The Buffalo Bills earned a big victory in Week 7, defeating the Tennessee Titans 34-10 in their first home game in three weeks. After a slow start, the Bills dominated the Titans in the second half, holding Tennessee scoreless and pouring on points as the game progressed.
While the Bills didn’t rise much in this week’s power rankings, they remain firmly entrenched in the top 10 of nearly every poll. The addition of wide receiver Amari Cooper was a fairly popular topic in this week’s narratives, as well.
We start with Ben Rolfe at Pro Football Network, who ranked the Bills No. 6 this week. Rolfe writes that the Bills “gave us everything we could have asked for” in the win. Rolfe notes that Buffalo has “handled business” against bad teams, but he expressed concerns about Buffalo’s ability to defeat better squads. He’s judging this based on the Bills’ two losses — a drubbing at the hands of the Baltimore Ravens, and a close loss to the Houston Texans.
Matt Johnson at Sportsnaut has Buffalo ranked No. 7 this week. Johnson noted that wideout Amari Cooper’s addition is exactly what Buffalo needed. He wrote that Cooper’s inclusion on the roster “pushes the likes of Khalil Shakir, Keon Coleman and Dalton Schultz (sic) into roles they are more suited for.” Schultz, Kincaid, potato, po-tah-to. Even with the accidental name-swap, I know what he means.
Frank Schwab at Yahoo! Sports has Buffalo ranked No. 5 this week. He writes that Cooper was a “shrewd” pickup for Buffalo, noting that the Alabama grad will “always battle inconsistency,” but he’ll clearly be Buffalo’s best receiver moving forward. He also notes that Cooper should rejuvenated by playing with quarterback Josh Allen.
Marcus Mosher at The 33rd Team has Buffalo ranked No. 6 this week. He writes that Buffalo was supposed to be “rebuilding” this season, but they sit at “4-2 with a 2.5-game lead over both the Miami Dolphins and the New York Jets. in the AFC East.” As we know, the Bills are actually 5-2, and I know that the outside perception was that a rebuild was coming, but it doesn’t seem that the people at One Bills Drive ever received that memo.
The pollsters at ESPN ranked Buffalo No. 3 this week. Beat writer Alaina Getzenberg was tasked with writing about a young rising player, and she picked cornerback Christian Benford. She writes that the third-year man out of Villanova has allowed just 3.7 yards per target this season, the third-best rate in the league. She also notes that he has allowed the second-lowest completion percentage as the next-closest defender this season.
Nate Davis at USA Today has Buffalo ranked No. 7 this week. He notes the irony in Buffalo acquiring Amari Cooper only to set up rookie wide out Keon Coleman for Buffalo’s first 100-yard performance for a receiver in a game this season. That’s the beauty of a player of Cooper’s caliber: either he’s going to work himself open for Josh Allen, or his presence will allow others to have more space to operate.
Mike Florio at Pro Football Talk has Buffalo ranked No. 8 this week. In his quick bit about the team, he writes that Amari Cooper is “just what Josh Allen needed.” Somewhere, Ric Ocasek is smiling.
Pete Prisco at CBS Sports has Buffalo ranked No. 6 overall. He writes that the Amari Cooper trade gives the Bills a legitimate No. 1 threat in the passing game, and he also writes that the trade “paid off right away” for Buffalo. Cooper caught four passes for 66 yards and a score, and Josh Allen threw for 300 yards in a game for the first time this season, so I agree with that assessment.
Finally, Vinnie Iyer at Sporting News has the Bills at No. 8 this week. He wrote that Josh Allen looked good after a slow start, “unleashing his remixed weapons” to full effect in a big win over the Titans. Iyer thinks that Buffalo’s second-half explosion is a good sign for their upcoming date with the Seattle Seahawks.
PublishedNovember 14, 2024 9:03 PM EST|UpdatedNovember 14, 2024 9:03 PM ESTFacebookTwitterEmailCopy LinkThe National Football League has a serious problem that'
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