Buffalo Bills fans worried about lack of moves at NFL trade deadline

SB Nation

The Buffalo Bills did well to remind the football world that they’re not going anywhere in taking down the mighty Kansas City Chiefs 28-21 in Week 9. It was one of the team’s most dominant, full-roster

efforts in quite some time — the type of win that could help propel them to big things later this season.

Beyond the self benefits, Buffalo’s win also damaged the Chiefs’ playoff outlook. Now 5-4, Kansas City must approach every game like it’s playoff season, and that’s a level of energy and effort difficult to sustain with half the regular season to go. If the Chiefs miss the playoffs, they’re likely to look back at the loss in Buffalo as the turning point.

But enough about them, at least unless the Bills play KC in the postseason. A 6-2 Bills team will be looking for its third-consecutive win against the Miami Dolphins later today.

Interestingly, Buffalo and KC were among the teams not to make moves at the 2025 NFL trade deadline. Regarding the Bills, it’s not that they couldn’t use talented help, and it isn’t the case that general manager Brandon Beane just decided to sit on the sideline without trying. Instead, it’s quite clear that Beane was unwilling to pay what he viewed as an outlandish premium to teams looking to part ways with players.

Beane doubled down on the current roster, imperfections and injuries… all of it. To be honest, “it” looked pretty darn good against the Chiefs — a true dominating performance belied only by the final score. Bills Mafia can’t help but imagine what the offense might resemble with another boundary wide receiver added to the mix. But options were slim for a team with just over $3 million in available salary cap space.

It’s not even certain that an outside receiver would make the impact many fans are longing for, and much of that has to do with the Bills’ offensive identity. This is now a smash-mouth team, and the only one in the NFL to have dialed up more run plays than passing calls through nine weeks in the 2025 season. It’s an interesting stat to consider when Josh Allen isn’t anyone’s idea of a game manager at quarterback. But you know what? It’s working so far.

The real test is how they adapt when an opponent completely shuts down the run attack. We saw how things went against the Atlanta Falcons, which may have had more to do with play selection than anything the Falcons did to stop running back James Cook.

There’s an important Week 15 game coming up in Foxborough, MA. That’s the next opportunity Buffalo gets to even things up against the New England Patriots and their stout run defense. It also means the Bills will have spent the majority of the season chasing the AFC East lead, and which can only be theirs with the right combination of wins and defeating the Patriots in the rematch. Coincidentally, New England will be coming off a bye, so there’s that to mull over in the coming weeks.

You may recall us asking two questions of you earlier this week. First was our weekly confidence question, followed by one attempting to gauge fans’ sentiments following the Bills’ first silent trade deadline since 2021, and rumors that Buffalo may have been close to dealing for wide receiver Calvin Ridley of the Tennessee Titans.

Let’s start with the trade deadline since that’s still such a hot topic around the NFL. So how do voters feel about Buffalo making no trades ahead of the deadline? In our results, 42% of voters responded with “concerned,” while 33% percent are “indifferent,” and just 25% are “content.” You can be sure many will be watching to see how wide receiver Rashid Shaheed does with his old offensive coordinator, who now are both members of the Seattle Seahawks.

Turning our attention to the weekly confidence numbers, we find a healthy increase where 75% of voters are now confident in the Bills’ direction under head coach Sean McDermott and Beane. That’s a massive leap from a 43% confidence rating entering play against Kansas City. Amazing what a win against the Chiefs can do for morale, right?

Buffalo’s Week 9 opponent, the Dolphins, is a team in a tailspin. Head coach Mike McDaniel appears as though his soul has withered away under the South Beach heat. He may just wish it was colder, but for sure he’d like to see better results on the field. It starts with him, which plays a key role in Dolphins fan confidence and where McDaniel resides on the coaching hot seat meter.

Right now, only 12% of Miami fans are confident in the current regime and roster.

As for McDaniel, he leads the way by a wide margin (51%) among voters who believe he’s the next head coach to be fired. The two men listed just below him will interest Bills Mafia, where head coaches Brian Daboll (16%) and Aaron Glenn (15%) are second- and third-most likely to lose their jobs, per voters.

Switching gears back to the trade deadline one final time, there were plenty of names among a list for voters to select as having the biggest impact in 2025. No surprises here as cornerback Sauce Gardner leads the way at 61%, but Bills fans may cringe a bit seeing Shaeed’s name in second (17%), followed by defensive tackle Quinnen Williams (9%), and even wide receiver Jakobi Meyers (8%). Cornerback Jaire Alexander rounds out the group at 5% of votes.