Anything is possible in the NFL, but realistically, the Buffalo Bills' chance to break their long and torturous playoff drought ended on Thursday night.
And the main problem will persist, and it's the biggest obstacle to getting back to the playoffs. The Bills, who haven't been to the playoffs since the 1999 season, which is the longest current drought in the NFL, don't have a quarterback.
Kyle Orton filled in OK for a while, after the Bills benched E.J. Manuel, but he has been exposed the last five days. He wasn't very good in a loss against the Chiefs last Sunday. Then he made nothing happen in a 22-9 performance against the Miami Dolphins on Thursday night. The Bills have now gone 21 straight possessions without a touchdown. The Dolphins and their strong defense had a lot to do with that. But the fact is, the Bills played a quarterback who didn't make one good pass downfield all night.
The Bills aren't finished at 5-5. But if you believe that it'll take 10 wins to make the playoffs in a competitive AFC, the Bills will need to go 5-1 the rest of the way, and among their last six games are trips to Denver and New England and a home game against Green Bay. Could they win five, or four and slide in at 9-7? Sure. It's just a really tough road after Thursday night. The odds aren't with them pulling it off.
Orton didn't have a completion longer than 19 yards all night. He finished 22-of-39 for 193 yards. Nine of his completions went to running backs. He just didn't make anything happen. The Bills never got in the end zone. Orton is a good backup, and can run the offense competently for a few games as a fill-in starter, but he's not going to carry an offense. The Bills need someone like that.
The problem is, there's no clear path to get that quarterback. Maybe 2013 first-round pick Manuel turns his career around, but would you bet on that? The Bills don't have a 2015 first-round pick as a result of the Watkins trade, so they can't select a quarterback early in next year's draft or even have the proper ammunition to move up to draft a top prospect. Maybe a great quarterback will be available after the first round, but that's usually rare. The quarterbacks who are available via trade or free agency are usually like, well, Orton.
So the Bills need to hope, probably next season when they try to break the streak again, the rest of the team can overcome a deficiency at quarterback. And the roster is solid. The defense is tough. Watkins is a future star. There's a lot to build on. But two sad facts emerged for Bills fans on Thursday night: Their streak without a playoff trip is probably going to continue, and the quarterback who might finally break that streak probably isn't on the roster.
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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdowncorner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab
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