Farewell, 2022 postseason vintage Buffalo Bills. Meet the 2006 Buffalo Sabres. You will live together in Heartbreak Hotel forever.
It was in the bag. Plan the parade down Delaware Avenue into Niagara Square. It was a lock. And then it was not.
The Big One got away. And will this team – and this fanbase – ever have this good of a chance again?
That's the gnawing feeling you have after Sunday's mind-boggling, historic, gut-wrenching, how-did-that-happen Bills loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
"I had a tough time sleeping, thinking of that," current Sabres coach Don Granato said after practice Monday.
The Bills couldn't stand prosperity when it appeared they were the best NFL team left standing. Just like the Sabres couldn't overcome once-in-a-lifetime adversity 16 years ago in Game 7 of the East final at Carolina – when the eighth-seeded Edmonton Oilers were all that were left on the road to the franchise's elusive first Stanley Cup.
If you had no horse in the race, think about what you saw Sunday night. Twenty-five points and three lead changes in the final 1:54 of regulation – the most points after the two-minute warning and most lead changes of any playoff game in history.
There was wondrous quarterbacking on both sides. And dubious coaching decisions on both sides (Yo, Andy Reid: Blake Bell pitching to Jerick McKinnon on third-and-1 from the 7 when you have this Mahomes guy?)
Josh Allen and Gabriel Davis connected for four touchdowns – including two inside the two-minute warning to twice give the Buffalo Bills a late lead – but the NFL’s best defense couldn’t hang on in a thrilling 42-36 OT loss.
Throw around any famous postseason football game you want. The Ice Bowl. Staubach's Hail Mary or Pittsburgh's Immaculate Reception. The Raiders' Hands of God. Kellen Winslow and the Chargers in Miami. The Catch in San Francisco. Montana vs. the Bengals. And yes, Wide Right or the Music City Miracle.
It's no stretch they can all take a back seat to Bills-Chiefs – or what we unfortunately have to simply dub in these parts as 13 Seconds.
In the immediate aftermath of this one, there's no way for Bills fans to take any solace in their team's role in one of the great games in history.
That's because the Cincinnati Bengals were going to be in Orchard Park on Sunday for the AFC championship game. The Bengals, who were 2-14 two years ago and 4-11-1 last year and known mostly as the Bungles the last 31 years while not winning a single playoff game.
Yes, Joe Burrow and Ja'Marr Chase have ushered in a whole new era in Chili Town, but seriously now. It's not their time. Just like it wasn't the Bills' time in the 1988 title game at old Riverfront Stadium against Boomer Esiason, Ickey Woods and friends.
It was déjà vu for the Bills, with their season ending on the same Arrowhead Stadium field that it did in the AFC championship game almost exactly a year earlier.
The Bills were headed for the Hollywood ending, to meet the Los Angeles Rams or San Francisco 49ers in SoFi Stadium in Super Bowl LVI on Feb. 13. Tom Brady was gone. So was Aaron Rodgers. And they had disposed of Patrick Mahomes themselves.
Until they hadn't.
Sixteen years ago, it was much the same for the Sabres. They upset No. 1 seed Ottawa in the second round on the Jason Pominville overtime goal for the ages to get to the East final. In the West, the top four seeds all lost in Round 1, including Edmonton's stunning six-game upset of a 124-point Detroit team. And the Oilers followed by beating No. 5 San Jose and No. 6 Anaheim to get to their first Cup final since 1990.
The Sabres' series against Carolina was a battle of attrition as injuries to Dmitri Kalinin, Teppo Numminen and Henrik Tallinder crushed the defense corps. The topper was the leg infection that felled Jay McKee the night before Game 7. And still, Buffalo had a 2-1 lead through 40 minutes before finally losing the series finale 4-2.
"All those big injuries for defensemen. I would love to see what would have happened," winger J.P. Dumont said at the arena 23 months ago during a 2000s Night reunion. "You don't want to have what-ifs. It was really tough to swallow."
The hockey world pegged the Buffalo-Carolina winner as the Cup champion, much like NFL eyes today pegged the Bills-Chiefs survivor to win the Super Bowl, given all the star power now eliminated.
Sabres alternate captain Kyle Okposo said after practice Monday his voice was still hoarse from all the yelling he did during the Bills game.
"Down and then back up again and then down and it was hard to see the result because you just saw how good of a football game that was and how much the Bills mean to the city," Okposo said. "I was crushed. Those guys had some adversity throughout the season and I think that they were better for it. You hope it's one of those things where they're just learning lessons. They're gonna learn how to win and they're right there.
"I think that they've got a great core over there. They've got a great group and sometimes you have to go through the downs before you break through – and I think that 17 (Josh Allen) being over there is a pretty special player."
Coming up on 20 years later, the '06 Sabres still rue their missed chance. They won the Presidents' Trophy the next year, but felt like an underdog in the East final against Ottawa and haven't won a postseason series since. The real chance was the Carolina series. Lose to Edmonton in the Cup final? No way.
"Of course, you wonder 'what if' " former Sabres owner Tom Golisano said on 2000s Night. "Anybody in sports wonders 'what if' every day of their lives, probably. And I'm no exception."
Terry and Kim Pegula have to feel the same way now. Sean McDermott too. They were so close. Coaches often say winning is more of a relief than a salve for previous pain. And losing is just excruciating in any form. Never more than Sunday night.
"You're always inventory-ing, taking (a look) into what you did," Granato said. "And, obviously, you consider what you didn't do in situations that you didn't win. That's why winning is so exhilarating. It almost validates decisions you made. It's draining and exhausting when you don't win, especially the closer you are to a championship. It's not an experience you want to relive."
