Hopefully the Bills enjoyed their time as the undisputed front-runner in the AFC East, because their short-lived divisional dominance is in jeopardy.
The Patriots humiliated the Panthers 24-6 Sunday and are suddenly just a half game behind 5-3 Buffalo for first place. Winners of three straight, the 5-4 Patriots are the hottest team in the AFC. ESPN's Ryan Clark is even predicting they'll return to the Super Bowl.
Meanwhile, the Bills are falling. They only scored six points against the Jaguars Sunday — nearly 27 points below their season average of 32.7 points per game. The Bills were 15-point favorites, yet 15 points were scored in the entire game.
Josh Allen, who was tormented by his namesake Sunday to the tune of an interception, sack and recovered fumble, was playing like a rookie again. His pick to Jacksonville's Josh Allen came on an ugly throw across his body while defenders were in his face. On Buffalo's final play, Allen scrambled out of the pocket for no apparent reason, resulting in a wild incompletion. The Bills' injury-riddled offensive line was manhandled all afternoon.
Notably, Sunday's game was Allen's third subpar outing of the season. The first one came Week 1 against the Steelers, where he lacked explosion and was sacked three times. Then he played a miserable first half against the Dolphins, though the Bills came back and won.
We've seen a big enough sample size from Allen to know he's an elite QB. From Week 2 — Week 8, he completed 66.97% of his passes for 1,702 yards, 16 touchdowns and just three interceptions. For a six-game stretch, he was playing like the breakout MVP candidate from last season. Buffalo's soft schedule probably only helped matters. The Bills played Washington, Houston and Miami twice during that time. Their signature win came against the Chiefs, which doesn't look as impressive now.
The Patriots and Bills won't meet for another three weeks, but both of their December meetings will likely carry big playoff implications. The Patriots are following an upward trajectory since their engagingly close win over the Texans. They played the Bucs and Cowboys close, blew out the Jets, beat out the Chargers on the road, and most recently, once again made Sam Darnold see ghosts. With games against the Browns and Falcons coming up, the Patriots have a real shot at being 7-4 for their Nov. 28 showdown against the Titans, who are without Derrick Henry, of course.
It's all lining up for the Patriots in a roller coaster AFC. Just like old times.
