If the Bills win tonight, does the narrative change?

[ChicagoRic]

With KC and the Bengals both suffering losses, I'm super curious as to how the narrative might change.

 

If the Bills win, are they "re-legitimized"?

 

If the Jets win, are they the sudden SB favorites?

 

Can't wait to see how this plays out. 

[Nephilim17]

I'm sure regardless of the outcome, it will change the narrative. But it shouldn't. One game, especially early on, doesn't make a season. 

Good teams have lost early games or openers and gone on to win it all. And not-so-good teams have won those games and not followed through with good seasons.

[Buddy Hix]

KC and Cincy have had early season struggles in past years and still overcome them to make the Super Bowl, so their narratives shouldn't change all that much.

 

As for winner of Jets/Bills, I think if Jets win they should be considered a contender...their D is pretty amazing and they brought in some nice players. Bills narrative should remain the same, win or lose, good team that struggles to win the big playoff games (only one way to change that narrative).

[teef]

it shouldn't.  it would be great to take a win away from a divisional foe on the road, but who knows what either of these teams will be by january.  

[ClemsonBills]

No one will care about week 1 when the Bills, Chiefs and Bengals are all in the playoffs.

[NewEra]

The narrative means nothing.  We were the favorites for half of 2022, until we weren’t.  
 

In the greater scheme of things, this game isn’t THAT important.  Staying healthy, learning and improving week by week is what’s important 

[Warcodered]

I mean the question isn't will it matter in the end, which it's a division game so the result might actually be important in the end, but will it change the narrative and obviously it would. The narrative right now is the Bills regressing and being done while the Dolphins and Jets pass them to take the division. So yeah smacking the taste out the Jets mouth would send a message that you forgot who the Bills are.

[KDIGGZ]

The narrative will be "We're on to week 2"

[boyst]

No. if the bills win then all attention is still on New Jersey.

 

Finding out why they choked, etc. will be huge.

Regardless, the rematch is going to be even bigger in scale than this game unless one or both teams choke.

[NoSaint]

22 minutes ago, ChicagoRic said:

With KC and the Bengals both suffering losses, I'm super curious as to how the narrative might change.

 

If the Bills win, are they "re-legitimized"?

 

If the Jets win, are they the sudden SB favorites?

 

Can't wait to see how this plays out. 

I think they have been pretty legitimate all off-season, but are in the tightest division in the tighter conference and because of that 1-2 games could be the difference between Super Bowl contender vs watching playoffs from the couch 

[BuffaloBillyG]

Here's your Tuesday morning spoiler alert on the narrative in either event.

 

Bills lose:

"We told you, Jets are for real. Dolphins are for real and the Bills window is slammed shut. It's all over."

 

Bills win:

"Nice win, but you can't read too much into it. It's week one and a long season. Look, the Chiefs and Bengals both lost week 1 just like the Jets and we know Aaron Rodgers will get it figured out just like Mahomes and Burrow."

[Bubba Gump]

I think tonight will be a close fought game. If the Jets win, all the talk will be about Miami and NY. If the Bills win, all the talk will be about Miami. 

[strive_for_five_guy]

We win, narrative of Bills missing their window ends and we are rightfully considered in the mix at top of AFC.

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

32 minutes ago, ChicagoRic said:

With KC and the Bengals both suffering losses, I'm super curious as to how the narrative might change.

 

If the Bills win, are they "re-legitimized"?

 

If the Jets win, are they the sudden SB favorites?

 

Can't wait to see how this plays out. 

I forget which one, might have been mcaffe talked proactively about being excited for extreme overreactions to everything that happens week1.  It think they plan a segment to deliberately over react 😂 

[SoCal Deek]

Wait….there’s a narrative? I’m gonna have to google it. I’ll be right back. 

[HopelessNJBuffaloFan]

No, the only way it changes is a SB win, plain and simple. The 13 seconds gaff was our SB shot, and it was blown. Last year our weakness was pointed out. Time to fix move on and win. 

[Warriorspikes51]

The context of how the team looks will have a lot to do with that.... 

[PatsFanNH]

59 minutes ago, ChicagoRic said:

With KC and the Bengals both suffering losses, I'm super curious as to how the narrative might change.

 

If the Bills win, are they "re-legitimized"?

 

If the Jets win, are they the sudden SB favorites?

 

Can't wait to see how this plays out. 

Jets are already SB favorites with some experts.. I think a win tonight just keeps the Bills firmly as the team to beat in the East. A loss puts you with KC and Cincy.. aka no big deal it’s 1 game on the road.. (unless it’s a blowout then people may be concerned)

[BuffaloBill]

Time for this team to quietly put their critics to rest.  The roster is loaded and the best D player is on the shelf for 4 weeks.

[ToGoGo]

NFL fans are so week to week that they will thinks the Bills are the team to beat and KC and CIN might not make the playoffs this year. This is after hand wringing all off-season. 
 

Better to ignore the opinion of 98% of fans. Especially on this board. 

[Airseven]

So many narratives!

