Over the past 15 years or so I’ve seen just about every type of Bills loss, and while I die a little bit every time there is a loss, each loss can evoke a different emotion. Last week I felt the Bills played with some spirit against New England, the defense looked good and as far as losses go, it wasn’t too bad. Sunday’s loss against the Chiefs was bad – really bad. I’m sitting here stewing in anger.

I’m a firm believer that you get what you deserve (unless your name is Tom Brady), and the Bills certainly deserved their latest loss. The Bills didn’t lose the game due to a lack of talent, nor did they meet a superior opponent. Nope, the Bills lost in their own, oh-so-Buffalo way – stupidity.

I know it’s easy to play armchair quarterback, but the amount of stupid things I saw makes me wonder how anyone associated with the Bills has a job in this league. Stupid moves by coaches, players and even officials – it was a storm of idiocy.

The game started out in pretty promising fashion – the first three Kansas City drives went absolutely nowhere, yielding no points and only 1 first down. The Bills first three drives ended with a field goal, a fumble and a touchdown – the turnover did not result in any points for Kansas City, and Buffalo found itself up by two scores.

Stupidity struck midway through the second quarter when Jeremy Macklin caught at 31-yard pass down to the Buffalo 3. Even seeing the play in real time I yelled “he didn’t catch it”, and replay would seem to confirm my statement. Of course the officials ruled it a catch and to my utter shock, the Bills declined to challenge the call. I have absolutely no idea why you wouldn’t challenge that play – it was the first half, you’re up by two scores – if you lose you lose a timeout you might not even use, but if you win KC is back at the 40-yard line instead of the 3-yard line. No challenge, KC scores, Bills are up by a field goal. Dumb.

The Bills would go on to score another touchdown, but Dan Carpenter shanked the extra point, so the Bills were only up 16-7. I like Carpenter, but when you start missing 33-yard extra points it may be time to go. He was virtually automatic from any range last season, but he’s not the same kicker this year and it’s costing the Bills.

In typical big game Bills fashion, the team limped to halftime up by only two points, their two score lead all but gone. It seems like a never-ending battle with this club – when the offense puts points on the board the defense starts to hemorrhage points, and when the defense is looking good and holds opponents down the offense can’t seem to move the ball – makes you want to break things.

If you’ve watched the Bills like I have it’s maddening to see how other teams make halftime adjustments against them and Buffalo never seems to change anything for the second half. The Bills actually did make a halftime adjustment in Kansas City – they stopped throwing the ball to Sammy Watkins. Watkins, who is often ignored for long stretches despite his talent and cost to the organization, was having a phenomenal first half – nine targets, six catches for 158 yards and two touchdowns – he was on fire. In the second half Watkins was targeted once and did not have a reception – absolutely unforgivable stupidity to abandon Watkins.

Defensively, the Bills refused to make any halftime adjustments. A week after confusing one of the smartest and quickest decision makers behind center in Brady, the Bills did not show much pressure or confusing looks to Alex Smith, despite the fact that both his left guard and left tackle had been knocked out of the game. Man, you’ve to really be in love with your defensive game plane to not take advantage of a situation like that, especially when Smith is carving you up (just the thought of allowing Smith to run roughshod over the defense make me want to puke). I’m not a football coach, but not dialing up the pressure on Smith in the second half seems incredibly stupid.

And so things went the way you’d expect in the second half of a must-win game – from bad to worse. The Bills gave up five of eight third down conversions, while converting only one of five of their own. Bills drives stalled – Chiefs drives did not.

Nickell Robey was victimized by the same officiating crew that was in London and once again they called him for a phantom pass interference call - 25 yards to Kansas City. Once again, the refs showed they don’t know what a catch is, nor do they know what constitutes pass interference – good luck playing defensive back in the NFL.

On a key drive Robert Woods clumsily bounced an easy ball off his hands twice before falling to the ground and having the play ruled incomplete. Instead of accepting his failure to catch the ball, Woods pleaded with his coaches to challenge the ruling – they did and promptly lost a timeout along with their down. It’s bad enough when you bobble a catch you should have made on a key play, but when you sucker your coaches into gambling (and losing) a second half timeout, that’s just maddening stupidity. On the next play Tyrod Taylor was sacked and fumbled, leading to another Chiefs field goal.

With the Bills down by five, it was time for the next act of total stupidity – a roughing the passer penalty by Jerry Hughes. In case you’re wondering, Hughes leads the league in personal fouls with five this season, and of course this one hurt – it put the ball at the Buffalo 12-yard line where they kicked another field goal.

So the Bills were down to their last chance – needing to drive the field and score a touchdown and a two point conversion to tie the game, they of course had to make another stupid mistake concerning the replay challenge. Chris Hogan clearly caught a pass past the first down marker and the ball came out long after he was down. Somehow the refs blew the call and said it was an incomplete pass (I know – shocking – the refs not knowing what constitutes a catch). Even a cursory look at the catch shows it was a catch and should be challenged, but the Buffalo coaching staff remained silent. On a drive that absolutely had to keep going the Bills let a very questionable call go without a challenge – possibly the stupidest thing they’ve done all season and something that falls just short of the Seahawks passing instead of running Marshwn Lynch. The game ended on the next play when Taylor scrambled on fourth down and almost converted – THAT the coaches challenged, but not the previous Hogan catch. No other way to say it – dumb, and when you continually do dumb things you lose – deservedly.

Even if the Bills make some changes on Monday – figure out when to challenge a call by changing procedures or personnel, looking for better options at kicker – it will be too little, too late. You don’t get many second chances in the NFL and the Bills are going to suffer the consequences of their problems on Sunday. In his post-game press conference Rex Ryan claimed that his coaches didn’t have an opportunity to see key replays because they weren’t shown on the scoreboard – I bet that’s the same every time the Bills are on the road, but I don’t buy that the coaches can’t see a replay. Heck, if it solves anything I’ll buy them a Sunday Ticket Max subscription and they can watch the game video on their phones because I sure saw what plays should/should not have been challenged just watching on TV.

And so I’m angry. The Bills deserved to lose, but the fans don’t deserve a loss like that. The fans don’t deserve to have to cheer for a team that in all likelihood will now miss the playoffs. The Bills had an opportunity to control their own destiny and now they don’t, and when you have to rely on other teams screwing up so you can make the playoffs you’re in a world of hurt. For a team that needed to turn things around, the Bills have done what they always do – get our hopes up, then crush them by losing four of their last six games. In the end, I suspect we’ll be where we always are – looking at a .500 team, dreaming of better days and trying to forget the boneheaded losses that kill us year after year. Makes you feel stupid for being a fan, but what can you do - Viva Stupidity!