The Bills spent Week 7 on the sideline and still came out of it as the AFC East’s clear front-runner. While Buffalo was on bye, both New England and New York took tight losses, and that was enough to give Joe Brady’s team some breathing room at the top of the division. Buffalo now holds a game-and-a-half cushion over the Patriots.
After seven weeks, the picture in the division looks like this:
Week 7 results: Patriots lose to Bears 30-24
Dolphins beat Jets 28-25
Buffalo sits at No. 1 for reasons that go beyond the standings. The offense is rolling, major injuries have mostly been avoided, and the Bills are in a strong position to chase home-field advantage in the playoffs.
Their next test comes in Week 8 against the Baltimore Ravens, and that matchup could tell plenty, assuming Lamar Jackson is healthy. Buffalo’s defense is going to have to be ready for a tough one there.
New England is still hanging around, even after dropping its third game of the season. The Patriots were close to taking a statement win over Chicago and looking like one of the league’s hottest teams, but instead they wound up just outside the AFC playoff field.
Even so, there’s real reason to keep them in the conversation. Drake Maye appears to have steadied after his early-season struggles, and the defense has enough talent to match up with almost anyone.
They’re still a legitimate threat to Buffalo.
The Jets are third after their narrow loss to Miami, and that result doesn’t wipe away what they’ve done over the first six weeks. They pushed the Dolphins to the edge before falling short late.
The bigger concern is Aaron Glenn’s management in critical moments. Clock control has become a real problem, and while he has built a mostly competent team, those decisions could end up costing him.
Miami finally broke through for its first win of the season, and while that victory bumped the Dolphins out of the first draft slot in 2027, they’ll take it. It may be the only one they get this year.
Malik Willis has shown some of the ability that made Miami interested in him, but the rest of the roster simply isn’t strong enough to be competitive. That was never really the expectation anyway.
Next game: Sunday, Nov. 1st vs. Ravens
Next game: Sunday, Nov. 1st @ Dolphins
In Other News...
Bills Face One Big Question On A Maxx Crosby Trade
The Bills have spent enough time dealing with defensive inconsistency this season that any proven pass-rush help will naturally draw attention, and Maxx Crosby sits near the top of that conversation. A fit between Buffalo and the Raiders star has already been floated by CBS Sports Jordan Dajani, which makes sense on the surface for a team looking to lift its pressure off the edge and steady a unit that has had its share of issues.
Crosbys name carries obvious weight because of what he has meant to Las Vegas in recent years, even with the Raiders also trending in the wrong direction overall. The wrinkle for Buffalo is that interest is one thing and an actual deal is another, and right now there is no confirmation that the Bills have moved beyond the speculative stage, even as the idea keeps hanging over the market. [Read more 🡒]
Bills Trade Deadline Focus Is Narrowing Around One Real Roster Decision
With the trade deadline approaching, the Bills are doing what contenders usually do at this time of year: weighing whether a small roster tweak could help them keep pace in the AFC without disrupting what is already working. Lloyd Cushenberry, Mike Danna and Josh Palmer have all come up in the conversation as possible trade candidates, but the idea is less about chasing a splash and more about making one clean, targeted decision.
Palmer is the name to watch most closely because his role has been limited, which naturally makes him easier to imagine in a deal if Buffalo chooses to reshape the bottom of the roster. No trade has been reported yet, and the Bills still have time to let the market come to them, but the sense is that this is narrowing toward one real question rather than a wide-open deadline chase. [Read more 🡒]
Bills Head Into Ravens Test With One Massive Problem Behind Josh Allen
Buffalo heads into its meeting with Baltimore at 5-1 and sitting atop the AFC East, which is exactly where a contender wants to be this late in October. Josh Allen has been the driving force, giving the offense the kind of week-to-week punch that keeps the Bills in control of games and capable of surviving stretches when things get loose.
But there is a bigger concern lurking beneath that start, and it does not have anything to do with the scoreboard on offense. A statistic shared by Anthony Dabbundo paints an uncomfortable picture of the Bills through the first seven weeks, one that suggests the team is living in an unusually rare kind of imbalance as the Ravens loom on the schedule. [Read more 🡒]