It's time. Something has to change.
Josh Allen is the best football player on the planet. And the Buffalo Bills haven't even made it to a Super Bowl with him.
Sean McDermott has to go. This loss to the Denver Broncos may have been more on Allen and his turnovers. But this era, and the inability to clear that final hurdle -- that has to be on everyone.
Allen must be at least halfway through his prime. The Bills cannot afford to waste a single second more.
And on this day, like they did all season, the Bills left it to chance.
They fell behind early. They gave the other team the ball, over and over, in prime position. And it cost them their season.
This was the year. The AFC was open. Patrick Mahomes is on his couch. Lamar Jackson is on his couch. Joe Burrow is on his couch.
The path had cleared for Allen and the Bills. The path had cleared for them to make the Super Bowl, and if they were there with number 17, they could've won it.
Instead, they don't even make the conference title game. They committed 53 yards of penalties on the game-losing drive. They turned the ball over five times. They mismanaged the clock at the end of the first half.
They didn't even handle the football correctly in overtime. They won the coin toss and chose to take the ball second. That's definitively wrong. They needed to have the ball after each team had a possession.
MORE: Explaining Bills' mistake at start of overtime
Instead, Denver got the ball after each team failed to score once, and Wil Lutz got a chip-shot field goal for a 33-30 win in OT.
The heartbreak won't go away anytime soon. But Buffalo can't act like this is OK.
Brandon Beane didn't get Allen better wide receivers. Or better safeties or cornerbacks for the defense. Or better run defenders.
They didn't make a trade at the deadline when they had four clear positional needs.
Offensive coordinator Joe Brady wasn't good enough, either. Too many times, Allen had to be Superman. Too many times, they went away from the run with James Cook.
You have to change something. Allen, of course, isn't going anywhere.
McDermott has been a crucial coach in this era of Bills football. He oversaw their rise to contention.
But they need someone else to take them to the promised land. McDermott was the Moses for this group, but Moses didn't get to see the final destination.
The man who led the Israelites into the promised land? Joshua.
The Bills have their Joshua. They need the right man at his side to take them to the top of the mountain.
More NFL news:
- Browns can draft the brother of a Cavs' NBA star
- A.J. Brown makes a disrespectful decision after season-ending loss
- New perspective on Tua Tagovailoa and his head injuries
- Aaron Rodgers' future with the Steelers has been decided
- Cam Ward can add John Harbaugh to his list of doubters