After dismantling the New York Jets, the Bills look ready for the postseason
The Buffalo Bills entered play at or near the top of nearly all NFL power rankings this week. After beating the New York Jets 40-14, they remain at the top of those same lists. In most cases, they either remained steady or rose just a bit, as would be expected when a team wins so convincingly.
Granted, the Jets are on a road to nowhere, and they’ve been on that ride for the last 14 years. That doesn’t make Buffalo’s dominant performance any less impressive, as the score was actually even closer than the game itself was. The Bills led 33-0 in the third quarter before they removed quarterback Josh Allen, and they extended that lead to 40-0 with over 12 minutes left in the fourth quarter before they removed their defensive starters, leading to two meaningless Jets touchdowns.
We begin over at Pro Football Talk, where Mike Florio has the Bills ranked No. 2 this week. He asks the questions that’s on all of our minds: “Are [the Bills] ready to beat the Chiefs when it counts most?” There’s only one way that we’ll find out, and that’s if both teams make it to the AFC Championship Game.
The ranking committee at ESPN has the Bills at No. 3 this week, up one spot from their ranking entering play. Alaina Getzenberg was tasked with writing about the team’s biggest offseason contract situation, and she chose wideout Amari Cooper, who is a free agent at the end of the year. He hasn’t done much in a Buffalo uniform, nabbing 20 passes for 297 yards and two touchdowns, but he’s also had to acclimate midseason to an offense that spreads the ball considerably. Will he re-sign with the Bills? Would he want to re-sign? Would Buffalo want to re-sign him? Fortunately, these aren’t questions we need to discuss in the here-and-now.
Vinnie Iyer at Sporting News has the Bills ranked No. 2 this week, as well. He called Buffalo’s win over the Jets a “smashing tuneup” — all that was missing was Austin Powers — while calling the defense “sharp” in “ripping” the Jets. He thinks that Josh Allen did enough to pad his MVP candidacy, as well.
Eric Edholm at NFL Network has the Bills at No. 2 this week, which is exactly where he had them last week. He writes that the Bills have no need to play Allen this week against a New England Patriots defense that “humbled” him two games ago and still has absolutely nothing to lose. He thinks that the team should rest their starters and give young players some additional reps. While we may think of young players like Cole Bishop, Joe Andreessen, DeWayne Carter, and Sedrick Van Pran-Granger, he notes that wideout Keon Coleman should see more snaps this week. While they can’t sit everyone, that’s not something I would advise.
Frank Schwab at Yahoo! Sports is one of the few writers to drop the Bills in his ranking, moving them from second to the No. 3 spot this week. He has Buffalo behind the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs, respectively. Schwab writes that Buffalo showed that they don’t care much about Josh Allen’s stats when they pulled him early from last week’s win. “Has Allen already done enough to stay ahead of Lamar Jackson in the MVP race?,” Schwab asks. We’ll see.
Nate Davis at USA Today kept the Bills at No. 1 this week. He writes that it would be a “cop-out” to post six teams or so as tied for the first spot in his ranking, but he can’t find much separation between the league’s true elites. His top six includes the Bills, the Chiefs, the Detroit Lions, the Minnesota Vikings, the Eagles, and the Baltimore Ravens, in that order. He isn’t wrong about how good those six teams are, as any one of them is capable of beating any other on any given Sunday.
Pete Prisco has the Bills at No. 2 this week. He notes that the team has “locked up” the No. 2 seed in the AFC while also writing that he believes Josh Allen should be the league’s MVP. He thinks that the team’s defense needs to play like it did against the Jets during the playoffs in order for Buffalo to maximize its championship potential.
Robert Zeglinski and Christian D’Andrea at For the Win have the Bills at No. 1, as well. D’Andrea writes that Buffalo “barely broke a sweat” in destroying the Jets. He notes that Buffalo’s pass rush doesn’t deserve “extra credit” for beating the Jets’ two backup offensive tackles, but he speculates whether “head coach Sean McDermott’s defense is peaking” at the right time.
David Helman at FOX Sports has the Bills at No. 1, as well. He notes that the Bills are unlikely to play Josh Allen much this week, and he wonders whether it will have a negative impact on Allen’s chances at the MVP award. He doesn’t think that the Bills care much — and frankly, neither does Allen — but he remains “curious” as to whether it will have any impact on the voters.
Matt Johnson at Sportsnaut dropped the Bills two spots this week, taking them from No. 2 to No. 4 in this week’s rankings. He has the Bills behind the Chiefs, the Vikings, and the Ravens, in that order. He writes that Josh Allen “certainly gives this team its best Super Bowl hopes in years.” He notes that Allen has “carried” the Bills’ offense, but he thinks that the defense is the weakness that makes them the third-best team in the AFC at the moment.
Alex Kennedy at Pro Football Network has the Bills down at No. 5 this week, trailing the Lions, Ravens, Vikings, and Eagles. He lauds Buffalo’s offense, which is fourth in PFN’s own metric, but wonders about the state of their “mediocre defense and special teams” as it relates to a deep postseason run.
Finally, we end with Marcus Mosher at The 33rd Team, who has Buffalo ranked No. 5, as well. He calls the Bills “a machine,” noting that Josh Allen gives the team its best chance at a Super Bowl in decades. He calls their offense “dominant” while also suggesting that Josh Allen “might be the league MVP.”