The Buffalo Bills have reached the halfway point of their season and are primed to make a push toward the playoffs. Despite the fans being frustrated with lackluster performances the past month, the Bills still have the division title and number one seed within striking distance. With the way the AFC has played this season, it's not out of the question for the Bills to take that top spot.
There are a lot of really good teams in the AFC but their play has been up and down throughout the season and no one has stepped up and shown to be the lead dog. The Kansas City Chiefs offense isn't what it once was, the Dolphins' defense isn't good and the Ravens with an inexplicable loss to the Colts but followed up with a dominant win against the Detroit Lions. The AFC has been anything but predictable.
The Bills at 5 - 3 are only a game behind in the hunt for the number one seed and with games remaining against the Chiefs and Dolphins, they control their own destiny in their pursuit for home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
Buffalo has added three new players to the roster in the past week including Leonard Fournette, Rasul Douglas, and Linval Joseph. How important will these guys be to the Bills down the stretch? At least one of them made my list of five players that will be vital to Buffalo's playoff push. So, with that, let's get it.
Josh Allen
This is the easiest and most obvious choice, as the Buffalo Bills will only go as far as their superstar quarterback can take them. Fortunately, Allen is more than capable of carrying this team all the way and he's a clear NFL MVP candidate too. The Bills will need Allen to continue to play at an MVP level all season with the defense being depleted with injuries.
I think it's too much to ask the Bills defense to keep teams, particularly the elite teams of the conference down on the scoreboard. So, it will be up to Josh Allen to lead the Bills' offense to points and keep the pressure on the opposing offenses to try to keep pace.
Allen is top five in the league in completion percentage, passing yards, touchdowns, QBR, and passer rating. He's number one in both completion rate and QBR. If Allen keeps up these numbers and the Bills put up wins en route to the playoffs, he'll be the NFL MVP.
Dalton Kincaid
Dalton Kincaid over the last couple of games has 15 targets with 13 receptions. On the season, he's been targeted 33 times, turning 30 of those into catches, leading the NFL in catch rate. He also got his first touchdown of this career a week ago. Kincaid will be vital to the Bills offense going forward and when Dawson Knox returns, my hope is the Bills stick with 11-personnel with Kincaid as the primary tight end.
The Bills should have their passing game run through both him and Stefon Diggs. Opposing defenses will have a hard time focusing on both Diggs and Kincaid and can help open things up underneath for others and give Gabe Davis some one-on-one situations too. I would love to see Kincaid targeted around ten times a game.
James Cook
Here is a player that would benefit greatly from Kincaid's continued development in the passing game. If he can put pressure up the seam on defenses, it will leave Cook open in the flats and with open space to work in. But it also opens up the run game, because it forces teams to back off the line of scrimmage.
I'm not asking for more running from the Bills, at least not from Cook, but I want an efficient run game that defenses have to respect and account for. I would like to see Cook get somewhere in the range of 15 to 20 carries per game and targeted around five times as well. Cook has 486 yards rushing on the season, with a 4,8 yards per carry average. He's on pace for a 1,000-yard season, which would be the first time for the Bills since LeSean McCoy.
Von Miller
The Buffalo Bills are second in the league with 28 sacks on the season and that is with Miller being out early in the season and a slow ramp-up to full-time status in the defensive rotation. If Miller can get things rolling in the second half of the season, it would be huge for the Bills and their pass rush. The Bills are beat up on the defensive side and need Miller to return to the Miller of old.
So far in Miller's return from his ACL injury, he's been non-existent but I fully expect that to change very soon. The better that front four plays, the easier it will be on the young linebackers and the secondary. With Matt Milano out, both Dorian Williams and Tyrel Dodson have been tasked with replacing him. A dominant defensive front helps keep blockers off the linebackers, allowing them to play sideline to sideline.
Rasul Douglas
The Douglas trade is huge, and I don't think many Bills fans understand how big this deal was. It will help settle a secondary in flux since losing Tre'Davious White to a season-ending Achilles injury. Hear me out here too, I think Douglas is actually an upgrade over even White. It pains me to say that because White is one of my favorite players now and from the past. Simply put though, he wasn't quite the same since he returned from the first season-ending injury.
White's 2023 Pro Football Focus overall grade was 68.0, with a coverage grade of 79.0. The coverage grade is solid but where he was struggling mightily was in run defense, with a PFF grade of 29.9. Enter Douglas, who comes in with a coverage grade from PFF of 79.6 and a solid run grade of 66.4, which gives him an overall 75.2.