Week 2 is in the books for the AFC East, and the gap at the top already looks wide. Buffalo is alone in first after another dominant showing, while New England, the Jets and Miami are all trying to sort out their own problems before Week 3 arrives.
The Bills set the tone for the division on Thursday Night Football, beating the Detroit Lions 41-31. Josh Allen was the clear headliner, but he was far from the only Buffalo player who made noise. James Cook, Dalton Kincaid and Greg Rousseau also stood out, and the offense as a whole has started to look overwhelming.
That’s the biggest takeaway through two weeks: Buffalo’s attack is rolling. The Bills have scored 77 points across a four-day stretch from Week 1 to Week 2, and even though the defense still has work to do, it was noticeably better against Detroit than it was against the Texans. Buffalo now gets extra time to get ready for a Week 3 matchup with the Los Angeles Chargers.
The rest of the division is chasing from a distance.
New England moved to 1-1 after a 20-3 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, getting a needed response after opening the year with a loss to the Seattle Seahawks. Still, the Patriots aren’t exactly humming on offense.
Drake Maye continues to look rough, and the passing game has not found a spark without A.J. Brown.
For now, they’re behind Buffalo, with a trip to Orchard Park in Week 4 waiting on the schedule.
The Jets had a chance to stay unbeaten, but it slipped away in the rain at MetLife Stadium. New York led by 10 points in the fourth quarter against the Green Bay Packers before the game turned, and the Packers finished off a 20-17 overtime win.
It was the kind of loss that stings because the opportunity was right there. The Jets were aiming for 2-0 for the first time in a long time, but late mistakes in the fourth quarter and overtime sent them into the loss column.
Miami is still searching for its first win, and the start has been rough. The Dolphins fell 35-13 to the San Francisco 49ers after also losing back-to-back west coast games to the Las Vegas Raiders.
The 2026 season has already taken a tough turn, and Miami never really threatened a now healthy San Francisco team. They head into Week 3 still winless, with Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs next on the slate.
In Other News...
Bills Just Lost Depth To A Rival And Now Face A Roster Decision
The Bills have lost a familiar depth piece to a division rival, with the Dolphins signing linebacker Andre Jones Jr. off Buffalos practice squad and adding him to their 53-man roster. Jones had been with the Bills for the last year and a half, and his value this season came from the versatility teams covet at the bottom of the roster, with appearances on both defense and special teams.
For Buffalo, the move leaves an open spot on the practice squad and puts the front office in position to move quickly. It is the kind of transaction that rarely makes headlines on its own, but for a team trying to preserve useful depth across a long season, losing a player to Miami adds a small layer of inconvenience and a reminder that even the practice squad can become a source of competition inside the division. [Read more 🡒]
Jim Leonhard Sounds Alarm On A Bills Issue Fans Can't Ignore
Through the first two games of the 2026 season, the Bills have banked a 2-0 start, but Jim Leonhard is not pretending the defense has been airtight. Buffalos defensive coordinator publicly labeled the unit boom or bust, a blunt assessment that fits the mixed results so far and puts the emphasis on what happens when the games tighten up, especially on third downs and in the red zone.
Leonhard did point to some encouraging signs, including the way Buffalo limited Jahmyr Gibbs on the ground against the Lions, but the bigger message was about consistency and emotional steadiness as the schedule gets tougher. For a defense that has shown it can flash, the challenge now is making those flashes last longer and arrive more often, because the early margin for error is already starting to shrink. [Read more 🡒]
Bills Get A Troubling Week 3 Test Despite Chargers' 0-2 Start
The Chargers have stumbled out of the gate at 0-2, but the matchup waiting for the Bills in Week 3 still comes with plenty of reasons for caution. Jim Harbaugh has never opened a season with two losses, and his team has already been forced to deal with ball-security problems after coughing it up six times against the Raiders, along with injuries that have thinned out key spots on the roster.
There is also the matter of familiarity on the other sideline, where Mike McDaniel is in place as the Chargers new offensive playcaller and knows Buffalos defense well. Add in the frustration around the Chargers early struggles and the sense from veteran Khalil Mack that the group can still improve, and the Bills are looking at a game that may be tougher than the record suggests. [Read more 🡒]