BY DAN BEGNOCHE
After a strong 5-2 start during which the Bills took out the division rival New England Patriots at home for the first time since 2003, Buffalo has since dropped six straight, including three key divisional matchups.
After being mathematically knocked out of postseason contention following a loss to San Diego, coach Chan Gailey lamented with the Buffalo faithful this week, sharing his own personal fan struggles.
“I totally understand. If I were in their shoes, I mean I'm a big Braves fan; I went through it for a lot of years,” Gailey said Monday. “I understand that part of it but I do believe we're on the right track. I do believe we can get there … I think we've got the things in place. We just got to keep building.”
The construction has taken longer than fans expected. Buffalo is tied with Detroit for the longest postseason drought in the NFL at 11 seasons, and despite the team's four-year consecutive Super Bowl run in the early '90s, the Bills haven't brought home a championship since their 1965 AFL title. They haven't won the division since 1995.
“No coach likes to talk about that,” Gailey said in reference to discussing next season already. “You want to talk about the playoffs. That's what you want to talk about. You want to be in the playoffs. You want a chance to be the champions … That's the only reason you're in the business, to be the best of the best. So it is frustrating and I don't like it.”
With three games remaining, the Bills can take solace in the fact that they get to play spoiler to at least one potentially playoff-bound team in the Broncos, and perhaps one more in their last game of the season against the Patriots.
Denver, with a one-game lead in the AFC West, will face New England this weekend at home, and a Bronco loss and an Oakland win could make for an exciting afternoon at Ralph Wilson Stadium on Christmas Eve. The Patriots, at 10-3, would have to drop their next two for their game against the Bills to have any significance.
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