The Buffalo Bills are back from the bye and the schedule is only getting busier from here. Next up is a Week 8 home date with the Baltimore Ravens, a game that will finally bring Buffalo back to Orchard Park after the Week 4 loss to the New England Patriots. After the break, the focus is on getting things right in front of their own fans.
This matchup comes in with Buffalo sitting at 5-1 and Baltimore at 4-3, and the Ravens have dropped back-to-back divisional games, which has put them in a spot where they need a response. There’s also the memory of the last Bills-Ravens meeting, when Baltimore blew a 4th quarter 40-25 lead and lost 41-40.
The biggest chess match in this game is easy to spot. Both teams hired first-time head coaches, with the Bills promoting Joe Brady and the Ravens bringing back Jesse Minter, who was on the staff from 2017-2020.
Brady is an offensive coach, while Minter was viewed as the top defensive candidate in this past offseason’s coaching cycle. Since both men call the plays for their sides, this turns into a direct clash of game plans.
Brady has handled the job well so far. He opened his tenure with a win in Houston, which the Bills had not done in 20 years.
He then guided Buffalo to a season-opening win over the Lions at the new Highmark Stadium. And he also did something Sean McDermott never did as Bills head coach: win in overtime with Josh Allen.
Still, the next test comes with its own pressure. Under McDermott, Buffalo never lost a game coming out of the bye in nine seasons. The Bills have not lost after their bye from 2015-2025, with the last setback coming in 2014 against the Kansas City Chiefs, 17-13.
That run includes wins over the Dolphins in 2015, 2019 and 2021, plus victories against the Bengals, Buccaneers, Jaguars, Chargers, Packers, Chiefs, 49ers and Panthers. Across that 2015-2025 stretch, Buffalo has outscored opponents 309-179 in those post-bye games.
So Brady is carrying a pretty clear standard into Week 8. The Bills are scoring 32.8 points per game, and if the defense can make a few timely plays without giving up repeated chunk gains, Buffalo should be positioned to move to 6-1.
In Other News...
Former Bills Back Just Added To Houstons Miserable Stretch
Devin Singletary has a habit of popping up in places that matter to the Bills, and Sunday was another reminder of that. The former Buffalo running back, who spent four seasons with the team before a stop in Houston, helped the New York Giants steal a win from the Texans in Week 7 and added another twist to a stretch the Texans would rather forget.
Singletarys late burst came in overtime and ended the game on a 30-yard touchdown run, a jolt that landed especially hard for a Houston team trying to steady itself. The loss pushed the Texans deeper into a rough start, while Singletary kept adding to a career path that has already taken him from Buffalo to Houston and now to a much needed Giants moment. [Read more 🡒]
Bills Bye Week Just Put Real Pressure On The AFC Race
The Bills spent Week 7 on the sideline, but the bye still worked in their favor as several AFC rivals stumbled and the picture around the conference shifted again. Buffalo remains in strong position at 5-1, and the breathing room created by other teams losses only added to the importance of what comes next in a crowded race near the top of the standings.
A weekend without football can still feel productive when the bracket breaks your way, but it also sharpens the focus on every result from here on out. With the AFC playoff race tightening and Week 8 bringing a fresh set of matchups to sort through, Buffalos margin for error is getting smaller even while the team continues to sit near the front of the pack. [Read more 🡒]
Josh Allen Is Giving Bills Fans A New MVP Argument
Josh Allen has done more than steady the Bills during their 5-1 start, he has basically powered the whole operation while the defense has had its own issues. Through six games, Allen has piled up more than 1,700 total yards and 17 total touchdowns, and his 75.8 QBR reflects just how often Buffalo has leaned on him to keep pace and finish drives.
Around the league, that kind of impact is getting noticed in a big way. In a poll of 16 NFL executives, coaches and personnel, Allen landed near the top of the early MVP conversation, which only adds fuel to the case Bills fans are already making as the season settles in. And with Buffalo winning despite imperfect play on the other side of the ball, the question is no longer whether Allen is carrying weight, but how far that argument can go if he keeps producing at this level. [Read more 🡒]