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Josh Allen drops back to pass against the New England Patriots.
The Buffalo Bills experienced a tough 23-20 defeat against the New England Patriots on Sunday. With this loss, Buffalo now holds a 4-1 record but should remain the frontrunners for the AFC title.
Every team is bound to lose eventually, and losing to the young Patriots team, led by the talented head coach Mike Vrabel, isn’t the worst thing that could happen.
Tom Brady Ranks The Bills No. 4
Former Patriots player and current Fox broadcaster Tom Brady recently released his Week 6 Power Rankings, which show the Bills falling two spots from last week, dropping from No. 2 to No. 4.
“Buffalo drops from No. 2 to No. 4 with their tough loss against the Pats,” Brady said on Tuesday. “This was their first hiccup. So, we’ll see how they rebound.”
Even though Brady currently ranks the Bills fourth, they are still the number one AFC team in his power rankings, with three NFC teams ahead of them. The rankings are as follows: No. 1 Detroit Lions, No. 2 Philadelphia Eagles and No. 3 Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The next closest AFC team is the Jacksonville Jaguars, who come in at No. 5 after beating the Kansas City Chiefs 31-28 on Monday.
If anyone knows anything about great football teams, it would be Brady, who won seven Super Bowls in his career.
Even though the Bills do seem to be the best team in the AFC, they still have to figure some things out on both sides of the ball.
Quarterback Josh Allen continues to shine, having thrown for 1,217 yards and nine touchdowns over the course of five games. However, the receiving corps needs to elevate its performance. As noted by Pro Football Focus, the Bills currently sit at 14th in the league in receiving this season, a ranking that needs improvement if they aim to capture the Super Bowl.
Buffalo’s Rush Defense Is Struggling
The Bills‘ run defense is also having issues, allowing 145.6 rushing yards per game this season.
If Buffalo doesn’t figure out how to stop opposing teams’ rushing attacks, then there is no way it will be able to get to the Super Bowl.
One thing that could help the Bills improve their run defense is getting defensive tackle Ed Oliver back, who has missed the last four games due to an ankle injury.
Oliver might be making his comeback soon, and hopefully, he can return this week as the Bills face off against the Atlanta Falcons. The Falcons have one of the top running backs in the NFL, Bijan Robinson.
Robinson is averaging 4.9 yards a carry this season and is coming off a bye week, so he will be fresh, looking to run over a Bills defense that hasn’t stopped anyone on the ground this season.
The Bills shouldn’t be too hard on themselves for their loss to New England; they have an excellent opportunity to bounce back next week when they travel to Atlanta. If the Bills can secure a win against the Falcons, they’ll be in a strong position with just one loss leading up to their clash with the Chiefs in early November, provided they get past the Carolina Panthers in Week 7.
Danny Fisher Is a football journalist covering the Buffalo Bills for Heavy.com. He has covered the NFL for Gridiron Heroics, focusing on the AFC and Penn State football for Nittany Central. More about Danny Fisher
