A week ago, the Buffalo Bills were No. 1 entering Week 4 in all four power rankings we track. That lasted one more game.
The New England Patriots won 29-26 at Highmark Stadium on Sunday. Josh Allen’s 34-yard touchdown pass to Keon Coleman put Buffalo ahead 26-21 with 4:27 left, but Drake Maye answered with a 23-yard touchdown pass to Efton Chism III and a two-point conversion with 1:50 to go, and Allen’s late interception sealed it with 1:14 remaining.
The Bills fell out of the top spot everywhere. The drop was modest, though, with Buffalo landing between No. 4 and No. 6.
ESPN
This week’s ranking: 4
Last week’s ranking: 1
Nick Suss wrote that Buffalo may have set expectations it couldn’t sustain. The Bills scored 77 points in their first two games, but those wins came against Houston and Detroit, who are now a combined 2-6, and the offense has averaged 25 points with seven turnovers over the past two weeks.
Five of those turnovers came against the Chargers in Week 3 and two more came Sunday. Head coach Joe Brady said afterward he trusted Allen to throw it away on the final interception.
Pro Football Talk
This week’s ranking: 4
Last week’s ranking: 1
Mike Florio landed in the same place, both in ranking and reasoning. He thinks Buffalo’s early wins came against teams that turned out to be worse than expected.
The records back him up. Houston and the Chargers are both 0-4 and Detroit is 2-2, so the Bills’ three wins have come against teams that are a combined 2-10.
Fox Sports
This week’s ranking: 5
Last week’s ranking: 1
Ralph Vacchiano called Sunday a major disappointment because Buffalo had a chance to take control of the AFC East at home. In his view, the loss exposed the defense as the team’s weak spot, which means Allen and James Cook may have to keep outscoring people.
Allen did pass a milestone, according to Vacchiano. His rushing touchdown gave him 88 career scrimmage touchdowns, breaking a tie with Andre Reed and Thurman Thomas for the franchise record. Both he and Cook landed on the list of winners and losers from the game.
CBS Sports
This week’s ranking: 6
Last week’s ranking: 1
Pete Prisco dropped Buffalo the furthest, five spots to No. 6. He wrote that losing at home to New England reflects poorly on a team that had a chance to take command of the division.
Prisco also flagged what’s next. The Bills visit the Los Angeles Rams on Monday at 8:15 p.m. ET, and Buffalo still has to figure out its two-point conversions before then.
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