Bills have our curiosity, now earn our attention

The Buffalo Bills showed up on Thanksgiving and dominated the Cowboys. The team is now in the NFL spotlight with a chance to prove themselves even more.

The Buffalo Bills had the better record. Yet it still came as a huge surprise when the team steamrolled the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving afternoon.

It was the first time most NFL fans saw the Bills play this season and may be the first time some fans have seen the team play in years. Meanwhile, the Cowboys laid another egg on a national stage.

The major knock on the Bills all season has been an easy schedule. It is why the team entered the holiday game as nearly touchdown underdogs to the Cowboys.

The Bills had beaten the Giants, Jets, Bengals, Titans, Dolphins, Redskins, Dolphins again, and the Broncos. Those eight wins are what gained the collective curiosity of the NFL world. The Bills were proving they could beat teams they were supposed to beat.

Losses to the Patriots, Eagles, and Browns showed the Bills may not be at that next level just yet. Even with an 8-3 record.

Then came the win over Dallas. The Bills are now 9-3 with a remaining schedule that features some key, primetime matchups. The next three weeks in particular are where the Bills can go from a fun story to Super Bowl contenders.

This Sunday features the Bills at home against Lamar Jackson and the 10-2 Baltimore Ravens. Plenty of people have proclaimed the Ravens to be the team to beat in the AFC. Yet there are some easy wins on that schedule and the Bills are only one game behind at 9-3. A Buffalo win would technically put the Bills atop the Ravens, though the Patriots holding the AFC lead keeps Buffalo in the Wild Card conversation.

That game is followed by the Bills making a rare Sunday Night Football appearance in Week 15 against Pittsburgh. Duck Hodges versus Josh Allen would not usually warrant a primetime slot, yet both lead teams in the thick of the AFC playoff race. Just as everyone expected.

The Steelers, also beneficiaries of an easy schedule, are a perfect team for the Bills to take down on a national stage. It would be a road win against a winning team to stay in the AFC East race. A tenth win should also cement at least the fifth seed in the AFC playoffs.

Yet the ultimate way to gain the nation’s attention would be for the Bills to defeat the Patriots, on the road in Week 16. The game is on a Saturday and serves as another national game. A win over New England would have the Bills in the Super Bowl conversation, while the “Tom Brady is finished” takes would reach record heights unseen before.

The Bills then finish up the year against a withering Jets squad. So the team should at minimum win 10 games.

All of this regular season talk is nice but the Bills would ultimately have to pick up a playoff victory to move forward in the Sean McDermott era. The team broke a painfully long playoff drought in 2017, only to lose 10-3 to Jacksonville.

The last playoff win came all the way back in 1995. A victory was close in 1999, until the Titans pulled off a miracle and began Buffalo’s drought.

Getting to the postseason again stoke the curiosity even more. Yet there are plenty of teams who have reached the AFC playoffs and done nothing with the opportunity. The Cincinnati Bengals come to mind, as do the Houston Texans. Remember those dud games?

Wins over the Ravens, Steelers, or Patriots will have NFL fans talking about the Bills as legitimate contenders. However, the postseason is when the Bills can ultimately prove to be the real deal.

For those who weren’t paying attention in September, the Bills only lost to the Patriots by the score of 16-10. That was before the Patriots offense stalled out as it has done as of late. If the Bills don’t turn the ball over four times again, that defense could have Tom Brady screaming even louder at his receivers.

The easy schedule has obviously helped the Bills achieve the current 9-3 record. Yet that should not have fans doubting the team as contenders. No one is shaming the Patriots for consistently dominating the AFC East. Also, easy wins are part of any good team’s season. That is true in any sport.

If Buffalo was a bigger market there would be no talk about the schedule. It would be about the team and destiny.

Four games is enough time for a major decline and the Bills still have to prove this all isn’t one big fluke. Then comes the real tough task of winning in January. Josh Allen emerging as one of the better quarterbacks from his class sure would be something.