You Are The Worse Coach I Ever Met” Star Player Disparaging The Buffalo’s Bills Mafia Head Coach Sean McDermott.
It’s easy to paint Bills kicker Tyler Bass as the scapegoat for Buffalo’s loss to the Chiefs in the AFC Divisional round, but a ton of fans have gone out of their way to support the kicker by donating to a charity he’s worked with after he missed a crucial field goal at the end of the contest.
Fans of the Buffalo Bills were already very familiar with the pain that comes with watching a kicker miss a pivotal field goal wide right prior to their showdown with Kansas City courtesy of Scott Norwood’s infamous attempt at the end of Super Bowl XXV.
The franchise still hasn’t been able to exorcise those demons more than 30 years after that fateful moment, and while Bass had the chance to bring them one step closer to redemption with a game-tying field goal in the closing minutes of the fourth quarter on Sunday, he essentially sealed Buffalo’s fate by failing to convert the 44-yard boot.
There’s no guarantee the Bills would’ve gone on to secure the victory if Bass had made the field goal, and even if he had, Patrick Mahomes still would’ve had around 1:45 (and two timeouts) to work with while trying to stage a game-winning drive.
It’s consequently a bit shortsighted to blame Bass for the loss, although it’s safe to assume he decided to deactivate his social media accounts courtesy of people who decided to do exactly that.
However, there are plenty of members of Bills Mafia who’ve gone out of their way to show support for Bass, as Buffalo News reports the Ten Lives Club—a cat adoption charity located in a suburb of the city his team calls home—says it’s received a flood of donations in the kicker’s name courtesy of supporters who’ve rallied around him.
Bass worked with the organization last year, and it said it had received more than $25,000 (primarily in $22 increments as a nod to his jersey number) as of Monday night.
This is far from the first time Bills fans have pulled a similar move, as they’ve not only rallied around players on the team but targeted charities affiliated with guys who play for other franchises.
Travis Kelce has issued a rallying cry to his Chiefs teammates ahead of Sunday’s AFC Divisional round matchup, as he insisted that playing in front of Bills fans in freezing Buffalo ‘doesn’t get any better,’ nor does it intimidate him, whatsoever.
The 34-year-old tight end, who warned Sunday’s opponents that they face a ‘very different’ Kansas City team than the one they beat at Arrowhead Stadium in Dec., also denied reports that his older brother and Eagles center, Jason, told teammates of his decision to retire after Philadelphia’s wild-card loss to Tampa Bay on Monday.
When asked if he is ready to play in a potentially hostile atmosphere this weekend at Highmark Stadium, which is covered in several feet of snow, Kelce said on Friday: ‘It’s Bills Mafia, man. That’s their home-field advantage. I’m sure the guys love playing for that fan base.
‘I grew up in Cleveland man,’ he added, referring to the minor rivalry between the Browns – his hometown team – and the Bills due to both cities’ location on the Great Lakes, with Buffalo going 9-12 all-time in the regular season against the AFC North club. ‘They were throwing beer bottles at people, so…
When asked about the possibility of a sold-out crowd in Buffalo in less than 48 hours, the two-time Super Bowl champion replied: ‘That’s a hostile environment, innit?
‘Ready to get after it, man, ready to get after it,’ he later said about his feelings and physical preparation for the Chiefs’ second-round playoff game this season. ‘Buffalo, cold, playoff game, doesn’t get any better baby.’
As confident as he may have seemed, two days ahead of Kansas City’s third playoff matchup against Buffalo in the last four years, Kelce stressed the importance of remaining concentrated as long as the Chiefs are still in the postseason race to Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas on February 11.
Kelce and his teammates started the Chiefs’ playoff campaign as the No. 3 seed in AFC standings – an unusual position for a team that is used to dominating the league and has won two Super Bowls titles since 2019 – as they ended the regular season behind the Bills (No. 2) and Baltimore Ravens (No. 1).
‘Instead of it being a road game, because everybody’s played on the road, I think that it’s more so in the playoffs just we just take it up a notch from the wild card weekend last weekend,’ Kelce said.
‘It speeds up as you go along the playoffs and that I think is more important to stay focused, understand your assignments a little bit more, so you can go out there and play as fast as you possibly can.’
