SB Nation Reacts to Results: Has Panic Set in the Bills Mafia?

Ebb and flow. Every NFL season is full of them, and the same goes for our weekly Reacts polls that ask Buffalo Bills fans whether or not they have confidence in the team’s direction. After a win, even an ugly one, upward spikes are expected. In the face of a loss, whether it’s close and painful or a full-blown blowout, fans tend to fall off the wagon.

The fact that the Bills lost in Week 4 shouldn’t have been a complete surprise to the fanbase. Buffalo was on the road against a uniquely dangerous Baltimore Ravens team looking to prove they are much better than that 1-2 record suggested. And they were.

In turn, losing doesn’t mean the Bills are worse than their 3-0 record implied to people. It’s just that the NFL is a week-to-week league where most players within the sport re-evaluate almost everything with each new game.

Admit it, you really didn’t believe the Buffalo Bills would go 17-0 this season. The most die-hard die-hard fans probably wouldn’t have said that, given the amount of roster turnover and the obvious youth infusion taking place at One Bills Drive.

This week’s results might surprise a few people – and that’s because while there was a drop in confidence, it wasn’t a sudden drop. Are we Joshing you, Mr. Brightside?

Currently, 88% of voters have confidence in the direction of the bills. Last week, when Buffalo went 3-0 against the Ravens, the reliability rate was at its highest level of the season: 96%.

It’s a reminder to never have too high or too low expectations for the bills.

In Week 5, the Bills have a great opportunity to pick themselves up after a solid beating. Performing well and winning on the road in Houston would remind people that Buffalo still has one of the NFL’s elite teams.

The Bills will reconnect with Stefon Diggs on Sunday, but not so he can catch passes from quarterback Josh Allen again. This is Diggs’ first match against his former team, and it remains one of the hottest topics in the league this week.

Without Diggs, the bills have taken on an offensive “everyone eats” identity. We hear it almost every day. But what is really the core of that? Is it about checking egos and prioritizing teams over individual statistics? Maybe it really does have everything to do with spreading the ball around more to help Allen and the offense evolve.

Either way, we understand that from game to game, anyone could have a bye, whereas before it was almost certain that Stefon Diggs would say bye or no one at all.

Within that context, we wanted to know who, according to voters, best fills the role vacated by Diggs. Simply put, who does Allen throw to when it’s 4th-and-4 and they need the completion to convert (and in a situation where he can’t scramble)?

Do you believe you know who it is, and that the answer is simple? Well, most voters said it was wide receiver Khalil Shakir, who received more votes (63%) than the other seven options combined (37%). Looking at the results, it essentially came down to three players between Shakir, tight end Dalton Kincaid and running back James Cook. The 1% of votes for other players includes rookie wide receiver Keon Coleman. That’s not a referendum on Cole, but more of a byproduct of him being four games into his NFL career. Note: No highly touted free-agent acquisition could hit any of Buffalo’s drafted skill players.

The question now becomes: who will perform in Shakir’s absence? Allen cannot rely on Shakir in important situations due to an ankle injury he suffered last weekend in Baltimore.

Does losing Shakir (as well as starters in defensive tackle Ed Oliver and safety Taylor Rapp) affect how bettors feel about the Buffalo Bills’ chances of covering the spread with FanDuel?

That doesn’t appear to be the case, at least not right now, with 65% of voters saying the bills will apply in week 5.

Head coach Sean McDermott understands there is a lot of work to be done and it is a long season with few opportunities to catch mistakes. There’s some pretty clear evidence showing that the Bills don’t mesh well with highly physical teams. That needs to change if they hope to stay in the fight.