If there was much doubt about just how much of a gap there can be between a top team in the NFL and one of the worst, Sunday's beat down of the Houston Texans at the hands of the Buffalo Bills in Orchard Park served as a reminder.
The Bills and Texans are franchises who have been going in opposite directions since the start of the 2020 season.
The Texans, who defeated the Bills in overtime of the AFC Wild Card Round in the 2019 season, have pretty much completely fallen apart. Houston handed franchise quarterback Deshaun Watson a massive contract extension as last season was about to begin. The Texans then promptly lost their first four games and six of their first seven. They finished 4-12, managing to beat the Jacksonville Jaguars twice, the Detroit Lions, and the New England Patriots in their first season without Tom Brady.
When the season ended, rumblings of Watson wanting out began. Then came a mountain of sexual misconduct accusations against the star quarterback, and here we are.
Watson remains on the roster, but isn’t playing. A trade, given the legal troubles, doesn’t seem very likely any time soon, at least in my opinion.
Tyrod Taylor was effective in their season-opening win over the Jaguars, but the former Bills quarterback got hurt in Week 2, paving the way for third round rookie quarterback Davis Mills to take over, and the results have been predictable. Three-straight losses following a complete and utter beat down at the hands of the Bills.
Buffalo, meanwhile, had one of their greatest seasons ever in 2020 coming off that playoff loss in Houston. Its franchise quarterback became an MVP candidate, and the team reached the AFC Championship game before falling to the Kansas City Chiefs.
This summer, Josh Allen got a massive contract extension of his own, and following a misstep to open the season against the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Bills are riding a three-game winning streak and just absolutely dismantling teams. For a third-consecutive week, their opponent didn’t even look like they belonged on the field with the Bills.
There will be plenty of talk about the dominance of this Bills defense through these first four games, and it certainly deserves plenty of recognition. But a broken down Ben Rothelisberger, a Tua Tagovailoa/Jacoby Brissett combo, Taylor Heinicke and finally Davis Mills on Sunday are far from measuring sticks.
Of course, that changes next Sunday night in Kansas City.
Patrick Mahomes will be waiting, and we’ll see just how much better this Bills defense really is. They got knocked around hard in that loss last January, and seemed to draft this past April with disrupting Mahomes as a focus.
It’s fine to be encouraged by the way the Bills have played on defense in the first month of this season. A pair of shutouts is impressive, regardless of the opposing quarterback's ineptitude/inexperience. But we all know the real test is looming.
That test applies to Allen and the Bills offense, as well. They were not effective in either game against the Chiefs last year, and Kansas City has been vulnerable on defense so far this season.
We’ve been thinking and talking since last January about how the Bills would match up with the Chiefs this season. Having to get through these first four games has only helped grow the anticipation for the AFC Championship game rematch.
Now it’s here. The Bills are rolling, and the Chiefs pummeled the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday after falling behind early.
I’d think that with the form the Bills appear to be in, most of their fans have one thought regarding next Sunday night - Bring it on.
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