Siran Neal earned a deserved new contract with the Buffalo Bills this week for his superb special teams work.
Given the miscommunication on the kickoff with 13 seconds on the clock in the Divisional Round loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, which allowed just enough time for Patrick Mahomes to lead a game-tying field goal, the kickoff unit in Buffalo has been under scrutiny this offseason. As a special teams ace, Neal was asked about that miscommunication, but the 27-year-old said the locker room has moved on.
"Be curious," Neal said, via the team’s official website. "We don't have to discuss anything with the outside world if we don't want to. And you know what's crazy, we don't even discuss it with each other. That was a play that happened back then. We've moved on from it.
"There's a lot of things in that game that we could have done differently to get the outcome that game and that's one thing that the staff does here. They put together a team, not just ballplayers. They put together, personality people. They have great personalities. And that's one thing I love about my teammates. We haven't got to talk about it."
It surely won't be the last time a Bills player is asked about the "13 seconds" situation before next season ends. Those brutal ends tend to linger as a months-long narrative heading into the next season.
Neal's comments underscore the belief in Buffalo that the Bills have the talent to be Super Bowl contenders in 2022. The first step in overcoming that failure is moving on from the crushing final 13 seconds of their playoff loss. Neal suggests that healing process is already on to the next phase.
