Buffalo handled its end of the bargain in Week 2. Now the Bills head into Week 3 at 2-0, and the only thing left is hoping the rest of the league cooperates a little better than it did last week.
The main assignment never changes: Buffalo has to take care of business first. This week that means a home date with the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday and a shot at 3-0. Around that, the Bills’ rooting map is built on a few simple rules - keep the AFC East down, help Buffalo’s tiebreakers when possible, and avoid handing too many struggling teams a fast track to the top of next year’s draft.
That means the division gets no mercy. The Patriots, Jets, and Dolphins can keep losing, and Buffalo fans will live with it.
Start in the AFC East, where the Bills want the Los Angeles Chargers beaten in Buffalo, the Jacksonville Jaguars to beat New England, the Detroit Lions to beat the Jets, and the Kansas City Chiefs to beat Miami. Yes, Kansas City again.
And yes, that still fits the plan. The Dolphins are on the wrong side of the equation no matter how much time anyone spends complaining about the Chiefs.
Outside the division, Buffalo’s own schedule starts to matter. Houston is a Buffalo opponent, so the Bills need the Texans to beat Indianapolis and keep piling up wins that can help later in tiebreakers.
Las Vegas also lands in that bucket, which is why the Raiders get the nod over New Orleans. Baltimore, another Buffalo opponent, is favored over Dallas for the same reason.
Denver and the Rams both appear on Buffalo’s schedule, so that game comes down to the extra wrinkle: the Broncos won their division last season, and this is a chance to bring them back toward the middle.
There’s also the strength-of-victory side of the ledger. Buffalo already beat Detroit, so a Lions win over the Jets helps the Bills in more than one way.
Pittsburgh over Cincinnati fits the standings logic too, with the Bengals sitting at 2-0 and the Steelers at 1-1. The Bills would rather not see Cincinnati building an early cushion.
The draft-position rules show up in a few spots as well. Cleveland over Carolina keeps the Browns from hanging around premium pick territory while pushing the Panthers deeper into it. Tennessee over the Giants follows the same idea, with the winless Titans getting a nudge away from the top of the draft and New York staying closer to it.
In the NFC matchups, the Bills’ schedule again does the heavy lifting. Green Bay over Atlanta is straightforward because the Packers are on Buffalo’s schedule and the Falcons aren’t.
Minnesota gets the same treatment against Tampa Bay. Chicago over Philadelphia follows the rule too, even after last week’s frustration over the Bears’ offense comparisons.
This time, only Chicago is on the Bills’ slate, so the pick stays with the Bears.
The final NFC game on the list is San Francisco over Arizona. The 49ers are 2-0, the Cardinals are 1-1, and with no Buffalo schedule benefit to weigh in the other direction, the win goes to San Francisco and Arizona gets pushed a little farther from the better draft spot.
So that’s the week: some AFC teams asked to win, others asked to lose, and a few exceptions made for Buffalo’s own schedule. The Bills need the result that matters most - a win over the Chargers - and then the rest of the league can start helping where it fits.
In Other News...
Bills Fans Just Got An Unexpected NFL Celebration Controversy
Amon-Ra St. Browns Week 2 night against the Bills is still echoing well beyond the final whistle. The Lions wide receiver was fined four times by the NFL for his celebrations in that game, with each penalty topping $14,000, turning what had been a high-energy performance into one of the leagues latest discipline stories.
The NFL also handed out celebration fines to several other players, including Kyle Juszczyk, JaMarr Chase and Matt Goncalves, and described some of the actions as offensive demonstrations. For Buffalo fans, its a reminder that the leagues crackdown can reach well past the box score, even when the game itself is long over. [Read more 🡒]
Bills Face A Ground Game Test Fans May Not Expect
The Bills are about to run into a Chargers defense that has made an early habit of smothering the ground game. Los Angeles enters the matchup leading the league in yards allowed per rushing attempt and ranking seventh in yards allowed per game, and the numbers have been backed up by the tape rather than by a lucky stretch of opponents or a small-sample illusion.
What makes it more interesting for Buffalo is that the Chargers have been consistent in the dirty work, too, not just in keeping runners bottled up but in finishing plays with tackles for loss and standing firm in tight spaces. The sample is still relatively small, and some outside runs have found more room, but this looks like a real test for a Bills offense that may need to earn its yards the hard way. [Read more 🡒]
Bills-Chargers History Is Full Of Buffalos Best And Worst Memories
The Bills and Chargers have been tangled together for as long as Buffalo football has had a modern history, with the rivalry reaching back to the American Football League days in 1960. Buffalo owns some of the most cherished wins in the series, including AFL championship victories over San Diego in 1964 and 1965, and the matchup has had enough postseason weight over the years to give the Bills a 2-1 edge in playoff meetings.
Still, the larger series has tilted the other way, with the Chargers holding a 25-14-2 lead overall, and the games between these teams have produced a few unforgettable oddities along the way. There was the 2008 delay at Orchard Park caused by a power outage, and the 2017 meeting that turned into a nightmare for rookie Nathan Peterman, reminders that this one has never really been short on either drama or pain for Buffalo fans. [Read more 🡒]