Tag: bills power rankings

After a 20-3 win over the Denver Broncos, the Bills are sitting pretty in most power rankings polls via national outlets.

Plenty already have the Bills in the top-10. Regardless, almost all are looking at Buffalo’s looming schedule. The Bills have the hardest-remaining schedule in the NFL and many of the polls indicate that the league will see the Bills’ true colors in the coming weeks.

Here’s how the Bills fared in

USA Today

12. Bills (15): Much has been made of Buffalo’s Division II schedule, but next four games against teams with winning records. What will we learn about Bills?

Touchdown Wire

6. Buffalo Bills

(8-3. Last week: 9)

The big news in Buffalo’s 20-3 win over the Broncos was Frank Gore’s 65 rushing yards, which moved him to 15,289 yards for his career, moving him to third in NFL history behind only Emmitt Smith and Walter Payton. Rookie Devin Singletary contributed 106 yards on 21 carries, quarterback Josh Allen threw two touchdown passes, and Buffalo’s defense overwhelmed Denver quarterback Brandon Allen. The Broncos had just three drives that went into Buffalo territory, and their five final drives were all three-and-outs for a total of two yards. Allen had just four yards passing in the first half. Are the Bills the most under-the-radar eight-win team through 12 weeks of an NFL season in recent memory? It’s starting to look that way.

NFL.com

10. Bills (8-3)

Previous rank: No. 14

“Eight and three? That feels good to me. I ain’t never been 8-3 in the NFL.” That was Shaq Lawson, after the defensive end finished with two sacks and three pressures in the Bills’ 20-3 win over the Broncos. Lawson is in his fourth season, but he could be wrapping up his 20th year in Buffalo and still be tasting 8-3 for the first time. (The 1996 Bills were the last team to start 8-3). Yes, these are optimistic days in Western New York, where the local team is in prime position for a second trip to the playoffs in three years. The D was dominant on Sunday, holding Denver to a piddly 134 yards. Brandon Allen did not lead the Broncos on a drive of more than 48 yards in a contest that never felt in doubt for the home team, even when it was 6-0 at the half. The Bills are good.

Yahoo! Sports

9. Buffalo Bills (8-3, LW: 10)

Rookie Devin Singletary had his first 100-yard rushing game on Sunday. He has three starts and has 276 rushing yards with a 4.9-yard average. The Bills’ third-round pick is looking very good.

Bleacher Report

11. Buffalo Bills (8-3)

High: 9

Low: 16

Last Week: 14

Week 12 Result: Won vs. Denver 20-3

In many respects, the fact that Frank Gore passed Barry Sanders for No. 3 on the NFL’s all-time rushing list while playing for the Buffalo Bills is apt.

Like Gore has been for most of a career that will probably land him in Canton one day, the Bills have been very good in 2019. Buffalo’s decisive win over the Broncos on Sunday gives the team a two-game lead over the sixth-seeded Pittsburgh Steelers with five to play. Barring a total collapse, the Bills are going to make the playoffs as the AFC’s top wild card.

“Buffalo continues to take advantage of a weak schedule,” Sobleski said. “As a result, the Bills own the AFC’s third-best record and inside track to the top wild-card playoff spot. Yes, Buffalo has concern areas and struggled against the better teams it faced, yet the team deserves credit for winning the games it should win. Sure, the Bills might be one-and-done in the playoffs, but that’s something to worry about for another time.”

That’s the thing. Like Gore has been for much of his career, the Bills are widely considered good—but not great. You’d be hard-pressed to find a pundit who thinks this team can hang with the Patriots, Ravens and Chiefs in the postseason.

We’re about to find out just how good the Bills are, though. Thursday’s Turkey Day trip to Dallas kicks off a nasty four-game stretch that features a home date with the Ravens and trips to face the Cowboys, Steelers and Patriots before wrapping up the regular season at home against the Jets.

If the Bills want respect, here comes an opportunity to earn it.

Sporting News

10. Buffalo Bills, 8-3 (14)

The Bills turned in another dominant performance against an overmatched opponent, trading the Dolphins for the Broncos. Now they’ll see if they can feast again to get a transcendent statement victory over the Cowboys — who have yet to beat a winning team — on the road on Thanksgiving.

ESPN

10. Buffalo Bills (8-3)

What they’re thankful for: WR John Brown.

The Bills signed Brown to a three-year contract this offseason to serve an integral role in their passing offense. Not only has he stabilized Buffalo’s offense, he is the AFC’s leading receiver through 11 games. Brown is on pace for 85 catches and 1,245 receiving yards — which would both be career highs in his sixth season. Without him, the Bills’ passing game would take a drastic hit.

CBS Sports

8. Bills

They look to be in good shape for a playoff berth, but now the schedule toughens up in a big way. Their game at Dallas Thursday will be fun.

NBC Sports

10. Bills (8-3; No. 9)

They’ll likely get to the playoffs; can they win once the playoffs start?

[lawrence-related id=49612,49556,49588,49575]

The Bills couldn’t muster up enough positive plays and point on the board against the Cleveland Browns on Sunday in Week 10. Buffalo lost 19-16.

Because of that, the Bills aren’t moving up in power ranking polls around national media outlets. The Bills are starting to fall out of the top-10, a place they’ve been hanging around the past few weeks.

