Buffalo Bills ‘Disappointed, But Not Broken’

The Buffalo Bills are defiant in the face of a fifth straight playoff elimination and another humbling by the Chiefs.

After being so good for so long with no title to show for it, it’s natural to wonder if the Bills will run out of chances. Neither head coach Sean McDermott or general manager Brandon Beane feel that way, however. 

Looking forward, Beane still views Stefon Diggs as an elite receiver in spite of his poor end to the year with the Bills.

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Diggs began the season well, with five 100+ yard games throughout the first six weeks. However, he would only generate over 80 yards another two times. Concerningly, he produced five 20-yard games. 

“He’s a No. 1 receiver,” Beane said. 

“I firmly believe that. I’m not wavering off of that. … We have to continue to put weapons out there to keep teams from bracketing him or locking him down in different ways. … Stef can still play. I’m sure he would love to have that deep ball again. He’d be the first to tell you. He’s super competitive. He’s going to work his tail off this offseason.

“I know there’s various reasons or questions on this, there’s production and all that, but I still see Stef as a No. 1 receiver.

“You’re constantly changing the roster,” Beane added. “This is a quarterback league, and I believe in the guy we’ve got under center. You look at — I know Joe Burrow in Cincy since he got hurt this year, probably hurt their chances — but look at who’s playing in the conference championship: Lamar (Jackson) versus (Patrick) Mahomes.”

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Josh has played in that game. Obviously, we’ve come up short. Wish we were still playing, but it starts there. We’ve got other players. Hell, he can’t do it by himself, but I don’t subscribe to ‘the window is closing’ or is closed. But every team is a new team. Sometimes a team clicks at different parts of the year. I think we have to figure out who we were, what we did best.”

“I’m extremely proud of what we’ve accomplished, but not in any way satisfied or going to get complacent with where we’re at,” McDermott said. “Every year you start over. And every year, I can promise you, that fire burns within me as bright as it did the year before — if not more so. We’re disappointed, yes, but not broken.”