Buffalo Bills: 3 reasons for optimism after Week 1 loss to New York Jets

On Monday night, the Buffalo Bills were handed a devastating — and for lack of a better term, embarrassing — loss at the hands of the New York Jets in their regular season opener. When Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers suffered a season-ending Achilles injury on the team's opening drive, the Bills were all but 1-0 before disaster struck.

And while there are plenty of warranted fingers to point, particularly at franchise quarterback Josh Allen, the Bills and their fanbase should still be optimistic about the team's chances at having a successful season in 2023.

It's Only Week One, Folks

Aside from the San Francisco 49ers, who enjoyed a shellacking of the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 1, most football fans probably expected only a handful of teams to compete for a Super Bowl this season — the Cincinnati Bengals, Philidelphia Eagles, Kansas City Chiefs, Buffalo Bills, and maybe a few others.

News flash: Three of those four teams lost in week one — and the Eagles found themselves on the brink of losing to the New England Patriots. While Week 1 certainly matters, it isn't necessarily the greatest indicator of who is going to hoist the Lombardi trophy when all is said and done in February.

When future Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady and the Buccaneers won the Super Bowl in 2020, they did so on the heels of a 34-23 week one loss against the same New Orleans Saints team they eventually beat in the playoffs that season. Even the Cincinnati Bengals and star quarterback Joe Burrow, who hurled 4 interceptions, lost in overtime against the Pittsburgh Steelers to open last season before coming within a few points of the Super Bowl in last year's AFC Championship game.

While these sorts of strange losses have seemed like a trend for the Bills in recent years, it's still early enough that the team can hold off on hitting the panic button — after all, week one is typically a crapshoot, anyway.