After two strong performances in a row at MetLife Stadium to start the season, the Buffalo Bills have established themselves as Wild Card contenders.
The Buffalo Bills love to claim that they are New York’s football team, an argument they can make since the New York Jets and New York Giants both play in East Rutherford, New Jersey. After coming back to beat the Jets last week, the Bills have put up a strong showing against the Giants, not only establishing themselves as New York’s best team but a solid wild card contender.
After a questionable first half last week, Josh Allen has turned into a strong passer, including completing 15 of 20 passes for 210 yards and a touchdown against the Giants’ hapless defense. Buffalo has also put some competent weapons around Allen, with Devin Singletary showing some burst in the running game while free-agent pickups John Brown and Cole Beasley have added new dimensions to the Bills’ passing attack.
With a competent offense, the Bills can make a playoff push behind an exceptional defense. Buffalo was one of the top defensive units in the league a year ago against the pass, with Tre’Davious White emerging as a lockdown corner who can blanket another team’s top receiver.
This isn’t to say that Buffalo has a completely dominant defensive unit. The Bills do have their fair share of issues covering the run, with both Saquon Barkley and Le’Veon Bell finding plenty of running room against the Bills’ front seven over the first two weeks of the year.
Buffalo’s offense should be able to mask some of those issues by building leads in games, making it harder for teams to run on them and forcing them to pass, which is the Bills’ strength. Buffalo also has a very favorable schedule, giving them a lot of opportunities to pile up the wins necessary to make a playoff push.
The Bills still have two shots at the hapless (and tanking) Miami Dolphins, so you can safely add two more wins to Buffalo’s ledger. Add in winnable matchups against Cincinnati, the Jets, Denver, Tennessee, and Washington and you could get the Bills close to eight wins before you factor in their difficult opponents.
If the Bills can take advantage of their home field edge against tougher squads like New England, Philadelphia, and Baltimore they could make up the ground necessary to get back to the playoffs for the first time since 2017.