1. The Bills are a surprise team on this list
Heading into Week 10, we are officially beyond the halfway mark of the NFL season. USA Today’s Mike Jones wrote an article about teams who have surprised him and disappointed him after nine weeks of play. The Bills are one team that surprised Jones after producing a 7-2 overall record (4-0 in the AFC East) and including wins against the Rams and Seahawks.
Surprise: Buffalo's leap – The Buffalo Bills seemed prime for improvement in 2020, but their 7-2 start has impressed. No longer is this a mediocre offense carried by a strong defense. Buffalo ranks among one of the most well-rounded squads thus far.
Quarterback Josh Allen, who has made quite a jump in Year 3, ranks third in passing yards (2,587) while improving his completion rate from 58.8% in 2019 to 67.1% this season. Entering the year, Allen had yet to notch a 300-yard passing day. This year, he has five, including two 400-yard outings. Already, he has thrown for 19 touchdowns a year after notching 20. His passer rating also has jumped from 85.3 to 107.2.
2. The latest on the AFC East division race
As the first half of the NFL season presented several storylines to follow, the second half has even more. Around the NFL Editor Gregg Rosenthal listed several stories to follow through Week 17. The Bills are highlighted in the race to claim the AFC East.
1) An actual AFC East division race. The Patriots have won the division every season since 2009, usually by a wide margin. You have to go back to 2000, Bill Belichick's first year in Foxborough, to find a season where the Patriots didn't at least tie for the AFC East's best record. Something would have to go seriously wrong for that to happen again.
While the Patriots are more likely to go 6-10 than 10-6, the Buffalo Bills and Miami Dolphins both made a show of force in their respective Week 9 wins. With John Brown fully healthy again as the Robin to Stefon Diggs' Batman in Buffalo, the Bills showed for the first time since the first quarter of the season that their passing game has a ceiling that rivals any in football. Coordinator Brian Daboll has built an offense that can shapeshift depending on the matchup, and the Bills took advantage of a confounding game plan by Seahawks coach Pete Carroll on Sunday that relied on blitzing and man coverage, despite Josh Allen destroying that approach back in September.
The Bills currently lead the division at 7-2. The Dolphins sit in second place at 5-3.
3. Bills climb back into Top 5 in latest Power Rankings
After beating the Seahawks 44-34 in Week 9, and with a 7-2 record heading into Week 10, the Bills are back into the top 5 for power rankings. Sporting News has the Bills at No. 5 for their impressive win over Seattle.
5. Buffalo Bills 7-2 (7)
The Bills needed that kind of stellar performance against the Seahawks to feel great about Josh Allen and the offense again. The even more encouraging sign was how many big plays the defense made, too.
Bleacher Report also has Buffalo at No. 5
5. Buffalo Bills (7-2)
As statement wins go, there wasn't a bigger one Sunday than Buffalo's 10-point victory over the Seahawks.
After cooling off a bit in recent weeks, Josh Allen was dominant in the win. He tied a career high with 415 passing yards, and he became the first quarterback in the Super Bowl era with 400-plus passing yards, three-plus passing touchdowns, no interceptions and a passer rating over 130 in multiple games in a season, per NFL Research.
However, the Bills' biggest hero Sunday was their defense. Although they allowed 419 yards and 34 points, they also sacked Russell Wilson five times and forced four turnovers.
