Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - Yes, I know. The Buffalo Bills' 2024 season has been over for a few weeks now.
I just couldn't bring myself to put together a season in review article at that time. I needed time to recover from, yet, another playoff loss to you know who. I needed to take a break from football.
For the first time in 50 years, I didn't even watch the Super Bowl. My wife and I went to a movie instead. I did record the game, and I might go back and watch it just to see how the Kansas City Chiefs got spanked by the Philadelphia Eagles in New Orleans.
As for the 2024 Bills, they exceeded my preseason expectations.
I knew they would be in the playoffs. I was confident they would win the AFC East again. But I didn't think they were a legitimate Super Bowl contender.
That last part changed as the season played out, though.
Josh Allen had his best season as a pro under center, while the defense fared better than I had anticipated. That's why I needed time to bounce back after the pain and heartbreak suffered in the AFC Championship Game.
As it turns out, the 2024 campaign was another missed opportunity for the Bills. There are no guarantees when it comes to the future.
Remember when the Bills played the Chiefs in the 2020 AFC Championship Game? After that loss, many of us, myself included, figured the Bills would take the next step the following season.
They did not. In fact, it took four years just to get back within one game of the Super Bowl.
Offensively, what more can be said about the season Allen had?
He deservedly won his first NFL Most Valuable Player award. Despite the departures of Allen's top-two wide receiver targets and the release of his starting center, the Bills still ended up as the league's second-highest scoring team.
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The Bills boasted their deepest group of running backs in a long time.
James Cook's game took another step forward, as he rolled up 1,267 total yards from scrimmage and 18 touchdowns, 16 of which came on the ground. If you add in the numbers from Ty Johnson and Ray Davis, the Bills' top-three backs accounted for 2,195 yards of offense and 28 touchdowns, which is outstanding.
The offensive line, tutored by one of the best line coaches in the business, Aaron Kromer, had another terrific season as a group in both run blocking and pass protection.
Allen was sacked a career-low 14 times. For the second-straight year, the starting five guys up front avoided serious injuries and were able to play together for almost all of the snaps.
It was a mixed bag for the wide receivers, though.
Khalil Shakir is turning into a great draft pick for the Bills. The 2022 fifth-round pick led the team and registered career-highs with 76 catches for 821 yards.
Rookie wideout Keon Coleman was just OK for the Bills after being drafted with the first pick of the second round in the 2024 NFL Draft. He was hampered by injuries, while recording 29 catches for 556 yards. Where Coleman really struggled this season was getting separation.
I thought the additions of Curtis Samuel (through free agency) and Amari Cooper (in-season trade) would have had a bigger impact, but both were just average. Samuel had only 31 receptions for 253 yards, while Cooper had 20 catches for 297 yards in his eight games with the Bills.
The surprise of the group was Mack Hollins, who started off slow but turned into a reliable weapon. Hollins ended his season with 31 catches and 378 yards, the second highest single-season totals in his NFL career.
Despite the nice production from the likes of Shakir and Hollins, the Bills need a game-breaking threat at wide receiver. That is an article for another day, though.
It was not a good season for second-year pro Dalton Kincaid, but it was revealed at locker room clean out day that he played through knee injuries the last two months. Still, his numbers plummeted from 73 catches and 673 yards in his rookie campaign to 44 receptions for 448 yards this past season.
Dawson Knox didn't put up numbers you'd like to see from a tight end whose average salary is $9.8 million. He had only 22 catches for 311 yards.
All-in-all, it was another strong season for the Bills offense, which remains the driving force behind the team, and the main reason why they are still legitimate Super Bowl contenders heading into 2025.