Why Bills’ Week 5 clash with Stefon Diggs, Texans is not a revenge game

Emotions are high as the Buffalo Bills are set to face off against Stefon Diggs for the first time since the wideout's departure, but this isn't a revenge game.

Kyle Silagyi | 3 Hours Ago

Mark Konezny-Imagn Images

In this story:

Buffalo Bills | News, Scores, Schedules & Standings

Imagine a world where you own a coffee shop, a cozy corner café that you’ve watched blossom from a cherished neighborhood spot into a store of some national relevance over the past few years. Now let’s say that one of your long-time customers, a regular who has been frequenting your shop since it opened, opted to start getting their caffeine fix at a different café because they preferred their product or the location better fit their schedule/general way of life.

Would you, in this hypothetical situation, feel an urge to exact revenge on this person? To retaliate against them because you yourself feel spurned? No, because they made a completely rational decision based on several factors, and no meaningful or lasting harm was done to either party. You’re still positioned to succeed. They found a new flavor of coffee that they prefer. No one’s the wiser, and no ‘revenge’ is necessary.

This double-sided coin of an analogy, while perhaps not one that can be flawlessly transposed atop the storyline that’s dominated discourse centered around the Buffalo Bills’ Week 5 clash with the Houston Texans, does a solid job at representing both parties of the pervading talking point; though the national media seems intent on amplifying the ‘revenge game’ narrative in what is wide receiver Stefon Diggs’ first game against his former club, this is a storyline rooted in fiction, as there’s no revenge to be had.

Cambridge Dictionary defines ‘revenge’ as “to harm someone as a punishment for harm that they have done to you,” which, for those with a robust understanding of Diggs’ tenure in Orchard Park, will be enough to dispel any ‘revenge game’ narrative in and of itself. For those without a deep comprehension of his stint and feel that Week 5 is a ‘revenge game’ for the simple fact that a player is facing off against his former team, here’s a quick summarization: no “harm” was done, and thus, revenge is nigh impossible.

We’ll never know about individual occurrences or incidents that unfolded within the walls of One Bills Drive (if any exist), but from a 30,000-foot view (which is what the national media appears to be basing the storyline off), Diggs’ time in Buffalo went as well as any player could’ve asked. The Bills immediately made the wideout the centerpiece of their aerial attack upon acquiring him from the Minnesota Vikings, with Diggs tallying 166 targets, 127 receptions, and 1,535 receiving yards in his debut 2020 campaign. He set single-season franchise records in the latter two statistics.

He followed this up with a 2021 season in which he caught 103 passes for 1,225 yards and 10 scores, being rewarded with a four-year, $96 million contract the subsequent offseason that made him one of the highest-paid wide receivers in football. He caught 108 passes for 1,429 yards and 11 touchdowns in 2022 before reeling in 107 balls for 1,183 yards and eight scores in 2023; he never received fewer than 150 targets throughout his four seasons with the team.

Diggs is Buffalo’s fourth all-time leading receiver after just four seasons. He occupies spots No. 1–4 on the team’s list of all-time single-season reception leaders. No receiver in Bills history accomplished more in less time. He was long the centerpiece of one of the most explosive offenses in the NFL and was fruitfully compensated for his production. Where is the harm that necessitates revenge?

Tina MacIntyre-Yee /Rochester Democrat and Chronicle / USA TODAY NETWORK

Is the ‘harm’ that he was slightly phased out of the offense after Joe Brady took over as offensive coordinator in Week 11 of last season, with his average number of targets per game dropping from 10.2 to 8.3? This doesn’t seem like a grave mistreatment that necessitates revenge be exacted; it reads more like a minor inconvenience.

Buffalo’s offense looked generally stronger and more diverse after Brady took over, with Diggs’ comparative lack of targets serving not as an act of animosity toward the wideout, but as instead a means through which to make the larger offensive attack more efficient and productive. To go back to our coffee shop analogy, should Diggs feel spurned because the Bills found a new flavor of coffee they prefer? Likely not, especially considering the way the ultimate divorce manifested.

Buffalo, per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, had no plans to trade Diggs as the 2024 offseason commenced but ultimately did so after it became increasingly clear that he was open to a “change of scenery.” The team traded the former All-Pro to the in-conference Texans, a burgeoning team with a dynamic offense led by one of the league’s brightest young signal-callers in C.J. Stroud; it’s not as though the Bills sent him to the NFL’s equivalent of Siberia—they placed him in an advantageous position to succeed.

The coffee shop analogy works in the inverse, as well, as this isn’t a ‘revenge game’ for Buffalo, either. Diggs, in the grand scheme of things, did nothing to harm the team; he was a paramount piece of its offense for four years, an integral aid to Josh Allen as he established himself as one of the best quarterbacks in the league. The Bills discovered a means through which to achieve offensive success sans the wideout, and when Diggs expressed an openness to being shipped elsewhere (as is his right as an established veteran), Buffalo made the active decision to oblige. It’s true that trading Diggs in the 2024 offseason resulted in the team eating roughly $30 million in immediate dead cap, but it, again, didn’t have to trade him; it chose to do so.

To again re-visit the analogy, Diggs wanted to start purchasing coffee elsewhere. Should the Bills feel scorned, as though the wideout reneged on his commitment and loyalty? Maybe, but it doesn’t look as though Buffalo is significantly worse off due to his absence.

Thomas Shea-Imagn Images

And that’s perhaps the most compelling piece of recent evidence regarding the absurdity of the ‘revenge’ game narrative; both sides appear to be just fine. Diggs has caught 25 passes for 233 yards through four games in Houston and is, again, on track for over 100 receptions and 1,000 receiving yards. The Bills opted to take an egalitarian approach to aerial production in lieu of Diggs, and the strategy is, thus far, showing early returns; 10 weapons have already caught passes thus far this season, and Buffalo’s offense is averaging 30.5 points per game, good for second in the NFL.

It’s only natural for emotions to be heightened entering the Bills’ Week 5 showdown with the Texans; Diggs was a beloved figure amongst the Buffalo faithful, and his unexpected departure quickly grew unamicable. That said, this Sunday’s game is not a ‘revenge game’ for either party, as there’s no ‘revenge’ to be had. The Bills did not harm Diggs. The receiver did not harm Buffalo. Both parties appear to be doing just fine without each other.

This Sunday’s game is a lot of things. It’s a meeting between two high-powered offenses, a clash that could not only have playoff implications, but could be a preview of a postseason contest fans see again later this year. It’s a hotly anticipated showdown that should result in three hours of enjoyable entertainment, but one thing it’s definitively not is a revenge game.

— Enjoy free coverage of the Bills from Buffalo Bills on SI —