This is where the Buffalo Bills finished in some power rankings for Week 2.
The Buffalo Bills are coming off a 27-17 win over the New York Jets where they led from start to finish. While the Jets made it a game in the second half, they didn’t get within 10 points and the Bills were able to win pretty easily.
Last week, we took at power rankings on four sites and we revisit those rankings to see just how much the Buffalo Bills have moved up after Week 1.
ESPN: Buffalo Bills rank seventh
The first power ranking is at ESPN as the Buffalo Bills were 10th last week and move up three spots to seventh. This week, the ESPN writers picked the best rookie performance on the team and Marcel Louis-Jacques picked running back Zack Moss:
"Moss gets the nod here after scoring a touchdown on his first career reception against the Jets. He wasn’t effective as a runner — no Bills player was besides Josh Allen — but Moss was solid in pass protection and took what the defense gave him as a receiver."
The options were pretty limited here in terms of rookies as the Buffalo Bills had A.J. Epenesa and Jake Fromm which left four rookies on the active roster. In this group, Moss makes the most sense even though Marcel Louis-Jacques notes that Moss didn’t do much on the ground. He finished the game with nine carries for 11 yards.
The hope is that this will improve as the season progresses.
NFL.com: Buffalo Bills remain at sixth
Last week, Dan Hanzus had the Bills ranked the highest at sixth and the team isn’t able to move up any higher this week. The only change in the Top 5 was the Green Bay Packers moving up from eighth to fifth.
"We got the Josh Allen pu pu platter in Sunday’s win over the Jets . Big plays with his legs (57 yards, TD), a career-best passing day (312 yards, two scores) and — yes — a pair of lost fumbles, both on the opponent’s side of the field. Allen also airmailed a gimme TD to John Brown that would have put New York away in the fourth quarter, but on balance, the day was a successful one for both the Bills and their polarizing third-year quarterback."
Hanzus notes the good, and the bad, from Josh Allen‘s performance in Week 1 but for the most part, the good certainly outweighs the bad. While the Buffalo Bills were in control for most of the game, when considering Allen fumbled on the Jets’ side of the field and did miss John Brown in the end zone (which the Bills settled for a field goal) this game would have been an even bigger blowout.
Bleacher Report: Buffalo Bills rank seventh
Among the four power rankings, this was the one the Buffalo Bills moved the most after being 12th last week. This week they were rank seventh:
"The most encouraging sign for the Bills in Week 1 was likely the play of quarterback Josh Allen. It came against a bad Jets defense, but Allen had a big day with both his arm and legs, finishing with 312 passing yards, 54 rushing yards and three total touchdowns.On a day where the Patriots took care of business at Gillette Stadium, it was important for the Bills to send a message."
The final sentence is an important point for the Buffalo Bills as there is no question that the goal this year is a division title. After this week’s game, that goal should not change and even though the Patriots no longer have Tom Brady, the AFC East runs through New England.
CBS Sports: Buffalo Bills rank sixth
The Buffalo Bills move up one spot from last week to sixth and Pete Prisco wrote:
"Josh Allen had his first career 300-yard game against the Jets. He appeared much improved, but time will tell. If he is, this is a deep-playoff team."
When considering how good the defense looked, if Josh Allen continues to perform at this level then Prisco is right that this is a team that can make a deep playoff run this season.