Three Questions Bills Need to Answer to Return to Super Bowl Form (article)

[Logic]

I'll just post the introductory snippet, but the whole article is worth reading. I don't love Steven Ruiz, but this is a good article, and it's hard to deny or refute any of the things he's saying.


https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2022/11/14/23458378/buffalo-bills-josh-allen-question-marks

The Bills were on top of the NFL two weeks ago. They were 6-1 with the league’s best point differential. Only three teams had scored more points through eight weeks, and none had allowed fewer. Josh Allen was the odds-on favorite to win MVP, and Buffalo had the best odds of winning the Super Bowl. The Bills even owned wins over the AFC’s other division leaders, including Kansas City and Baltimore. They had a nearly perfect start to the season.

A lot has changed over the past 14 days. The Bills have lost two games in a row, and that streak could have been three if the Packers had capitalized on Allen’s Week 8 mistakes. The Jets did punish the mistake-prone quarterback in a 20-17 win in Week 9, and the Vikings rallied from a 17-point second-half deficit to topple the Bills 33-30 in overtime on Sunday. The latter result was a total team failure on Buffalo’s part, but Allen had three ugly turnovers in high-leverage situations. With the QB now leading the league with 10 interceptions and nursing a somewhat mysterious elbow injury—and Kansas City and Miami suddenly ahead of the Bills in the conference standings—the vibes aren’t the best in Buffalo at the moment.

Even if the vibes are off, however, it’s not time to panic. The Bills are still the Vegas favorites to win the AFC East and still own the NFL’s best point differential (+99). In the AFC, only the Chiefs have better odds of earning home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, according to FiveThirtyEight. Buffalo is going to be just fine.

But the expectations for this year’s Bills are much higher than “just fine.” This is supposed to be the team that can bring the franchise its first Lombardi Trophy. The front office threw a bunch of money at Von Miller and some offensive line upgrades in the offseason. It acquired running back Nyheim Hines at the trade deadline after reportedly exploring a deal for Christian McCaffrey. And it seems to be part of the Odell Beckham Jr. sweepstakes that should be decided soon. There is understandably a sense of urgency in Buffalo with Allen’s cap hit set to balloon from $16.4 million in 2022 to $39.8 million in 2023. This will probably be the deepest roster that the Bills are able to construct around their star quarterback for the foreseeable future.

So let’s just check in on three major questions that have emerged over the past two weeks in Buffalo. The answers will ultimately determine whether these Bills are built to win it all......