[BullBuchanan]

Nothing changes the narrative for the bills until they start playing better and winning games in the playoffs. The next 17 games are just an extended pre-season as far as I'm concerned.

[LABILLBACKER]

As has been mentioned in other threads,  week 1 means very little. Regardless of if you win or lose. 4 teams started our 0-1 last year and still made the playoffs. I'm looking for good execution tonight and some motivation.  That's my narrative. 

[Antonio]

No matter what, the talk will be Tua for MVP and Miami as TOP Favorite for the No. 1 Seed... until we play them and crush their nice little dream. 

[DasNootz]

Close game nothing changes - blowout in either direction and the winner is #2 in the league behind a healthy KC.

[dorquemada]

the media is so deep in servicing aaron rogers and the jets that there's no way they're going to back down regardless of how tonight turns out

 

"The Bills may have won 73-0 with their 2nd string in the game by Q2, but the real winners tonight are obviously the new look Jets"

 

It's the Chris Collinsworthification of sports broadcasting

[Milanos Milano]

2 hours ago, Warriorspikes51 said:

The context of how the team looks will have a lot to do with that.... 

This. If we lose 38-7 , that will not sit well. But honestly, any loss isn’t going to sit well because it really does feed into the window has closed narrative. A highly talented team should find ways to win these tough games, not lose them. 

[eball]

3 hours ago, Buddy Hix said:

their D is pretty amazing

 

When did this statement become fact?  Their defense isn’t “pretty amazing” — it is very good.  They didn’t lead the league in anything and they haven’t done anything unprecedented at this point…all they do is talk a huge game just like their meathead coach.

 

I think a narrative will certainly change when the Bills hang 30 on them tonight in an embarrassing affair.

 

[Matt_In_NH]

They can talk about whatever.....lets see what happens in Jan/Feb.

[dorquemada]

25 minutes ago, Araiza Curse said:

This. If we lose 38-7 , that will not sit well. But honestly, any loss isn’t going to sit well because it really does feed into the window has closed narrative. A highly talented team should find ways to win these tough games, not lose them. 

 

Yup.  If it turns into a shootout like the Miami game, and the Jets come out on top at the end, it's one thing.  If the Bills come out looking flat and lethargic, then yeah we won't get another bit of national media attention this season.   It's a gut check for the Bills that I 100% expect them to pass.

[MJS]

Life is a lot better if you stop caring about other people's narratives.

[somnus00]

Damn, I hope not. Whatever, the outcome may be, this is week 1 of a long season. I, for one, will not let the results of this week, change my outlook on the rest of the season.

 

Also, I hope the media keeps the stock low on the Bills, giving the team a bit of a chip on their collective shoulder.

[JerseyBills]

hope not. i like Buf being overlooked 

[Low Positive]

The media narrative? No, because the Jets' story is just too good for them to give up this early. First of all, so many of the national NFL talking heads are open Jets fans. They are giddy with excitement. Greenberg and Eisen are squealing like little girls. You know all those stories about the long-suffering Bills Mafia over the past few years? Remember, there are a metric ton more long-suffering Jets fans out there and it makes for a better story. They need content, and a contending Jets team is content gold.

[Chaos]

3 hours ago, Buddy Hix said:

KC and Cincy have had early season struggles in past years and still overcome them to make the Super Bowl, so their narratives shouldn't change all that much.

 

As for winner of Jets/Bills, I think if Jets win they should be considered a contender...their D is pretty amazing and they brought in some nice players. Bills narrative should remain the same, win or lose, good team that struggles to win the big playoff games (only one way to change that narrative).

Actual two ways to change the narrative. One- The good way , win the Super Bowl Two- The bad way , miss the playoffs.

[Ya Digg?]

Sure it will - everything will go crazy for 6 days until next Sunday....when the narrative will change again

[4merper4mer]

3 hours ago, SoCal Deek said:

Wait….there’s a narrative? I’m gonna have to google it. I’ll be right back. 

Is anyone else worried about @SoCal Deek?  He said he’d be right back.  It’s been THREE hours!

[SoonerBillsFan]

3 hours ago, ChicagoRic said:

With KC and the Bengals both suffering losses, I'm super curious as to how the narrative might change.

 

If the Bills win, are they "re-legitimized"?

 

If the Jets win, are they the sudden SB favorites?

 

Can't wait to see how this plays out. 

I don't want the narrative to change. I want them to write us off. I have never really cared about rankings, power rankings, talking heads opinions. Just win.

[ChasBB]

It's just one game.  No, the narrative does not change, win or lose.  It's a long season.  Better to win, of course, to keep pace with Dolphins and push Jets back early, but it's still just one game and is not a narrative-changer either way.

[ngbills]

No - Bills win a close one or Bills lose a close one.

Yes - Bills win a blow out or Bills lose a blow out.

 

Bills are favored but many view this as a 50/50 game. But if the Bills lose it does in some ways validate that the division is not going to come easy. Winning will not change any narrative unless we just crush them.