Here’s a look around those national polls and where the Bills sit, heading into Week 11:

USA Today

17. Bills (15):

Their play is getting incrementally worse, and schedule forecasts incrementally harder with Miami, Pittsburgh among opponents that no longer project as lay-ups.

Touchdown Wire

11. Buffalo Bills

(6-3. Last week: 9)

One of the reasons — perhaps the primary reason — the Bills selected Josh Allen with the seventh pick in the 2018 draft, despite serious concerns about his accuracy to all levels of the field, was Allen’s howitzer of an arm. Buffalo’s coaching staff surely thought it would be relatively easy to correct this. Not so, and it really showed in the Bills’ 19-16 loss to the Browns, in which Baker Mayfield made a few more plays than Allen did. Buffalo’s defense allowed a crushing 82-yard drive late in the fourth quarter, but it was Allen’s inability to respond that should really concern the team. Per Pro Football Focus, Allen was 0-for-5 on passes of 20 or more air yards in this game, and for the season, he’s completed just 12 of 43 such passes for 350 yards, one touchdown, three interceptions and a passer rating of 39.7. Only Carolina’s Kyle Allen has a worse passer rating on deep balls among quarterbacks who have taken at least 50% of their team’s snaps this season, and Kyle Allen was nobody’s idea of a franchise quarterback when the season began.

NBC Sports

10. Buffalo Bills (6-3)
Last week’s rank: 11

Bills lose and move up? Outside a few teams, this league is falling toward the mean. Bills are in line for a tumble. There are plenty of good teams left on the schedule.

CBS Sports

9. Bills (9)

At 6-3, they are still the Wild-Card leader. But they’ve lost two of the last three games and haven’t looked good doing so. They need more offense.

ESPN

13. Buffalo Bills (6-3)

Week 10 ranking: 13

Most important game left: Dec. 15 at Steelers

The Steelers have been resurgent over the past few weeks, winning four of five games to vault into AFC wild-card contention. With the Colts, Raiders and Titans all jockeying with Buffalo and Pittsburgh for the conference’s two wild-card spots, this late-season matchup will go a long way toward deciding who gets it — and establishing a tiebreaker.

Sporting News

15. Buffalo Bills, 6-3 (13)

The Bills have been good at winning battles of attrition, but you knew they were due for that method to fail on the road against a desperate Browns team that tried to give away the game several times. Josh Allen is simply not playing well enough for them to feel comfortable about their wild-card status.

Bleacher Report

High: 11

Low: 23

Last Week: 11

Week 10 Result: Lost at Cleveland 19-16

The shine is coming off the Buffalo Bills.

After starting the 2019 season 5-1, the Bills have no lost two out of three after falling to the Browns in Cleveland. The reason for that mini-slump isn’t hard to pinpoint.

While the Bills remain a stout defensive team, the offense is sputtering.

Despite facing a Browns run defense that entered Week 10 allowing the third-most yards per game in the league, the Bills managed just 84 rushing yards Sunday—and a third of those came courtesy of quarterback Josh Allen. Allen didn’t do the Bills many favors throwing the ball, hitting on just 22 of 41 throws and missing open receivers on multiple occasions.

“Given their record, schedule and the fact that this isn’t the best year for the AFC, the Bills are probably going to make the playoffs in 2019,” Davenport said. “But Sunday’s loss showed why I can’t take Buffalo seriously as a contender. The Bills just don’t have the offense to hang with the Patriots in a playoff game. Or the Chiefs. Or the Texans. One and done, anyone?”

Gagnon is not sure they’ll even get that far.

“Josh Allen was again useless on deep throws and useless under pressure as a bad Bills offense cost Buffalo the game in Cleveland,” he said. “That unit just isn’t good enough, and the defense doesn’t make enough plays. With a tough schedule coming, Buffalo will be lucky to finish with a winning record despite its 6-2 start.”

Yahoo! Sports

11. Buffalo Bills (6-3, LW: 7)

By now we kind of know the deal with the Bills. They’re not bad but not as good as their record. They shouldn’t have lost to the Browns, but it wasn’t a shock. They are 6-3 and in almost no danger of missing the playoffs because their schedule still lines up well. You can practically pencil them in for a game at the No. 4 seed on wild-card weekend, and nobody outside of Buffalo will be too excited to watch.

NFL.com

16. Bills (6-3)

Previous rank: No. 13

The Bills looked like a middle-of-the-pack team on Sunday against the Browns, hence their placement on the Power Rankings. We saw a breakdown in three phases in Cleveland: On offense, Josh Allen sailed a couple deep balls past open receivers (sound familiar?), and Buffalo was held under 20 total points for the fifth time this season. On defense, the Browns were able to march 82 yards on 10 plays for the go-ahead score late in the fourth quarter. On special teams, kicker Steven Hauschka missed two-field goal attempts, including the 53-yarder that sealed Buffalo’s fate in the final minute. At 6-3, there’s no need to panic. The schedule stays light, with winnable games against the Dolphins and Broncos over the next two weeks. Take care of business there, and a playoff ticket is close to punched. But can this team be trusted right now?

[lawrence-related id=48285,48276,48271,48071]