If you listened closely enough, you likely could have heard a collective sigh in western New York as you woke up on the morning of Jan. 5.
A feeling of dread lingered over the region like a lake effect cloud on the morning after the Buffalo Bills’ Wild-Card round loss to the Houston Texans.
It can perhaps best be described as the ultimate Bills hangover.
Buffalo held a two-score lead over the Texans in the second half of the contest, at one point looking as though it was going to exit NRG Stadium with its first postseason win of the millennium.
What it instead left with was a 22-19 loss and a 25-year postseason-winless streak still intact.
Though the thought of the Bills’ postseason collapse is still fresh in the collective mind of the Buffalo faithful, it’s difficult to not be excited about the team’s future. Coming off a 10-6 season with north of $88 million in salary-cap space, it’s clear that the Bills will be eager to build upon their success in the offseason.
And here’s how they should do so: