Media Mashup: Buffalo Bills Week 16 Power Rankings

The Buffalo Bills brought the weather with them when they went to Chicago, and left with a ‘W’. There may be concerns, but the team keeps winning, needing only two more to finish the season atop the conference. It’s only a matter of time until the playoffs, but you’ll find Buffalo at home in round one after officially securing the AFC East crown. What does the media have to say about this team in their Week 16 Power Rankings? Let’s take a look.

NFL.com: 3rd

Author: Dan Hanzus

Last Week: 3rd

“The Bills won in the trenches at frigid Soldier Field to clinch another AFC East title. Devin Singletary and James Cook combined for 205 rushing yards and two scores, while the Buffalo defense clamped down on Justin Fields, holding the 1,000-yard rushing quarterback to just 11 yards on the ground. The Bills coasted to the win in the second half, but keep an eye on Josh Allen’s propensity for making dangerous throws. The star QB threw two interceptions on Saturday and could have had at least two others if the Chicago defense had been more opportunistic. It’s an area of Allen’s game that needs to be cleaned up ahead of playoff football.”

theScore: 5th

Author: theScore Staff

Last Week: 5th

“Get James Cook involved. The rest of the Bills’ running back group is more than serviceable, but Cook brings a more dynamic element that could take the offense over the top.”

Bleacher Report: 1st

Authors: NFL Staff

Last Week: 2nd

“The Buffalo Bills entered Week 16 in a relatively comfortable position. And after their win over the Chicago Bears, the Bills are going to the playoffs as the champions of the AFC East. That wasn’t really in question. However, the Bills have little margin for error if they want to hang on to the No. 1 seed in the AFC and the first-round bye that comes with it. Saturday in Chicago, the Bills very much looked the part of a team that wants that off week.

After the Bills dispatched the Bears with ease on a miserable day at Soldier Field, defensive tackle Ed Oliver told reporters that the team has one overriding goal in 2022, and they have yet to come close to achieving it.

“The standard has always been playoff caliber, after you set a playoff berth, then it is championship caliber. And championship caliber is winning your division, winning our side then obviously playing in that game (Super Bowl) and winning that game. I just feel like there are bigger things out there.”

Ed Oliver on Buffalo’s ultimate goal (PER ESPN)

The Bills shredded the Bears for 254 yards and 8.2 yards per carry on the ground, and if Buffalo can run the ball nearly as effectively in the postseason, it’s going to make an already lethal offense that much harder to stop. Add in a defense that’s getting healthier, and it’s not hard to see why the Bills are the highest-ranked team in these power rankings ahead of next week’s massive showdown in Cincinnati.”

The Ringer: 2nd

Author: Austin Gayle

Last Week: 2nd

“The Bills will be an unstoppable force in the postseason if they run as well as they did against Chicago. The Bills entered Week 16 with the 26th-ranked offense in expected points added per rush; they hadn’t had a game this season when they’d rushed for more than 175 yards. Led by Devin Singletary (106 yards) and James Cook (99), the Bills rushed for more than 250 yards and finished the week second in EPA per rush in a truly dominant win over the Bears. Winning 35-13 in a game in which Josh Allen completed only 58 percent of his passes and threw two picks is an example of balance and shows that the Bills have a margin for error that the rest of the AFC should be scared of.”

ESPN: 3rd

Author: ESPN Staff

Last Week: 2nd

Defining moment of 2022: An overtime loss in the 2021 divisional playoffs.

“There have been plenty of noteworthy moments for the Bills this year — the signing of Von Miller is a strong candidate — but the loss to Kansas City led to the Miller signing, impacted the Super Bowl expectations for this season and kept a chip on the team’s shoulder. The second straight playoff loss to the Chiefs played a part in some of the offseason moves that followed and made the regular-season win over Kansas City in Week 6 that much more impactful. Now, the Bills have two games left to secure home-field advantage to avoid a potential third straight postseason trip to Arrowhead Stadium.” – Alaina Getzenberg

The Athletic: 2nd

Author: Bo Wulf

Last Week: 3rd

“After a sluggish start in freezing Chicago temperatures, the Bills outscored the Bears 29-3 in the second half, upping their league-best scoring differential on the season to 157. Devin Singletary and James Cook combined for 205 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 23 carries as their second-half resurgence continued.

