My View: Some kind of hex must be keeping the Bills from going all the way
I even picked out my vantage point for the parade so I could see Josh Allen walking up the steps of City Hall with the Lombardi trophy. But alas, another
Once again, the Buffalo Bills sat home wondering what would be their favorite commercial during the Super Bowl.
Jack Keane, a Western New York native, still roots for the Bills from the West Coast.
In a year where there was no Patrick Mahomes, no Lamar Jackson, no Joe Burrows, this was supposed to be our year. All during 2025, Buffalo was one of the betting favorites to finally win it all. Their first Super Bowl win.
No more wide-right jokes. (Scott Norwood tried his hand at making golf clubs, but they did not sell.) No more snide remarks about Thurman’s lost helmet. All of us can finally use our T-shirts with the slogan “One Super Bowl win before I die” as a cleaning rag.
I even picked out my vantage point for the parade so I could see Josh Allen walking up the steps of City Hall with the Lombardi Trophy. But alas, another dagger went to the heart of Bills Mafia.
It took very little time for Mr. Pegula to decide what had to change. Goodbye Sean.
Despite what we as fans feel concerning Sean McDermott, let’s simply look at the facts. During the season, Allen had to continue to look for phone booths to change into Superman. Game after game the Bills came out flat. They travelled to Miami to play a terrible Dolphins team and lost. They did the same thing with the New England Patriots and the Houston Texans. If they had won those games, they'd be hosting playoff games and probably answering dumb questions on media day.
But is there more to this? The Bills seem to be jinxed. Consider the following (which is not a complete list of strange occurrences). Jan. 8, 2000 was the date of the “the Music City Miracle” when the Tennessee Titans defeated the Bills 22-16 in the wild card game. A last-second full-field “lateral” turned into a 75-yard game-winning touchdown.
In the 2021 AFC Divisional playoff, with 13 seconds left, the Bills had a 3-point lead. Coach decides to kick deep, allowing the Kansas City Chiefs to start at the 35-yard line. Two completed passes later, a Chiefs field goal ties the game and they win in overtime. Buffalo never had a chance to touch the ball. It facilitated a rule change the next year.
In 2024 and 2025, the Bills were plagued by missed calls, particularly holding penalties during key points of critical games. And injuries to key players like Terrell Bernard, Spencer Brown, Maxwell Hairston and Christian Benford did little to help.
Finally the 2026 playoff game against Denver. A blatant holding call against Denver in the end zone during the fourth quarter that was not called, and the catch in overtime that was called an interception. You can’t make this stuff up.
There is a long-held theory that the entire city in under the so-called McKinley Curse. After the president’s assassination in 1901, the city has been under a “dark cloud” that has prevented it from winning any sports championship. Hockey, basketball, football, baseball, tiddlywinks – no championships for Buffalo.
How do we break the curse? Maybe it’s simply a matter of changing head coaches, drafting better, getting quality free agents, and avoiding costly injuries.
Or maybe it’s simply chanting while burning white sage in the locker room. Who knows?
