Bills Mafia accused of losing faith in team ahead of 2024 season

The Buffalo Bills have been one of the most successful franchises in the NFL over the past five years, making the playoffs in each of the last five seasons and winning the division four years in a row.

So why are Bills fans ranked 23rd? The Athletics‘s Hope-O-Meter for the 2024 season? Even teams that aren’t expected to do much like the Broncos, Commanders, Cardinals and Titans have fans who are more optimistic than Buffalo’s. So what gives Bills Mafia?

The article offers insights from positive and negative fans. The Bills received three optimistic reactions from fans, compared to just one pessimistic reaction. That makes it even more strange that they are rated so low.

The pessimist comment came from a guy named Peter who said he thinks injuries and new players are going to disrupt the flow. He also said all the great quarterbacks are in the AFC and that includes Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, Lamar Jackson and of course Josh Allen who are all in the AFC.

Peter certainly has a point in his pessimistic views. The Bills have had injuries this offseason, most notably to Matt Milano, and the team has lost a lot of key players in the offseason. He is also correct that the Bills are in the tougher conference and the AFC East has three very talented quarterbacks in Allen, Aaron Rodgers, and Tua Tagovailoa. In fact, the Bills aren’t even favored to win the division this year. Of course, those odds could change at any moment, but as of this writing, the Jets are favored to win the AFC East.

It’s not all doom and gloom, though. For the optimists, George noted that the media has been reluctant to pick the Bills this year, which has worked in Buffalo’s favor. Roy said that the Bills have now exited Allen Era 1.0 and are entering Allen Era 2.0, and that this could be a standout year, but if the team makes the playoffs, anything can happen. Finally, John pointed out that while he’s not as confident as he was before some of the preseason injuries, the Bills are a playoff team.

To be honest, the Bills are probably lower on the Hope-O-Meter because while they’re a good team, at the end of the day, they’ve gotten nothing in return. They haven’t reached the Super Bowl and haven’t been to the AFC Championship Game since the 2020 season, when they got blown out by Kansas City.

Until the Bills show they can make a deeper playoff run, fans will lean more toward the pessimistic scale. The good news is that as long as Josh Allen is their quarterback, they will always be in contention to win a Super Bowl.