Year after year results in heartbreak for Bills Mafia. The Buffalo Bills have 73 wins since 2020 — the most by any team.
And they have yet to make a Super Bowl appearance in that time frame.
They will not break through unless they address the following issues.
The AFC Got Better, and Buffalo Cannot Afford to Stand Still
In the offseason, the Bills added key players like DJ Moore and C.J. Gardner-Johnson.
Moore will tremendously improve Buffalo’s ability to separate against man coverage. Gardner-Johnson adds more aggressive ball-hawking skills to the secondary, having recorded at least five interceptions in two of his last four healthy seasons.
The AFC got significantly better this offseason. Kansas City gets Patrick Mahomes back from injury. Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow are the other two quarterbacks that round out the top four at the position in the conference. Their respective teams are contenders when they are healthy.
New England and Denver squared off in the conference championship game the previous year. Their floor is the final playoff spot. The Patriots will be the Bills’ biggest challenger in the AFC East.
Other teams that made the playoffs last year — the Chargers, Texans, and Jaguars — should contend for double-digit wins again. The Colts, who started 8-2 before injuries crushed them, are also a factor in the AFC wild card race.
The Run Defense Must Improve for Buffalo to Compete
The Bills run defense was bottom five in yards per game surrendered last season. This year, new defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard is switching their defense from a 4-3 front to a 3-4 front.
A key advantage of a 3-4 alignment is having a nose tackle that can control both sides of the A gap. Deone Walker is projected as their starting interior defensive tackle, so he will be an X-factor on the defense.
While they appeared to be a good pass defense, opposing teams exploited the Bills’ weakness on the ground.
Three Straight Playoff Exits by Three Points
The Bills have lost their last three playoff games all by three points. In 2023, the offense put them in position for a game-tying field goal, only for Tyler Bass to miss it wide right.
The following year, Josh Allen nearly completed a miracle fourth down pass to Dalton Kincaid that would have kept the Bills’ drive alive while down three.
Last year, the offense left the field with the lead late, only for the defense to surrender a touchdown. The Bills offense tied the game in regulation but it was the offense’s turn to let the team down in overtime. After the defense forced a punt, Allen committed his fourth turnover of the game, ending Buffalo’s season.
The Bills have tougher competition in the AFC with question marks on their run defense. And of course, how do they respond in the final two minutes of a playoff game?
Buffalo cannot break through unless they prove week in and week out that they can stop the run and that their new additions can keep pace with the conference.
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