After returning from London and getting a chance to regroup with the bye week, the Buffalo Bills get back to work this week and look to build some momentum as they try and earn their first playoff berth since 1999 It has been a very uneven season for the Bills through seven games, alternating wins and losses before losing their last two games with Tyrod Taylor out due to injury.
While it is easy to be down on the Bills right, especially when taking into account their lengthy playoff drought, Buffalo is still in pretty good shape in the grand scheme of things. It’s hard to imagine anybody else in the AFC East catching New England, with the Patriots starting the season undefeated, but a wild card berth is well within the grasp of the Bills.
Getting healthy at the right time
What helps to give fans some confidence heading into the second half of the season is the Bills are finally getting healthy. Tyrod Taylor will return and he has been one of the most surprising players in the NFL, posting a 3-2 record in games he has played and accounting for 11 touchdowns. Buffalo obviously wasn’t the same team without Taylor, and had the quarterback from Virginia Tech not gotten injured, the Bills could very well be 4-3 instead of 3-4.
Not only is Taylor coming back, but other skill position players who have missed some time are returning as well. LeSean McCoy has played the last two games, and it feels like he is about to breakout soon and put up some big performances. What will help out McCoy is the return of rookie Karlos Williams, who has missed the last three games due to a concussion. With both McCoy and Williams healthy, the Bills could have one of the most dangerous backfields in the NFL.
Sammy Watkins has been making headlines more for what he is saying off the field than his performance in his limited activity on the field, but the Bills desperately need Watkins to start living up to the hype which made the Bills trade up to draft him last year. Robert Woods, Chris Hogan, and Charles Clay have all been solid, and with Watkins back, that’ll give Taylor even more options to add to the strong numbers he has put up so far this season.
What might be most concerning about the Bills this year is how suspect the defense has been. Players have had some growing pains adjusting to Rex Ryan’s system but it feels like is too much talent for this unit to continue to play so far below the high expectations set for them heading into the season.
Defensive line has the talent to create a pass rush in a hurry
Buffalo was thought to have a pass rush which many teams would have a hard time stopping this season, but it hasn’t been as dominant as many had thought. Some of the lack of production has been due to the defensive schemes of Rex Ryan, but the head coach might have to change up how he does things a little to play to his team’s strengths. Mario Williams, Marcell Dareus, and Jerry Hughes are making too much money for Buffalo to only have registered 11 total sacks through seven games this year, with three of those coming from Mario Williams.
Strong secondary will continue to flourish
At least the secondary should get a boost with Leodis McKelvin returning to the active roster this week. Ronald Darby has been great for the Bills in his rookie season, racking up two interceptions and 14 passes defended. Corey Graham’s interception return briefly gave the Bills the lead against Jacksonville, but his veteran leadership should help the secondary rebound from an up-and-down first seven games.
Penalty issues could sink playoff hopes
Hopefully during the bye week Buffalo has tried to address some of their penalty issues, which has greatly hurt them so far this year. The Bills are one of the most penalized teams in the league, and if they want to make the playoffs this year they’ll need to cut down on those issues. If they don’t their lack of discipline might be a major reason why they are sitting at home in January for yet another season.
Critical three game stretch could make or break season
Buffalo has a crucial stretch coming up which will go a long way to determining their fate when it comes to the playoffs. The Bills host Miami before hitting the road to take on the Jets and Patriots in primetime games. If the Bills are able to win at least two of those three games, they’ll find themselves in a great position heading into December. The only other AFC East game they’ll have the rest of the year following these three games is the season finale at the Jets.
Miami looked to be on the right path following the coaching change they made after the drubbing they suffered at the hands of the Jets in London, but they came back down to earth on Thursday night when they were destroyed in Foxboro. A season sweep over the Dolphins by the Bills would likely put Miami in a hole which they wouldn’t be able to dig themselves out of.
The Jets looked like they could possibly make some noise in the AFC, but their performance on Sunday really thwarted those plans, especially with injuries to Ryan Fitzpatrick and Geno Smith. While New York can lean on their defense, it might be too much to ask should Bryce Petty have to start for an extended period of time.
Other AFC teams the Bills have to worry about
Pittsburgh has dealt with suspensions and injuries all year, but the latest blow might be too much to overcome. On Sunday the Steelers lost running back Le’Veon Bell for the rest of the season, putting even more pressure on the arm of Ben Roethlisberger, who returned after missing four games due to an injury. The Steeler defense still has plenty of question marks, but it’s hard to count Big Ben out given his past track record.
The biggest question mark in the race for the last two playoff spots might be the Oakland Raiders. When the young Raiders team is on, they can really do some damage. But with their youth, Oakland is inconsistent, and hard to get a good read on. Three of the next four weeks see the Raiders making trips to Pittsburgh, Detroit, and Tennessee, and it’ll be interesting to see how Oakland fares while racking up the travel miles.
Buffalo won’t have to play many more top-tier quarterbacks
What makes the Bills look so promising the rest of the year is the quarterbacks they’ll have to face. Obviously Buffalo will have their hands full with Tom Brady, but the rest of the quarterbacks they’ll face aren’t much to worry about aside from Tony Romo. Ryan Tannehill, whoever the Jets start, Alex Smith, Brian Hoyer, Sam Bradford, and Kirk Cousins are all beatable quarterbacks. If the Buffalo defense starts to play well, it’s not hard to imagine the pass rush making life miserable for all of those signal callers.
It might be easy to be down on the Bills as they currently have a sub .500 record, but let the season play out a little bit more before getting the tombstone ready on the season. The schedule is very manageable, and there aren’t many other teams vying for the wild card spots in the AFC which can match the amount of talent Buffalo has. The last 15 years don’t help optimism, but the streak has to end some time, and what better time than this year?
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
