The Buffalo Bills fell well short to the Cincinnati Bengals after a woeful performance in the Divisional Round of the playoffs. Days later, the sting continues to run deep among the franchise’s players and executives, as evidenced by general manager Brandon Beane’s season-ending statements.

10-27 Divisional Round loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. Offensively toothless, defensively at times with inexplicable carelessness. On top of that, Josh Allen was completely off his game.

Even days after the Buffalo Bills’ miserable elimination from the playoffs, the sting is still deep – even at the highest level.

At his end-of-season press conference, general manager Brandon Beane spoke about the Bengals’ success and praised the franchise for how it has become a force in the AFC. However, the 46-year-old should immediately qualify his praise for the big rival.

Beane emphasised that the young age of many of the key players on the roster and the possibility of paying the stars lower salaries were important reasons for the Bengals’ success. Emblematic of that, he said, are the massive differences in cap space between the two franchises.

“These guys have their rookie contracts. We pay Stefon Diggs a pretty substantial amount. We’re paying Josh Allen a pretty hefty sum. So there are the constraints of the cap, but they have a really good team,” Beane is quoted as saying by Sports Illustrated.

He added: “They have some good young players. We’ll try to get as many good players as we can through the draft and free agency. But again, our cap situation shapes up a little bit differently. “

Buffalo Bills: General manager Brandon Beane takes a shot at Ja’Marr Chase

Once fired up about the Bengals, the Bills GM then really laid into them.

Beane said Cincinnati was able to get star players early in the draft because of all the losses a few years ago in back-to-back seasons – a situation he wouldn’t want to trade places with.

“They have a good team. Right now, they have the advantage of signing a rookie quarterback. They’ve had some poor years and, without diving too much into their structure, I don’t want to be so bad that I have to go get Ja’Marr Chase,” the Buffalo boss jabbed in his season summary, talking himself subtly into a frenzy:

“He’s a hell of a talent, I’d love to have him. But you have to go through a couple of lousy years to get him.”

The Bengals’ “great talent,” unlike the underachieving Bills, is heading to the AFC Championship Game at the Kansas City Chiefs while the Bills have to watch from home. Chase, quarterback Joe Burrow’s favourite starting tight end and best buddy, was drafted at number five in 2021 and has put up stellar numbers since arriving in the NFL.

This regular season, the wide receiver recorded 87 catches for 1,046 yards with an average of twelve yards per catch and a total of nine touchdowns. On a still-young career, the 22-year-old already has 168 receptions for 2,501 yards and 22 touchdowns