SB Nation Reacts: Many believe Bills will be Lions’ dinner

Each week during the regular season, Buffalo Bills fans vote in SB Nation Reacts to express their confidence level in the team.

The Buffalo Bills kick off NFL Week 12 and the Thanksgiving Day football festivities (unless we count backyard leagues) with a second road trip to the Motor City in a week’s time. Their opponents this time at Ford Field are, of course, the Detroit Lions. A franchise caught in the swirling winds of westernmost Lake Erie, the Lions have been on a bit of a tear in recent weeks, having won their last three games. While only 4-6, their record belies the talent on both sides of the ball, and their ability to match score with the best offenses in the league.

Hey Bills—“It’s a trap?!”

Detroit is a young team, building confidence in key areas, having just dismantled one of the league’s hottest teams this season in the New York Giants. So does that mean the Bills are headed into a trap on Turkey Day? Better than half of respondents (53%) believe that, yes, the Bills may be headed for just that in Detroit.

I’ll go on record and state that I don’t consider this a trap game any more than I did the Cleveland Browns in Week 11. The Bills are a wounded team right now, in several ways, and for them to take any opponent lightly would be foolish at best. Any loss for Buffalo will be detrimental to their playoff hopes. Additionally, I don’t see the Lions as a pushover, void of blue-chip talent and starving to find wins. These Lions aren’t so different from the 2017 Bills, a team that finally saw its playoff drought broken with a bit of holiday luck.

Four of the Lions’ six losses have been by one score or less—and against some of the best teams in the NFL (Philadelphia Eagles, Miami Dolphins, Seattle Seahawks, Minnesota Vikings)—so they play sound football. Detroit is currently second in the NFC North, and fields one of the league’s best scoring offenses. If the idea of a trap game for you means that the Bills could lose to a team with a losing record, then yes, I agree. But I’m not about to go all Admiral Ackbar on you, because I don’t think the Lions typify the idea of a trap team.

Bills Mafia rediscovering its confidence

Twelve weeks in to the 2022 regular season, we’ve just come out of the steepest drop and deepest dip on the rollercoaster. Nearly three-quarters (74%) of fans polled are confident the Bills are headed in the right direction. That’s a nice rebound from last week’s season low of 57%.

It’s always interesting to see these charts develop, especially given the NFL’s week-to-week nature. Week 2 had virtually every Bills fan on board after the shellacking of the Los Angeles Rams. But 10 weeks later, the Rams are reeling, and a win against them might not earn the same sort of accolades. Time (and next week’s article) will tell if the trajectory is ready to climb higher or seek out a new floor.

Buffalo Bills play second fiddle to the NFC East

The results of this poll are no real surprise. When asked which Thanksgiving Day game NFL fans were most looking forward to watching, 50% chose the New York Giants against the Dallas Cowboys.

The teams in the NFC East have huge fan bases, and there are games often shown on featured primetime broadcasts. Something interesting to note is that Bills at Lions didn’t draw the least interest. That honor belongs to the Patriots at the Vikings. I personally will pay much closer attention to the nightcap, and hope the Vikings can pillage the Patriots’ dinner table. Perhaps the Giants-Cowboys game can serve as naptime for Bills Mafia.

Remember: A Patriots loss will forever be a Bills win!

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