The Buffalo Bills can turn their two-game winning streak into three this week against the AFC East-leading New England Patriots this week. Such a win would instill heavy confidence in Bills Mafia as the regular season winds down.
That said, there’s no guarantee that the identity of the team will become any clearer in the process.
That two-game winning streak is the first for Buffalo this season since Weeks 8 and 9, and much like those games, the Bills got the victory in wildly different ways. As offensive coordinator Joe Brady said on Monday, though, it’s a good thing to be able to find ways to win, as Buffalo has in recent weeks.
Sean McDermott credits perseverance as the Buffalo Bills start to turn a corner
Sean McDermott somewhat echoed that sentiment in his weekly Wednesday press conference, suggesting that the identity of the team might not be defined, but it is heading in the right direction.
“We’re getting there,” McDermott said. “I think we’re moving in the right direction. You know, we’ve had a number of different lineups week-to-week, so it’s maybe happened a little bit later than we would’ve liked. But I really appreciate how the staff and the players have persevered through it all.”
To McDermott’s point, it’s hard to build an identity when injuries play such a factor as they have for Buffalo this season. That said, the team is getting healthier at the right time. Dion Dawkins and Dalton Kincaid returned last week, and Spencer Brown and Joey Bosa are trending in the right direction.
“Every team is on their own journey, really,” McDermott said. “We’re on ours, and that’s really where our focus is: our journey, what we’re trying to do as a football team, how we’re trying to improve this week, specifically.”
READ MORE: Dan Patrick says the quiet part out loud on why Josh Allen has no excuses this season
Getting key players back in the lineup will help, but the Bills have learned a lot about themselves in recent weeks, too. The ground game has been a significant strength, powered by James Cook and Josh Allen. Still, Allen can put on the cape and will the passing game into an effective machine when needed.
Defensively, the pass rush has soured without Ed Oliver and Michael Hoecht available, and Bosa’s absence last week only made that more obvious. Still, Buffalo carries the league’s top-ranked passing defense, and with Christian Benford coming up with key takeaways in recent weeks, there’s still potential for growth in that area.
Everything isn’t lined up perfectly for Buffalo, of course, but the team is seizing opportunities appropriately, and as long as Ws keep going on the board, they’ll be well positioned to go as far into the postseason as McDermott and Allen can carry them.