Getty Bills wide receiver Stefon Diggs at Highmark Stadium on January 15, 2024.
The Buffalo Bills suffered yet another crushing defeat to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Divisional round on Sunday night. While there were multiple lead changes, the Bills ultimately fell 27-24.
During the Bills final offensive drive, quarterback Josh Allen looked to his No. 1 wide receiver, Stefon Diggs, to make a huge play. With 8:23 left in the fourth quarter, Allen threw a 64-yard bomb right toward Diggs, but he couldn’t hold on. Chased by Chiefs safety Justin Reid, Diggs jumped into the air to catch the ball, but it soared right past his chest.
Oh my god this angle is even harder to watch
This wasn’t an easy ball to catch, but there are higher expectations for the team’s $96 million star. Diggs has pleaded for the opportunity to make those big plays. After last year’s playoff loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, Diggs lamented over not getting looks in crucial moments.
Against the Chiefs, Diggs caught 3-of-8 targets for 21 yards. He fumbled and then dropped his first two targets. After the loss, Diggs was asked if he had a minute to talk, per The Athletic’s Matthew Fairburn. “Hell nah,” he said.
Diggs finished the regular season with 107 receptions for 1,183 yards and eight touchdowns. However, his minimized role in the back half of the season was noticeable. His production dipped simultaneously with his snap count.
However, the three-time Pro Bowler silenced the curiosity over his usage after catching 7-of-8 targets for 87 yards in the regular season finale. He tallied 7-of-9 catches for 52 yards in the Wild Card round. While Diggs was expected to break out against the Chiefs, especially with Gabe Davis out, his contributions came up short.
Stefon Diggs Deactivated His Instagram Account After Losing to the Chiefs
GettyBills wide receiver Stefon Diggs at SoFi Stadium on December 23, 2023.
Diggs has a history of deleting all of the photos on his Instagram page after the season ends, however, he appears to have deactivated his account. After last year’s playoff defeat against the Bengals, Diggs immediately stormed out of the locker room. He later told E! News that was a decision he regretted.
After losing to the Chiefs this year, Fairburn reported that Diggs sat at his locker with Davis, Trent Sherfield, and Josh Norman. He left to take a shower when Khalil Shakir started his postgame interviews.
“He later returned to his locker and sat scrolling his phone while Sherfield answered questions from reporters,” Fairburn wrote. “Diggs, a captain, turned down multiple requests for interviews as he has done often after games this season.”
While speculation over whether Diggs wants out of Buffalo will likely circulate, financially that’s near impossible. Cutting or trading Diggs before June 1 would cost the Bills over $31 million in dead cap. After June 1, they could save nearly $20 million on next year’s cap, but have “north of $20 million” in dead money for the 2025 NFL season, Fairburn noted.
Allen told reporters of Diggs on Monday, January 22, “That’s my brother. You’ll never catch me say anything but positive things about him.”
Chiefs Defense Claimed They Didn’t Have to Double Stefon Diggs to Shut Him Down
GettyBills wide receiver Stefon Diggs at Highmark Stadium on January 21, 2024.
Diggs complained about getting double-teamed after the Bills defeated the Chiefs 20-17 in Week 14. He caught 4-of-11 targets for 24 yards in that matchup, a season-low.
“A lot of things have to go right for me to get the ball,” Diggs told reporters on December 14. “It’s damn sure frustrating, I’m not going to lie. I get furious out there, like, want to say the F-word, but you know what I mean.”
After seeing Diggs’ comments, Chiefs’ Reid posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, “Crazy part is… we didn’t double him.” Several members of the Chiefs’ defense shared a similar sentiment after defeating the Bills in the Divisional round.
When Chiefs cornerback Trent McDuffie was asked how they were able to shut down Allen’s most explosive target, he said they didn’t have to do much. “Honestly, I feel like it was what they was doing,” McDuffie told Fairburn. “They were trying to run the ball. They put big personnel in. I think they figured we were going to double him tonight, which we didn’t.”
With shutdown cornerback L’Jarius Sneed on Diggs, Kansas City didn’t feel the need to double-team him. “We put LJ on him and it was over with,” Reid said. Sneed was so effective against Diggs that the NFL hit the cornerback with a random drug test after the game.
“He knew what was up,” Sneed said of Diggs. “He knew he wasn’t going to get the ball a lot, he wasn’t frustrated.”