Man, does next week’s Monday nighter loom large. If the Bills can pull out the win in Cincinnati, they’ll be able to lock up the AFC’s No. 1 seed with a win over the Patriots in Week 18. A loss — presuming the Chiefs take care of business over the final two weeks — would not only lose the Bills home-field advantage and the accompanying bye, but it could also drop them to the No. 3 seed and possibly set up a rematch in Cincinnati for the divisional round.”

NBC Sports: 4th

Author: Josh Schrock

Last Week: 4th

“The Bills eventually pulled away from the Bears, but Josh Allen still doesn’t seem 100 percent right. That’s an issue since there’s no room for error in the loaded AFC.”

CBS Sports: 2nd

Author: Pete Prisco

Last Week: 2nd

“They continue to play well as they push for the top seed, but the game at Cincinnati Monday won’t be easy. They can’t afford to lose that if they want the playoffs to go through Buffalo.”

Fox Sports: 2nd

Author: David Helman

Last Week: 3rd

“We’ve done a lot of hand wringing about the Bills, only for them to reel off six straight wins and sit atop the AFC. It’s fair to point out that Josh Allen struggled a bit in the win against the Bears, but a dominant defense is pulling plenty of weight to compensate. This is a complete team.”

Yahoo Sports: 2nd

Author: Frank Schwab

Last Week: 2nd

“The Bills are a top-five defense in most measures. The real test will be Week 17 in a season-turning game at Cincinnati. If the Bills want to be remembered as a championship defense, that’s the game Buffalo needs to have.”

USA Today: 5th

Author: Nate Davis

Last Week: 5th

“Only the lowly Colts have more turnovers than Buffalo’s 24. Make too many mistakes in that, well, massive Monday night matchup in Cincinnati, and the AFC East champs could fall from first place in the conference to third.”

Sporting News: 2nd

Author: Vinnie Iyer

Last Week: 2nd

“The Bills’ offense still isn’t the explosive machine that everyone expected, but it remains powered by the freight train Josh Allen and now he’s getting the right late-season locomotive help from the traditional running game and defense.”

WalterFootball.com: 2nd

Author: Walter Cherepinsky

Last Week: 2nd

“The Bills had a sluggish game against the Bears, and yet they won 35-13. Josh Allen threw some very sketchy passes, which would have me a bit concerned for the playoff run. That said, it was a frigid game against an unfamiliar opponent, so I’m more likely to give Buffalo a pass.”

Sportsnaut: 1st

Author: Matt Johnson

Last Week: 2nd

“No one can question if the Buffalo Bills can win in playoff weather. For two consecutive weeks, we’ve seen one of the best NFL teams prove it can defeat opponents in a variety of ways in frigid temperatures. That’s a quality some of their playoff foes don’t bring to the table. Now, we get a Week 17 battle against Cincinnati that everyone should hope is a playoff preview.”

Athlon Sports: 1st

Author: Bryan Fischer

Last Week: 2nd

“The AFC East was locked up for a third straight season after a much improved second half against the lowly Bears. As excited as the fan base might be about the team however, there still has to be a tad bit of concern that Josh Allen isn’t quite peaking with his play down the stretch.”

Buffalo Bills Power Rankings Summary

This late-season emergence of a solid run game reminds us fondly of this time last year. Perhaps we can hope for similar dominance in the playoffs. In the mean time, this Buffalo Bills team has rounded out the offense significantly, and continue to win in new and crushing ways. That attitude seems to be reflected, as we rise to the top of several Power Rankings.

Sample Size	First	Second	Third	Fourth	Fifth	Average
15	3	7	2	1	2	2nd

For last week’s power rankings, click here, and come back next week for a fresh round of Power Rankings after the Buffalo Bills visit the Cincinnati Bengals, with the entire AFC on the line. Have a “Power Ranking” that you think I should include? Reach out to @IestynTHarris on Twitter to let me know!

Featured Image: AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast