Maiocco’s Observations: 49ers’ playoff hopes fade with loss to Bills

BOX SCORE ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — A lot of things had to go right for the 49ers to hang around and give themselves a chance to pull off the upset against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday night. Well, a lot of things did not go right for the 49ers in their 35-10 loss to the Bills. In fact, a lot of things went wrong, most notably running back Christian McCaffrey sustaining a worrisome knee injury. Meanwhile, the Bills thrived in the wintry conditions, and their maniacal fans showered their star quarterback Josh Allen with chants of "MVP! MVP! MVP" Allen did not have to do a whole lot in order to lead the Bills to the victory over the overmatched 49ers, but he did manage to provide a unique highlight when he was credited with a touchdown pass and a touchdown reception on the same play. In the third quarter, Allen threw a short pass to the left side for wide receiver Amari Cooper, whom 49ers cornerback Renardo Green immediately wrapped up. As he was being driven backward, Cooper lateraled the ball back to Allen. The quarterback caught the toss, broke through Malik Mustapha's attempted arm tackle and sprinted toward the left front pylon. Allen reached the ball across the goal line before...