The Bills are back in the good graces of the national power ranking polls following their Week 15 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Buffalo’s 17-10 victory gave the Bills a playoff berth, but in the process, more recognition as well since the game was on Sunday Night Football.
Here’s how the Bills fared in national power rankings polls following their win over the Steelers, heading into Week 16:
USA Today
10. Bills (11)
Nice to see emerging players like Josh Allen, Tre’Davious White, Smokey Brown and Devin Singletary get some overdue national exposure in recent weeks.
Touchdown Wire
7. Buffalo Bills (10-4. Last week: 9)
Buffalo’s 17-10 win against Pittsburgh on Sunday was historic on multiple levels. The Bills clinched their first 10-win season of this century and their second playoff berth of the century. They also defeated the Steelers for the first time since 1999. Since they play in a small market, the Bills often fly under the radar of national media. No more. Head coach Sean McDermott should be Coach of the Year, general manager Brandon Beane should be Executive of the Year, and Josh Allen is the most underrated quarterback in the league. The Bills grind it out on the ground while taking some shots downfield and playing solid defense. This is a team that can do some damage in the postseason. But the postseason isn’t here yet. Buffalo has another huge game Saturday at New England.
NFL.com
10. Bills (10-4)
Previous rank: No. 11
For the second time in 21 years, the Buffalo Bills are headed to the playoffs. Oh, hell, let’s spin positive. For the second time in three years, the Buffalo Bills are headed to the playoffs. They got there in style, intercepting four Duck Hodges passes in a 17-10 win over the Steelers at Heinz Field in front of Al, Cris, Michele and the world. Tiebreaker scenarios make an AFC East title unlikely, even in the event of a win over the Patriots in Foxborough next week, but who cares? The Bills have punched their ticket … and do you really want to face this defense on a cold day in January? So much of the credit for this Buffalo turnaround belongs to Sean McDermott, who managed to import to Western New York the dominant style of defense he built in Carolina. This team is hungry, and it believes.
Sports Illustrated
9. Buffalo Bills (10-4)
Previous rank: 9
Points in poll: 166
Highest-place vote: 9 (5 voters)
Lowest-place vote: 10 (2 voters)
Last week’s result: Beat Pittsburgh, 17-10
This week: at New England (Sat.)Not a pretty win for Buffalo, but one that confirmed their defense is to be taken very, very seriously come January. Yes, the Steelers offense is useless, but five takeaways helped cover the warts on Buffalo’s similarly shoddy O. Still, Josh Allen only turned it over once and engineered this drive to put the Bills ahead for good and set up a surprisingly pivotal Week 16 AFC East showdown with the Patriots.
ESPN
9. Buffalo Bills (10-4)
Week 15 ranking: 10Offseason in two words: More playmakers
Buffalo reached the double-digit win plateau in 2019 largely on the strength of an elite defense that often carried a sputtering offense. The goal this offseason must be to continue to surround Josh Allen with a full arsenal of offensive weapons — and build an offense that can provide this defense more of a lead to play with. The Bills have a full complement of draft picks and an estimated $90 million in salary-cap space; even after they take care of in-house players such as Tre’Davious White, Matt Milano, Dion Dawkins and Jordan Poyer, they’ll still have plenty of resources at their disposal.
Yahoo! Sports
9. Buffalo Bills (10-4, LW: 9)
The Bills aren’t complete yet, but we’ve been waiting for a team to step up and finally challenge the Patriots in the AFC East. It seems Buffalo will take that shot, starting next season. The Bills are building something pretty interesting.
NBC Sports
9. Bills (10-4; No. 12)
Wake up, America. The Bills are back.
CBS Sports
9. Bills (10-4)
They are in the playoffs, which not many saw coming. The defense has really impressed this season. Can they beat the Patriots in Foxboro with that unit playing well?
Bleacher Report
10. Buffalo Bills (10-4)
High: 9
Low: 10
Last Week: 12
Week 15 Result: Won at Pittsburgh 17-10
On Sunday night in the Steel City, the Buffalo Bills did something they haven’t done in two decades—won their 10th game of the season. In doing so, Buffalo locked down its second trip to the postseason in three years.
The Bills did more than that. For the second time this season, the Bills went on the road and beat a team that presently sports a winning record—a talent that will no doubt serve the team well if it makes the postseason as a wild card.
Now, the Bills have an opportunity to do much more than that. To do something that would have sounded impossible not that long ago—take the AFC East.
It’s not an especially likely scenario—the Bills need a win at Gillette Stadium next week and for the Patriots to lose to the Miami Dolphins in the season finale. The latter is a lot less likely than the former.
But the fact that the Bills going to Foxborough and beating their AFC East rivals isn’t considered laughable is a sign of just how far Buffalo has come.
The Bills are legit.
Sporting News
8. Buffalo Bills, 10-4 (9)
The Bills threw down their most impressive victory of their breakout season with their defensive dominance of the Steelers in Pittsburgh. They are showing they can do all the little and big things to win games in the playoffs, too.
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