The Buffalo Bills' 2023 campaign ended in familiar disappointment as they were defeated by the Kansas City Chiefs in the postseason. The goal entering the 2024 season is the same annual expectation. As per usual, it's Super Bowl or bust in Buffalo.
The Bills enjoyed their fifth consecutive double-digit win season in 2023. After not winning the AFC East since 1995, Sean McDermott's squad has captured the division title every year since 2020. Buffalo has come incredibly close to reaching the pinnacle throughout this reign of success, but achieving their main goal has remained frustratingly elusive.
The Bills have won a minimum of one playoff contest every season since 2020, yet they've advanced to just one AFC Championship. McDermott lost the AFC title game in 2020, and has since suffered three consecutive divisional round defeats. The Chiefs have eliminated the Bills from the postseason three times (2020, 2021, 2023), and the Cincinnati Bengals defeated them 27-10 in 2022.
General manager Brandon Beane made sweeping changes to the core of the roster this summer. An attempt to get younger and cheaper has taken center stage this offseason. Most notably, superstar receiver Stefon Diggs, who often frustrated management with off-field antics, was traded to the Houston Texans. Franchise quarterback Josh Allen must identify a new go-to playmaker this season.
Diggs wasn't the only notable departure. Mitch Morse, Jordan Poyer, and Tre'Davious White were released from their contracts. Beane couldn't afford to re-sign No. 2 wideout Gabe Davis, or 2023 sack-leader Leonard Floyd. Safety Micah Hyde and cornerback Dane Jackson also signed elsewhere in free agency. The secondary has received a makeover and will be more reliant on younger players like Kaiir Elam and Christian Benford.
The biggest challenge for Allen and Buffalo's offense will be replacing the 152 receptions, 1,929 receiving yards, and 15 touchdowns they got from Diggs and Davis last season. Those two receivers had led the offense in every major receiving statistical category for two straight seasons, and the former had been Buffalo's leading receiver since 2020. The initial expectation is that it'll be a group effort.
The Bills signed several receivers in free agency, including a potentially underrated contributor in Curtis Samuel. Beane selected former Florida State receiver Keon Coleman with the first pick of the second round in the 2024 NFL Draft after trading down twice. The Bills also expect to get even more from Khalil Shakir and Dalton Kincaid, two ascending pass catchers that displayed growth as 2023 progressed forward.
The AFC East should be fiercely competitive throughout 2024. The Miami Dolphins and New York Jets will believe they've shrunk the gap between them and Buffalo this offseason. The Bills have been the Dolphins' sore-spot during the regular season, sort of how the Chiefs have been the Bills' kryptonite in the postseason. Still, Miami matched Buffalo's regular-season win total at 11, and the Jets have Aaron Rodgers back at quarterback.
Beane and McDermott signed extensions through 2027 last June. They'll continue receiving opportunities to get Buffalo over the hump. If the Bills want to consider the impending 2024 campaign a success, they must prove capable of outlasting the Chiefs and Bengals, two annual AFC contenders that have had Buffalo's number.
