The 2020 season hasn’t been over for more than 24 hours but ESPN has already released their Way-Too-Early Power Rankings for next season. Even though the Tampa Bay Bucs are Super Bowl Champs, they were ranked fourth. This is two spots behind the Buffalo Bills who were ranked second with only the Kansas City Chiefs ahead of them.
As has been the theme for ESPN power rankings, they have been tasked to ask a specific question for each power ranking. This latest version was to describe the offseason in three words which Marcel Louis-Jacques wrote: “We’ll be back”.
This certainly seemed to be the sentiment from players and staff during press conferences after their loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship. However, the focus is to go further than they did this past season as general manager Brandon Beane described. That means getting past the Kansas City Chiefs who he described as the gold standard before the Super Bowl and ESPN ranked them first, even with the loss in the Super Bowl.
#Bills GM Brandon Beane on chasing the #Chiefs:
— Heather Prusak (@haprusak) January 27, 2021
"They're the gold standard"
He also said it starts with winning the division again and hosting playoff games: "We wanna host that last game, that AFC Championship game."@news4buffalo #BillsMafia pic.twitter.com/RvMOF4wBKe
As Marcel Louis Jacques writes in the power rankings, the Buffalo Bills have certainly put themselves in a good position to get back with a majority of their key players returning next season.
"But with so many core players either on rookie deals or already locked in, they are built to make another run to the AFC title game."
While it remains to be seen if the Buffalo Bills can achieve the lofty goal next season, the fact they are ranked as high as they are right now shows how much the perception has changed for this franchise around the league.
The Buffalo Bills are no longer that fun underdog to root for but must now be considered Super Bowl contenders and one of the top teams in the AFC.