The Buffalo Bills have plenty to feel good about after two weeks, and a lot of that starts with the gap between Josh Allen and Drake Maye.
Allen has been on a tear to open the season. Through two games, he’s piled up 674 total yards and nine total touchdowns without turning the ball over once.
That includes a strong showing against the Houston Texans, a team that came into the year with a reputation for having the best defense. Buffalo has already scored 77 points and looks every bit like a 2-0 team rolling at full speed.
Maye, on the other hand, has given the Patriots a much rougher ride. New England did pick up its first win of the season over the Pittsburgh Steelers, but the rookie quarterback once again looked shaky. He went 14 of 22 for 208 yards and threw an interception that did not need to happen.
The Patriots’ defense did its part by holding Pittsburgh to a field goal, but the offense’s biggest highlight belonged to TreVeyon Henderson. His 39-yard rushing touchdown early in the game was the play that stood out most for New England.
It’s also not as if this was an isolated rough patch for Maye. He already had a difficult Week 1 against the Seattle Seahawks, when he struggled in the fourth quarter despite several chances to win the game for New England.
The Patriots were tied 10-10 in the fourth, and Seattle was without Sam Darnold from the first quarter on. Even with that setup, Maye turned the ball over three times in the same quarter.
That’s part of why Bills fans have reason to keep one eye on Week 4, even if Buffalo has bigger business first. The Bills have to focus on the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 3, who are headed to Orchard Park. But the Patriots are looming, and last season’s meetings still stick in the mind: New England came into Buffalo on primetime and snapped the Bills’ undefeated run, then later jumped out to a 21-0 lead in Foxborough before collapsing in the second half.
With Buffalo’s defense looking the way it has through two games, the Bills could be in position to make life miserable for Maye again when that matchup arrives. But first, they’ll have to deal with a Chargers offense coming in with its own plans to spoil the party in front of Bills Mafia.
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 🡒]