SB Nation Reacts Week 11 results — Has Bills Mafia’s confidence bottomed out?

For the Buffalo Bills and especially now-former offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey, it’s been a trying week — one full of the brand of stress that can drive a person insane. To say that’s the same of many within Bills Mafia isn’t hyperbole. Those within the team’s wagon of fandom know that no other group of sports nuts wears the passion of its team the same. Bills football is a way of life — it’s family, it’s generational, and everything about the team is as meaningful as it gets in and around the Western New York region.

So when things aren’t going well with the Buffalo Bills, their fans take it to heart. In case you haven’t heard, things haven’t been great at One Bills Drive. Quarterback Josh Allen’s hand-pick successor to Brian Daboll is now out as OC, with Joe Brady being elevated from quarterbacks coach to interim offensive play caller. The perception is that Dorsey’s dismissal was the result of the Bills’ devastating home loss to the Denver Broncos in Week 10. While that likely played some role in the decision, it’s unlikely that head coach Sean McDermott made such a decision without having put weeks of thought into the matter.

Since thoroughly trouncing the Miami Dolphins in Week 4, Buffalo’s offense has been a shell of itself, a unit so dysfunctional that it hearkens back to drought-era Bills football. Only now, the consideration of all-timers in Allen and wide receiver Stefon Diggs defy such logic. Said another way: There’s little-to-no excuse for the way Buffalo’s offense has performed in five losses this season.

As expected, the results of our Reacts poll this week reflect the slump that currently cradles the Bills. But interestingly, overall confidence found a fraction of a rebound. Last week, following the team’s loss to a very talented Cincinnati Bengals team, fans voted their lowest approval rating of the team in recent memory — 11%. Now, following Buffalo’s Week 11 loss to the much-improved though still-perceived-inferior Denver Broncos, a larger percentage of Bills Mafia is confident their favorite team is headed in the right direction. Considering the 15% confidence rate from this latest poll, it appears 4% of voters needed to see offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey relieved of his duties.

Though Ken Dorsey was adored by those he worked with, the NFL is a bottom-line business as center Mitch Morse astutely noted. While wishing Dorsey nothing but the best of success in his next role, it’s clear a fair number of fans saw the same potential in the team only if Dorsey wasn’t a part of the plan. Time will tell.

In national polls this week, voters were asked who they believe is the NFL comeback player of the year, at the mid-point of the 2023 NFL season. Bills fans have long-aligned with safety Damar Hamlin, who survived on-field cardiac arrest last season — and for good reason. Surviving commotio cordis is incredible alone, but making a full recovery and seeing a successful return to play in the NFL is a story for the ages.

But it’s possible that given his role as a depth player for a talented and veteran-laden Buffalo Bills squad, he simply hasn’t seen enough on-field time to sway voters at this time.

Also in national polls, respondents believe the Bills will emerge victorious in Week 11, defeating the New York Jets to improve to 6-5.

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