If only…
From now until free agency starts to pick up in March, all that Bills fans can do is think about how the season went and what could have gone differently with a better result. Each and every year for the last couple of seasons have ended in a heartbreak. A great regular season followed up by an earlier than anticipated playoff exit…it’s been the same story and Bills fans are sick of it.
However, we shouldn’t discredit the success that the Bills did have. They finished 13-4, clinched the #2 seed in the AFC playoffs, won the AFC East by Week 13, and they did all of this despite a huge roster revamp.
Looking back on this past season, there are so many “What ifs” that we may think about. Heck, maybe the players themselves even think about it as well. There are plenty of flashbacks that we could think about what could gone different for the Bills, both for better or worse.
What are the five biggest “What-ifs” of Bills’ 2024 season?
What if Josh Allen doesn’t play “Superman” in Week 1 vs. Cardinals?
It was Week 1 of the NFL season when the Bills were hosting the Arizona Cardinals and Buffalo got punched in the mouth early on. They found themselves down 17-3 in the second quarter and were down going into halftime. Then Josh Allen put on the cape and carried the Bills to a tough 34-28 win over the Cardinals. This game actually resulted in Allen breaking his left hand.
Allen finished with four total touchdowns (two in the air and two on the ground). Who knows what could have happened to Buffalo’s confidence if they had lost at home against a team that was in a clear rebuild.
What if Derrick Henry never ran for an 87-yard touchdown in Week 4?
This Week 4 matchup against the Baltimore Ravens was Buffalo’s first nightmare of the regular season. The Bills were 3-0 heading into Baltimore for a Sunday night battle against Lamar Jackson, Derrick Henry and the Ravens. In what was expected to be a close battle, turned out to be a complete beatdown of the Bills and it all started with Henry.
After the Bills punted it away after their first drive, the Ravens took the field and only needed one play to get into the endzone. Derrick Henry took the handoff from Lamar Jackson and ran it 87 yards for Baltimore’s first touchdown of the night. Henry ended up running for 199 yards and one touchdown on the Bills. Who knows what might have happened if the Bills defense set the tone early on against the Ravens’ rushing attack.
What if the defense just made one big stop vs. LA Rams?
In a game that is a candidate for game of the year between the Bills and the Rams, we saw two high-powered offenses going at it but it took the Bills a little bit to get going. Buffalo was down 31-14 at one point in the second half and Josh Allen was going to have to put on his Superman cape to rally the Bills back. The only problem is that Allen doesn’t play defense, and Buffalo’s defense was absolutely atrocious.
The defense gave up 37 points (special teams unit gave up a blocked punt returned for a touchdown) and they only forced the Rams to punt once in this game in the second half. Despite a pathetic defensive performance by Buffalo, they only lost 44-42. Just imagine how this game could have ended if the defense could have just made one big stop in the 4th quarter…the Bills might would have won the game of the year.
What if Mark Andrews doesn’t drop two-point conversion pass?
After blowing out the Broncos in the wild card round, the Bills earned themselves a Week 4 rematchup against the Baltimore Ravens. Instead of it being in Baltimore, it would be held in Orchard Park and the Bills were a completely different team for the better.
The Ravens got on the board first and it looked like we were going to have a repeat of Week 4. Buffalo would then respond with a touchdown of their own to throw the Ravens off their game. In what would be a back-and-forth fight between these two teams, the biggest moment of the game came late in the 4th quarter when the Ravens scored to make the Bills lead only by two points.
Baltimore had no choice but to go for two points and on a simple rollout pass play to the right, Lamar Jackson threw it to a wide open Mark Andrews who dropped it, solidifying a Ravens playoff exit.
Who knows what might have happened if Andrews caught it and potentially forced overtime…
What if Dalton Kincaid caught the ball in AFC championship game?
Of course the biggest “What-if” comes within the AFC championship that broke the hearts of Bills Mafia. Down 32-29 late in the 4th quarter, the Bills had an opportunity to force overtime or potentially knock off the defending champs. Instead, the offensive line was horrendous against Kansas City and the receivers for Buffalo couldn’t create separation.
However, the biggest fail of the season took place when on 4th down, potentially Buffalo’s last offensive play of the year, when the Chiefs brought the house on an all-out blitz and Josh Allen threw it up in the air to create a miracle. Tight end Dalton Kincaid could have been the savior for the Bills in that moment but he let the ball fall right threw his arms with no defenders on him.
If Kincaid had caught that pass, it would have set the Bills up to keep their season alive and who knows what would have happened if Buffalo kept their drive alive.