ORCHARD PARK - From the moment they arrived in Rochester for training camp last summer, the Buffalo Bills were the consensus Super Bowl favorite.

It always seemed a little odd, especially for a team that had flamed out so spectacularly in the divisional round of the playoffs last January, but hey, Las Vegas had its reasons.

And really, for most of the 2022 season, as they were piling up 13 regular-season victories and winning a third straight AFC East title, the Bills played the part and remained in that lofty perch until being overtaken late in the year when the oddsmakers starting taking a deserving shine to the Kansas City Chiefs.

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The expectations for Sean McDermott’s team were enormous, but here’s the thing about betting odds and expectations: They don’t actually mean a thing. Results are all that matter, and in the game that mattered the most, Sunday afternoon at snowy Highmark Stadium, all those expectations were blown away by a crushingly lousy performance.

The Bills got off to a horrible start in their AFC divisional round game against Cincinnati, never got out of chase mode, and never did catch the Bengals as they saw their season come to an inglorious end with a 27-10 loss.

“No excuses,” McDermott said. “They beat us. They out-physicaled us. Right now this stings.”

He wasn’t kidding, and thus, for the second year in a row, the Bills failed to reach the AFC Championship Game, this time blowing the chance at home. And now, an offseason with some very big roster decisions and very limited salary cap space looms for a team that can only be considered to be stuck in neutral in the never-ending pursuit for that elusive first Super Bowl.

“Disappointment,” Josh Allen said. “Our goal is to win a Super Bowl or World Championship and we didn't accomplish that. So everything that happened in the season is kind of null and void in our minds and it sucks. That's the way it goes sometimes. They had a good game plan, credit to those guys, they came out and played hard. We just didn't have it today.”

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True to their nature, the Bengals - who did plenty of talking during the week - were crowing in their locker room. Quarterback Joe Burrow, who certainly doesn’t lack confidence, said, “Better send those refunds.”

That was a shot across the bow for all the tickets that were sold for the potential AFC Championship Game between the Bills and Chiefs in Atlanta next weekend. Now, that game includes the Bengals, and will be played in Kansas City.

Damar Hamlin, whose frightening medical situation three weeks ago forced cancellation of the game between these teams, came to the stadium and visited his teammates in the locker room before being transported up to a suite to watch the game.

But any juice the Bills may have gotten from that evaporated less than 12 minutes into the game. Cincinnati tore through the Buffalo defense as if it wasn’t even on the snowy field, that’s how little resistance the Bills put up in allowing the Bengals to take a 14-0 lead.

“They did really good as far as keeping the tempo at their pace and just being able to control everything,” said defensive tackle Tim Settle. “They controlled the game, they controlled the possessions and we just didn’t execute in those areas.”

The first possession was ridiculous, six plays to cover 79 yards with Ja’Marr Chase somehow getting absurdly wide open to catch a 28-yard touchdown pass from Burrow. The Bills offense responded with an ugly three-and-out - a sign of things to come for Allen - and the Bengals took over at their 28 and covered the required 72 yards in 10 plays with Burrow hitting wide-open Hayden Hurst with a 15-yard TD pass.

The Bills went three and out again, and with the game in danger of becoming Giants vs. Eagles from Saturday night, the defense finally rose up and got the Bengals off the field. That seemed to energize Allen who went into the no huddle and the Bills marched right downfield, 75 yards in 15 plays with Allen hitting several key throws including a 23-yarder to Khalil Shakir before capping the drive with a tough one-yard TD plunge.

Again, the defense could not handle Cincinnati’s offense and Burrow directed another impressive 65-yard drive, only to see it end in a field goal when his apparent 10-yard TD pass to Chase in the back of the end zone was reversed to an incompletion upon replay review.

The Bills had 1:43 with which to work before the half, but after reaching midfield, a dropped pass by Devin Singletary and a third-down incompletion by Allen killed it.

“I thought we moved the ball when we had some of our possessions but the two early three and outs and just stalling throughout the game. You can't win football games that way,” Allen said.

At the break, the Bengals had 18 first downs and held a 274-135 edge in yards, and it actually felt worse. By the end, the Bills allowed 412 yards which was their second-highest yield of the season behind only the Minnesota game which went to overtime. They also gave up a season-high 30 first downs.

If the Bills had any chance to turn things around, it had to start with the opening possession of the third quarter. And while they did score, it came on a 25-yard Tyler Bass field goal after the drive stalled inside the Bengals 10.

Now within a score, with the crowd back into it, the defense needed a stop, but it got mercilessly worked over during a 12-play, 75-yard drive that chewed up 6:25 and ended with Joe Mixon scoring from the 1 to make it 24-10.

“Complete game from everybody - offense, defense, special teams, domination from start to finish. That’s what we expected,” Burrow said.

There was still a quarter to play, but it didn’t matter. Buffalo’s offense could do nothing, the Bengals tacked on a fourth field goal, and for the first time all year, the stadium was half-empty by the time the game ended, fans trudging back to their cars contemplating another season that had so many highs, but ultimately crashed and burned well short of those expectations.

“This is a good football team and you learn from things like this, you keep knocking on the door,” McDermott said. “This is what you work so hard for all offseason, to get into the playoffs, get to the Super Bowl and win it. There’s no second-place trophies.”

Sal Maiorana can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana.To subscribe to Sal's new twice-a-week newsletter, Bills Blast, please follow this link: https://profile.democratandchronicle.com/newsletters/bills-blast

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Bills a complete no-show, get trounced by Bengals in playoffs