How seriously should we be taking the Buffalo Bills?

The Buffalo Bills suffered their first loss of the season in a weird, COVID-19 induced Tuesday night matchup with the Tennessee Titans.

Buffalo Bills fans woke up Wednesday morning to the validity of their football team being challenged by analysts and naysayers everywhere. A disgusting Derrick Henry stiff arm on Josh Norman has the Bills as the butt of every joke on twitter right now. While a 42-16 loss is worthy of some critique, are the Bills being disrespected?

As they head into week six, the Bills are sitting at 4-1, which is exactly the same the record that they had going into week six last year after a 14-7 win over, you guessed it, the Tennessee Titans. While they sit atop the AFC East, this isn’t the first time that their credibility has been in question this year. Josh Allen has been playing out of his mind to start this season, so can we expect the Bills to bounce back?

I think they will and here’s why.

1. The Buffalo Bills simply weren’t ready to play last night.

In one of the strangest build-ups to an NFL game ever, the Bills legitimately didn’t know if they should be preparing to play the Titans or Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs.  While the Titans were clearly prepared to play, I think the Bills deserve some grace. Routine is often a big part of a player’s or team’s ability to effectively prepare, so I’m willing to bet that the Titans simply adjusted to odd circumstances better than the Bills.

2. Several starters were out for the Bills.

Both Pro Bowl cornerback Tre’Davious White and the Bills’ other starting corner Levi Wallace didn’t see the field in the loss to the Titans. Though they came into this matchup with one of the more inconsistent defenses in the league, missing two cornerbacks and middle linebacker Matt Milano surely played a part in such a big loss.

3. Josh Allen looked human for the first time this season.

Despite finding the endzone twice on Tuesday night, Allen did manage to connect with defenders just as many times, though one of the interceptions wasn’t necessarily his fault. Managing a season-low 263 yards and a pair of touchdowns would be impressive for plenty of other young quarterbacks around the league, so to see it as an off night truly speaks to Allen’s performance this year.

It’s unfair to question a team that was a defensive stand away from the second round of the playoffs in 2019 this early in the season. It is, however, valid to express some concern on the defensive side of the ball. All in all, I think the Buffalo Bills will get back to their regularly scheduled programming in the near future, even if it takes another week, given the fact that the Chiefs are their next matchup. Bills fans should remain hopeful though. It’s not time to panic just yet.