Buffalo Bullies AFC East Rival in Week 17
The Buffalo Bills put a 40-14 beat down on the New York Jets and locked up second place in the AFC playoff picture in the process. Efficient blitzes from the defense kept a star-studded New York offense quiet until quarterback Aaron Rodgers left the game. Buffalo’s quarterback Josh Allen tallied two passing touchdowns, a rushing touchdown, and 182 passing yards in only three quarters, helping his pursuit of the NFL MVP. After a shaky performance in Week 16 against a terrible New England Patriots team, Buffalo did what they were supposed to before likely earning some well-deserved rest in Week 18.
With just one week to go in the NFL’s regular season, Buffalo has the third-highest odds in the NFL to win the Super Bowl, and for good reason. Buffalo handed the Kansas City Chiefs, who have the highest odds, their sole loss of the season in a dominant nine-point victory. Since then, the Bills hold a +67 point differential. Aside from a special teams mistake in Week 14 against the Rams, the Bills would not have lost a game since October 6th. With an MVP candidate at the helm and a top-10 rushing attack, Buffalo fans should have real hope going into the playoffs this year.
My slight doubts about this team arise from their ability to stop the run on defense. If a team like Kansas City, Baltimore, or, in the Super Bowl, Detroit gets ahead early and can keep Allen on the sideline using their strong rushing attacks, Buffalo might not be able to get their defense off the field. This strategy should sound very familiar to Buffalo fans, as the Bills tend to do this to a different team every week. Buffalo allows the fourth-highest yards per rushing attempt compared to ranking around the league average on passing plays.
That said, we have seen Buffalo earn these tough wins in games like the one against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 11. On top of that, the Bills went on the road and snapped the Detroit Lions’ franchise-best 11-game win streak in Week 15. This is the best Bills team in the Josh Allen era among a host of AFC championship-contending teams. If there were ever a year to hop on the Buffalo bandwagon, this is it.