No other football franchise can truly understand what the Buffalo Bills have gone through. Yes not even the hopeless Cleveland Browns.
Teams like to talk about how long they’ve gone without a Super Bowl championship. Some (like Buffalo) haven’t even won one. However, no other franchise comes close to what the Bills have endured up until now. That’s the sting of no playoff football for 19 years. That’s right. Almost two full decades of not being good enough to even play for a chance at the Super Bowl. Keep in mind this is the same franchise that went to four-straight from 1990 to 1993.
After a heartbreaking defeat in the infamous “Music City Miracle” game against the Tennessee Titans in the 1999 playoffs though, the Bills would endure a drought that no other team but the New Orleans Saints can understand. The Saints went the first 20 years of their franchise existence without a playoff berth from 1967 to 1986. So one can understand why there was such jubilation in the Bills locker room when the Cincinnati Bengals stunned the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday to put Buffalo in.
It was a huge moment for old veteran and new coaches
Anybody who saw the video could see defensive tackle Kyle Williams break down in tears as the celebration began. He is the longest-tenured Bills player left on the roster, having been with the team since he was drafted in 2006. So he’d gone an entire decade without experiencing playoff football. At age 34 he was no doubt starting to wonder if he’d ever get the chance. Then it happened. Emotion was bound to come spewing forth.
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Then there was head coach Sean McDermott. One can only imagine the pressure that was on him going into this season. Before him six head coaches (not counting interims) had gone their entire tenures without reaching the postseason. In his first year he was trying not to become the seventh. Now he’s achieved the dream by breaking the streak. No doubt his job now is to set the expectations higher by reaching the Super Bowl.
Buffalo will no doubt see it all as gravy at this point.