Some will insist debatable calls were to blame for another heartbreaker for Buffalo. But they have to contend with a great footballing dynasty every year. From 1967 through 1975, the Oakland Raiders were the most successful team in professional football … in the regular season. They compiled a record of 95-24-7, and that winning percentage of .798 was a full 70 percentage points higher than the second-best team, the Dallas Cowboys. Those Raiders were packed with future Hall of Famers, and they had John Madden, one of the NFL’s best coaches, for most of that span.
![[Howie Roseman talks to Philadelphia Eagles center Cam Jurgens before Sunday’s game.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/580862a13d656a393096812280f8c3c29c9473ad/0_157_4720_2832/master/4720.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
And throughout that time, they were stopped from winning the big one by several different dynasties. They lost Super Bowl II to the Green Bay Packers, and were crossed off in successive seasons in the playoffs by the Miami Dolphins and the Pittsburgh Steelers – two more all-time teams. Oakland’s 7-8 postseason record tended to render everything else irrelevant. It wasn’t until 1976, when the Raiders went 13-1 in the regular season and poleaxed the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl XI, that they finally got that albatross of their backs.
![[Saquon Barkley was too good for the Commanders for much of Sunday’s game.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/8a404acbb15373f066538b6cf9ed93a804e6ee7b/0_351_7371_4423/master/7371.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
For the Buffalo Bills of the Josh Allen era, there is still that same albatross, though there’s only one dynasty that has stood in their way. That, of course, would be the Kansas City Chiefs, who worked past the Bills once again in a hard-fought 32-29 win on Sunday night. The Bills had their chances in this one, as they have in most of their postseason games against Patrick Mahomes and his crew, but things tend to turn out the way they turn out.
![[Few see Brian Schottenheimer as an inspiring head coaching choice for the Cowboys.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/d186cd5ae065fa23c95dd0dd3d3901d79b4f5ad0/0_200_5414_3249/master/5414.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
