Expectations have been sky-high for the Buffalo Bills all offseason, and their blowout win of the LA Rams to kick off the NFL season last week has only furthered the hype train.
After coming into the season as the favorites to win the Super Bowl on just about every betting app in the US, the Bills proved that they weren’t being gassed up. Quarterback Josh Allen and company walked into SoFi Stadium and dominated last year’s champions to the tune of a comfortable 31-10 win.
Allen had over 350 total yards through the air and ground, while star receiver Stefon Diggs exploded for 8 receptions, 122 receiving yards, and a touchdown. On the defensive side of the ball, they were also dominant. The Bills’ D held Sean McVay’s offense to just 10 points and forced 3 interceptions out of Matthew Stafford. Newcomer Von Miller showed he still had a lot left in the tank, sacking his former teammate 3 times in the match-up.
Understandably, the pundits couldn’t wait to pump up the Bills after this performance.
“I saw everything I needed to see of this team,” former Seattle Seahawk and current NFL Network analyst Michael Robinson said in an interview with the MSG Network. “AFC – you’re officially on notice. The Buffalo Bills are here.”
So can the Bills live up to the hype?
Only time will tell if Buffalo can reach the high expectations that have been set for them so far. They opened the season as betting favorites for the AFC Championship and Super Bowl, while Allen is far-and-away the frontrunner for the MVP trophy.
It really is a high bar for a team that has yet to even reach the AFC Conference Championship game as a unit. In fact, some doubters have already emerged claiming that the Kansas City Chiefs should be favored ahead of the Bills.
If Buffalo can keep up this kind of dominance on both sides of the ball, then it will certainly be tough to beat them, although teams with a more big-game experience like Kansas City and Los Angeles will certainly be no easy task to defeat come playoff time.
We may be in for a rematch of last year’s awesome playoff game between Buffalo and Kansas City in the playoffs, but there is still a lot of season left before we can definitively say that the Bills deserve all of the praise they have received.
The Bills continue their campaign next week, where they face off against the Tennesse Titans at home on Monday Night Football.
