After each week of NFL football, news outlets put up their power rankings. Teams move up and down accordingly after a win or loss and based on how impressive that victory or defeat seems to the voters. The Buffalo Bills won on Sunday but haven't moved much since. ESPN, NFL.com, SB Nation and MMQB all released their power rankings going into the second week of the year and the Bills clearly still haven't earned their desired respect. The Bills only beat the Jets, no one is surprised by that but wins are tough to come by in the NFL.
ESPN has the Bills ranked as the 27th-best team in the NFL right now. When ESPN came out with their initial rankings to start the season, the Bills were 26th on their list. So winning doesn't mean much to ESPN and the Bills drop a spot on their list.
“LeSean McCoy notched 159 scrimmage yards in Week 1, the third-most in the NFL. Possible overreaction: The Bills are 16-17 the last three years basically following the formula of riding McCoy's and Tyrod Taylor's play-making ability. They could hover around .500 again this year doing the same, even with their offseason makeover.”
The folks over at ESPN didn't give any explanation as to why the Bills moved down a spot. Nonetheless, here we are.
Elliot Harrison of NFL.com released his week 2 power rankings as well. In the preseason, Harrison also had the Bills starting out as the 26th best team in the NFL. This weeks win doesn't mean much to him either and the Bills currently sit at 25th on his list.
“Don't look now, but the Buffalo Bills are in first place in the AFC East. By themselves. It sounds weird,” wrote Harrison. “Buffalo controlled the Jets on Sunday, behind a steady defense and an offense that made enough plays. The Bills probably should have been blowing their division rivals out by the third quarter, but that didn't stop Sean McDermott from gushing about the win. Hey, getting your first career NFL win as a head coach is something none of us reading (or writing) this blurb will ever experience. But in the interest of staying on the level, the win over the Jets wasn't exactly a performance on par with the 1990 AFC Championship Game, either.”
Harrison is right, the Bills should have had the Jets beat by halftime and the performance by the Bills wasn't too pretty to watch. For a first time head coach, a QB who isn't familiar with any receivers and a brand new defense, I’d say the Bills did a good job overcoming those challenges.
SB Nation gave the Bills their highest ranking of anyone else and they currently sit at 18th. No, we do not have to do with this ranking in any way. No comments were made about the Bills nor did they have any preseason rankings to base off of.
Monday Morning Quarterback of Sports Illustrated is the last of the four on the list. 18 of their writers come together and vote on where they want to place teams in the rankings. In theirs, the Bills moved up just one spot again going from 27th to 26th.
“Last Week’s Rank: 27
Points in MMQB Power Poll: 128
Highest-Place Vote: 20th
Lowest-Place Vote: 31st”
At least one of the writers thought the Bills should be only be one spot ahead of their opponent, the New York Jets. Whoever that was must not have seen the Texans, 49ers, Bengals, or Colts play where all teams lost and looked awful in their opener.
Well, the respect that Terry Pegula wants is apparently going to take more than one win against a team who is expected to win maybe 3 games this year. The real test starts next week against the Panthers and hopefully the Bills can fight their way out with a win. That'll for sure move them up a few more spots in these rankings.