The Buffalo Bills and Tampa Bay Buccaneers open the eighth week of National Football League regular season action tonight with a game from Highmark Stadium. The weather in Buffalo, which can begin to become a factor this time of the year, is downright pleasant. Temperatures are in the mid-sixties and there is only a slight chance of precipitation.
While the weather is pleasant in Buffalo, the team and the Bills fans are getting a bit cranky.
This season, Josh Allen and company have outscored their opponents over the first seven weeks by 80 points. No team in the American Football Conference and only the San Francisco 49ers in the entire league have a better points for and points against number. Problem is, for the Bills, their 80 point bulge over opponents has only equated to four wins in seven games and second place, behind the Dolphins, in the AFC East Division.
So, what’s wrong with the Bills?
Well, a number of things that appeared pitched in favor of Buffalo have instead knocked them out of the box. It began in the opening Monday Night Football game of the season, a contest in which the Bills led the New York Jets by ten points headed to the halftime locker room and New York had lost their quarterback, Aaron Rodgers, on the game’s opening series of downs.
This would be a night when a quote from David Letterman about the Bills after they blew a halftime lead over the Dallas Cowboys in one of their four Super Bowl losses was appropriate, “Hey, save some of that champagne for after the game.”
The Bills allowed their advantage over the hobbled Jets to land them in the doghouse after an overtime loss. As you might imagine, Buffalo took out their aggressions the following Sunday in their home opener, beating the Las Vegas Raiders, 38-10. Their prowess was on full display the following two Sundays when they hammered the Washington Commanders at FedExField, 37-3, and then blew by the Miami Dolphins while handing Mike McDaniel’s team his first loss of the season, 48-20.
So, there you have it. Buffalo is a juggernaut and the upset loss to the Jets was just a case of them taking for granted a win that got away.
Think again.
After their three straight lopsided wins, Buffalo lost in London to the Jacksonville Jaguars and then had a heck of a time beating the other New York team, requiring a comeback to edge the talent challenged Giants, 14-9. Okay, was the word in Buffalo, at least they got the win and now they get to play a New England team that appears as bad in 2023 as they were good for all those years behind Tom Brady.
The Patriots only win this season was a narrow victory over the Jets, and they had lost their previous three games before last week’s meeting with the Bills by a combined 20-93 deficit. This promised to be a nice trip to Massachusetts for the Bills and an easy win.
Nope.
It was another, their third, defeat of the season. The leaves were not the only thing turning last week in Boston, the Bills were changing colors to a loser following a stinging defeat, 29-25.
Okay, but tonight they win easy … right?
Well, it would appear that is in the cards, but with the Bills the idea of jumping on a train everyone thinks is headed to a double digit win just doesn’t strike a confident prospect. The Bills opened as an 8½ point favorite, and the line quickly dropped to 7½ points in the first hour it was posted. Since then, the line has climbed and currently sits with the Bills a 9½ point home favorite over the Buccaneers.
I know the heavy public action on Sean McDermott’s team is the reason the line has gone up on this game, but who moved that number down when it was first posted?
If they are right, and I know it wasn’t the public initially causing that line drop, then the Bills don’t cover this line tonight. It doesn’t matter what I think, it matters that all factors point one way.
Tonight, they don’t.