Week 8 didn’t shake up the AFC East at all. The Buffalo Bills are still sitting at the top, the New England Patriots are still hanging close behind, and the rest of the division remains stuck in the same order after a weekend that offered no help to Buffalo from Miami.
The Bills did their part in emphatic fashion, rolling past the Baltimore Ravens 36-10 to improve to 6-1. Coming out of the bye, Buffalo looked like a team intent on sending a message, and it did exactly that.
The win came in a way few would have predicted, though, because Baltimore’s offense was derailed early when Lamar Jackson and Tyler Huntley both went down with injuries in the first half. That forced Joe Fagnano into the game at quarterback, and from there the Ravens had no real answer.
Buffalo took full advantage and pulled away quickly.
That result keeps the Bills in first place heading into a tough Week 9 matchup with the Minnesota Vikings.
New England stayed right on Buffalo’s heels with a 24-19 win over the Miami Dolphins in South Florida. After dropping a thriller to the Chicago Bears in Week 7, the Patriots responded with a needed division win.
The game stayed tight for most of the afternoon, but it eventually came down to which team could land the bigger play. That was New England, and the Patriots walked away with the victory.
They remain in second place and still hold the tiebreaker over Buffalo.
The Patriots now head back to Foxborough for a Week 9 meeting with Jordan Love and the Green Bay Packers.
The Jets’ season keeps sliding in the wrong direction. New York fell to 2-6 after a 38-33 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders, marking its third straight defeat.
The game had plenty of offense and plenty of drama, but the Jets couldn’t protect a two-score lead in the third quarter. Las Vegas finished stronger and handed New York another painful loss.
The Jets now turn to a road matchup with the Kansas City Chiefs, who are coming off a last-second loss to the Denver Broncos.
Miami, meanwhile, is still trying to climb out of the hole. The Dolphins had just picked up their first win of the season last week against the Jets, but they couldn’t follow it up against New England.
Miami kept things competitive, but the Patriots finished the job and sent the Dolphins to 1-6. The record looks rough, but the Dolphins have shown they can hang around in games.
They just haven’t had enough to turn that into wins. Next up is a home date with the Detroit Lions in Week 9.
In Other News...
Bills Left The Ravens With A Quarterback Problem Getting Worse
The Bills left Baltimore with more than a win to sort through after the Ravens quarterback room took a hit during the game. Lamar Jackson and Tyler Huntley both went down with injuries, turning what had already been a difficult night into a looming personnel issue for a team that suddenly has to patch together its depth at the most important position.
Rookie Joe Fagnano had been in line to start the upcoming game, but Baltimore is still navigating the fallout from all the quarterback attrition. The Ravens also added Austin Reed to the practice squad as they try to stabilize the position, a sign of how quickly the situation has gone from inconvenient to urgent. [Read more 🡒]
Spencer Browns Back Issue Just Became A Real Bills Concern
Spencer Browns back has turned into a real storyline for Buffalo, and not just because the Bills need him on the field. The veteran offensive lineman said he has been dealing with enough pain to require a significant amount of medication approved by the NFL, a reminder of how much the front line is often asked to absorb without much public attention. For an offense that leans on stability up front, any lingering issue with one of its tackles is the kind of thing that can ripple beyond a single game.
Browns comments also add a sharper edge to the concern because this did not sound like a minor, short-lived annoyance. The Bills have every reason to monitor how he responds as the season moves forward, since protecting the quarterback and keeping the run game intact depend so much on the health of the line. Even when a player keeps going, there is a difference between playing through something and being able to hold up to it, and Buffalo now has to watch which side of that line Brown is on. [Read more 🡒]
Bills Move On From Chauncey Gardner-Johnson For A Telling Reason
The Bills moved on from Chauncey Gardner-Johnson after Week 8 of the 2026 season, and the timing made it easy to assume the one-game suspension for spitting was the main reason. It was a factor, but the bigger issue was his uneven play, which never settled into the kind of reliability Buffalo was looking for in the back end.
Gardner-Johnson appeared in six games for the Bills and finished with one interception, two passes defended and 26 tackles, a line that hinted at impact without enough consistency to keep him in the rotation. For a defense that values steadiness and communication, the release reads less like a reaction to one incident and more like a judgment on how the fit was going overall. [Read more 🡒]