The Buffalo Bills lost. It’s not something the team or their fans have become accustomed to.
It’s a new and odd twist… as is everything in 2020, right?
Following the Bills’ 42-16 destruction at the hands of the Tennessee Titans on Tuesday, Buffalo now finds themselves in another weird positioning this week. One they aren’t exactly used to.
As the 2020 NFL season completed its first quarter, the Bills were viewed among the league’s best. In some power rankings polls, Buffalo shot all the up into the top three. Quarterback Josh Allen started to see the ‘E’ word connected to his name, too… Elite.
After one loss, that’s not going to change. Top three? Maybe not. The NFL is always a “what have you done for me lately” type of league. But the Bills will still be among the best squads.
All eyes to Sean McDermott & Co. now.
Since 2017 when McDermott arrived, the Bills have cracked the postseason twice. In doing so, they pulled it off as an underdog. That was a trigger word for the Bills. Buffalo against the world, yes?
Well, that’s not going to be the case this week. The Bills are not an underdog. They’re facing the defending Super Bowl Champions, the Kansas City Chiefs, next. In years past, we’re used to seeing the defending champion Patriots or someone else head into Orchard Park with a double-digit advantage. But now the Chiefs open as only a few point favorite in this one… maybe by three in some sportsbooks… because this is still a battle of the heavyweights next week.
So no, Bills & McDermott. We cannot tout all week that everyone is sleeping on Buffalo after their loss to the Titans. Buffalo just lost to a team that made their way to the AFC Championship game just a year ago and it was frankly just a weird few days leading up to the game due to the Titans’ battles with COVID-19.
So now the message changes from, “we’re an underdog” to “we’re a damn good team still, let’s bounce-back and show it.”
The world’s not ending. Heck, Buffalo’s Super Bowl teams a few decades back were never undefeated.
But rallying the troops in these different manners is easier said than done. Even losing to the Chiefs it won’t be the end of the world, but a much better showing needs to be on the horizon for the Bills to display these “new Bills” are different.
[lawrence-related id=71421,71389,71392,71387]