event.
Allen got right to the point after the game.
“It’s not fun. But to be the champs, you gotta beat the champs. And we didn’t do it tonight,” Allen said.
“It’s not fun. But to be the champs, you gotta beat the champs. And we didn’t do it tonight.”
Josh Allenpic.twitter.com/2LMxMCNeUp
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 27, 2025
Back to McFarland’s point about Allen perhaps being born in the wrong era. Every era has had a dominant team. The Green Bay Packers, Pittsburgh Steelers, San Francisco 49ers, Dallas Cowboys and New England Patriots all had legitimate dynasties.
The Bills now have an entire offseason to ponder what they might do to get past Mahomes and the Chiefs.
