The Buffalo Bills drop in the latest round of power rankings.
The Buffalo Bills saw their three-game win streak come to an end on a hail mary pass from Kyler Murray to DeAndre Hopkins in the closing seconds of the Bills Week 10 matchup. In terms of power rankings, the Bills saw a lift after their big win over the Seattle Seahawks in Week 9 but now slides backward in the latest edition.
ESPN: Buffalo Bills drop one to seventh
Last Week: 6
ESPN power rankings will ask one question into their weekly power rankings and the question this week was what was one thing each team would change. The answer for Marcel Louis-Jacques was an easy one as it happened just this past weekend:
"There’s not much you can do when arguably the best wide receiver in the NFL makes a play worthy of that title, but the Bills would love a redo on Hopkins’ 43-yard Hail Mary grab in triple coverage at the end of their Week 10 loss."
While the hail mary draws the headlines, the Buffalo Bills should still feel good about where they sit. The Arizona Cardinals is a good team and it took a low-percentage play to beat the Buffalo Bills, who were on the road and didn’t play their best football. This is a good football team that is now 7-3 and sit atop the AFC East heading into their bye week.
NFL.com: Buffalo Bills ranked seventh
Last Week: 6
Similar to ESPN, the Buffalo Bills dropped one spot from six to seven this week. Dan Hanzus wrote:
"The Hail Murray was a display of spectacular athleticism by the opponent, and the Bills found themselves on the wrong side of the cruelest finish of the season. It’s the type of stomach-punch loss that creates a fork in the road for the Bills: Where do they go from here?"
I don’t have too much concern about the Buffalo Bills being able to bounce back from this game. The locker room understands the unlikely nature of these type of plays and probably have already faced that fork in the road earlier this season.
Earlier this year, the Bills were coming off two pretty bad losses to the Tennessee Titans and Kansas City Chiefs. However, they responded well with three straight wins that included a win over the Seahawks.
Bleacher Report: Bills drop three spots to eight
Last Week: 5
Last week, Bleacher Report was one of the publications that ranked the Bills the highest at fifth overall. This week they also were one of the publications to drop them the farthest, all the way down to eight.
"“I’m leery of reading too much into this loss given how it happened,” Davenport said. “The Bills have played a tough schedule that included seven games against teams with winning records, and they’re 4-3 in those games even after Sunday’s stunner.”"
This is the key point and what should be taken away from Week 10 and the first part of the season. Unlike last season when the knock on the Bills was they hadn’t beaten any quality opponents, this year they have faced some tough competition. They have responded well for the most part with wins over Las Vegas Raiders and Miami Dolphins on the road and the LA Rams and recently Seattle Seahawks at home.
CBS Sports: Buffalo Bills also drop three spots to eight
Last Week: 5
Pete Prisco at CBS Sports was the other power ranking that had the Bills fifth last week and dropped them three spots this week to eight. Prisco wrote:
"That was a tough way to lose at Arizona. They are now in a battle for the division with Miami."
This is really the other big storyline coming out of this game in Arizona. The race for the AFC East looks like it is going to be much more competitive than it did after the Bills win over the New England Patriots. The Dolphins are currently on a three-game win streak and the Patriots can’t be overlooked after a win over the Baltimore Ravens.
The Buffalo Bills now enter a bye week and likely (and hopefully) won’t move too much in next week’s power rankings.