The Buffalo Bills defense is a concern for several of the NFL’s talking heads.
The Buffalo Bills capped off another 13-win regular season on Sunday, dropping a 23-16 defeat to the New England Patriots that featured little contribution from their starting unit. Losing is never the goal, but when there was nothing to play for, depriving a division rival of a chance at the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft wasn’t the worst outcome of a regular-season finale.
The power rankings reflect Buffalo’s excellent season, as nearly all rankers have the team in the top end of every list available. There are fewer lists to discuss this week, as some outlets stop publishing rankings entering the final week of the regular season. However, there are still enough of our favorites to warrant solid discussion.
We start over at Pro Football Talk, where Mike Florio ranked Buffalo No. 3 this week. That’s one spot lower than the Bills were entering play. He writes that the Bills “traded a franchise record for wins for keeping the Pats from [securing] the No. 1 overall pick.”
Frank Schwab at Yahoo! Sports has two sets of rankings in his article. First, he handicaps the chances of the top five teams who can knock off the Kansas City Chiefs in the playoff field. He puts the Bills at No. 3 there, trailing only the Detroit Lions in a potential Super Bowl matchup and the Baltimore Ravens in an AFC Championship Game tilt. In the overall power rankings, Schwab puts Buffalo at No. 4. He thought it was “weird” that James Cook had ten carries last week as the team attempted to give him a chance at tying the franchise’s record for rushing touchdowns in a season, which he did ultimately do.
Pete Prisco at CBS Sports has the Bills ranked No. 2 this week. He writes that quarterback Josh Allen is likely the league’s Most Valuable Player, but the main goal isn’t individual accolades. Prisco thinks that this is the year that the team needs to make the Super Bowl.
Vinnie Iyer at Sporting News has the Bills ranked No. 2 this week. He notes that Buffalo has some defensive holes due to personnel concerns, but he doesn’t elaborate on what those are. He thinks that Allen is the league MVP, noting that his ability to play Superman gives Buffalo a chance to finally dethrone the Chiefs.
Robert Zeglinski and Christian D’Andrea at For the Win ranked Buffalo No. 2 this week, as well. That’s one spot lower than they were ranked entering play. Zeglinski writes that Buffalo has the “chops” to beat the Chiefs in the postseason, as Buffalo is “complete, balanced, and well-coached.” He thinks that, if Buffalo and Kansas City are to meet in the AFC Championship Game, it might be a bigger game than even the Super Bowl.
Matt Johnson at Sportsnaut has the Bills at No. 5 this week. He writes, “if our NFL power rankings were based purely on quarterbacks, Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills grab a top-two spot.” He and the Sportsnaut staff don’t trust Buffalo’s defense, and they think that it will ultimately be that unit that keeps Buffalo from achieving its ultimate goal.
Alex Kennedy at Pro Football Network has Buffalo ranked No. 5 this week, as well. He notes that the Bills became the first team in NFL history to score 30 touchdowns passing and 30 touchdowns rushing in the same season. He raises the same concerns as Matt Johnson did regarding Buffalo’s defense, noting that Buffalo allowed just a 36.5% conversion rate on third down from Weeks 6-13, but then allowed 57.1% of third downs to be converted in Weeks 14-17.
Nate Davis ranked only the playoff teams this week, and he has the Bills at No. 5 entering play. He wonders aloud just how important the No. 1 overall seed in the AFC actually was, given that Buffalo would theoretically have two home playoff games before they’d need to hit the road. While he notes that, on the one hand, Buffalo can beat teams in multiple ways, he wonders whether the team can withstand a poor performance from Josh Allen or rely on a defense that allowed 40 points twice in the season’s final push.
Bucky Brooks at FOX Sports has the Bills at No. 3 this week. He writes that Josh Allen’s explosiveness and James Cook’s emergence as a dominating runner give the Bills a multi-faceted attack that can make it hard for teams to hold Buffalo under 30 points in a playoff game. He thinks that Buffalo is “primed to make a title run this season.”
Finally, we have Marcus Mosher at The 33rd Team has the Bills ranked No. 4 this week. Mosher writes that Buffalo rested everyone, and he acknowledged that the team dealt with multiple injuries on defense throughout the season. Mosher thinks that, if the defense steps up for the next few weeks, this might be the best shot the team has had at making the Super Bowl in Josh Allen’s career.