The Buffalo Bills are vying for a fourth-straight AFC East title this season. While things certainly don’t look good right now, all faith has not been lost in them.
ESPN NFL insider Jeremy Fowler took an anonymous, midseason poll with NFL executives from across the league. The main topic at-hand was NFL divisional winner predictions.
While the Miami Dolphins still hold the lead on the Bills for the lead in the division currently, there still was some faith in Buffalo projected… and some critics of Miami.
Starting with the latter, the Dolphins haven’t won a game yet this season against a team with a winning record, which includes their 48-20 loss to the Bills in Week 4. Miami receives a knock for that.
“They are a tough matchup and can put up huge points at any time, but the games they’ve lost aren’t flukes either,” an AFC executive said to ESPN.
On the Bills specifically, there are negatives mentioned. But the overriding reason for optimism lies with the coaching staff according to ESPN’s source.
The full breakdown on the Bills via ESPN can be found below:
One AFC scout says there are times when “everything looks hard on offense” for the Bills, who become overreliant on Josh Allen to make things happen in a spread-out system.
“But I still trust them — they are well-coached, have good players and teams still have to play in Buffalo in December, which is always tough,” an AFC executive said.
Added a veteran NFL scout: “They still need a No. 2 receiver. [Tight end Dalton Kincaid] appears to be that. Their safeties are old, losing [linebacker] Matt Milano was a killer and they don’t run the football. They’ve got some issues.”
The good news: Allen and Kincaid are developing a strong connection. Kincaid has a 23% target share over the past two weeks.
[lawrence-related id=126243,126241,126233]