Bills news: Sean McDermott on Von Miller return, Josh Allen MVP odds, Keon Coleman's 'big boy play'

All is well with the Buffalo Bills right now.

After suffering back-to-back losses to the Baltimore Ravens and Houston Texans a few weeks back, Sean McDermott's squad has now won three straight for the second time this season, their latest victory over the Seattle Seahawks being their best all-around performance of the year.

Now sitting at 6-2, Buffalo is in complete control of the AFC East, as every other team in the division has only two wins as we near the midway point of this 2024 NFL campaign. The Bills, of course, will face one of those teams in Week 9, as they're set to host the Miami Dolphins this Sunday at Highmark Stadium.

Buffalo dominated the first matchup, taking an easy 31-10 victory in a game that's most remembered for Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa suffering yet another concussion after taking a hit from Damar Hamlin.

After sitting out for roughly a month and a half, Tagovailoa returned to the Miami lineup this past Sunday in a loss to the Arizona Cardinals and is set to start against the Bills. Unfortunately for him, he'll have to deal with Von Miller, who's set to make a return of his own after missing the last four games due to suspension.

And that's where we'll kick off our news and notes surrounding the first-place Bills as they prepare for their Week 9 showdown with the Dolphins.

Sean McDermott speaks on Von Miller's return to the Bills

Suspended for the last four games for violating the NFL's Personal Conduct Policy, which most assume stemmed from the domestic assault allegations against him late last year, Von Miller will make his return this Sunday against Miami.

Miller was playing well prior to his suspension, tallying 3.0 sacks in four games, including one on Tagovailoa in Buffalo's Week 2 win over the Dolphins.

The Bills' pass rush has survived without him, and it's not as if Miller plays as much as he used to, as he'd only taken 35 percent of the team's defensive snaps in his four appearances. Nevertheless, Miller makes any defensive unit better, and he'll undoubtedly be an asset for Buffalo moving forward, especially in late-down situations.

Speaking to the media on Monday, McDermott spoke on what the return of the eight-time Pro Bowler will mean for his team.

"It’ll be good to have Von back," McDermott said. "He’s been out for four weeks. Never sure what that brings, right, in terms of staying refined, staying polished, but I’m sure he’s been chomping at the bit to get back. It’ll be nice to have him back. Again, it’s never about one person, right? Especially when you play up front, it’s about the sum of the parts, and it’s about four guys rushing as one, and that’ll be important for us as we move forward as a defense overall."

Josh Allen finally has better NFL MVP odds than Patrick Mahomes

Up until roughly a week ago, Patrick Mahomes was the betting favorite to win NFL MVP, which didn't make sense.

Sure, the Kansas City Chiefs hadn't and still haven't lost a game all season. But the numbers just weren't there to make a strong argument. And that's still the case now, as the three-time Super Bowl champ is tied for 16th among all quarterbacks with just eight touchdown passes. On top of that, he's thrown more interceptions than TDs and is tied for the league lead in picks with Baker Mayfield and Jordan Love, all of whom have nine.

Josh Allen, of course, just threw his first interception of the year in the Bills' win over the Seahawks and has tossed 14 touchdown passes, tied for the fifth-most in the league. He also has the fourth-highest passer rating at 107.6 and would be in the No. 3 slot if not for Russell Wilson, who's only played two games with the Pittsburgh Steelers thus far and sits at 111.9.

Meanwhile, Mahomes sits in 23rd at 84.9.

The other name that must be mentioned here, of course, is Lamar Jackson, who finally overtook Mahomes in the top spot of the NFL MVP race following Week 7.

And despite taking a loss to the Cleveland Browns on Sunday, Jackson is having a strong season, leading all signal-callers with a 115.4 rating and ranking in the top five in passing yards (2,099) and touchdown passes (17) while only throwing two picks in his first eight games. So, his surpassing Mahomes made sense.

Finally, however, Allen has as well. And not only that, per the odds at DraftKings, Allen is now tied with Jackson for the shortest odds to win MVP at +300. Mahomes sits in solo third at +600, while Jared Goff (+800) and Jalen Hurts (+1500) round out the top five.

Bills rookie wideout Keon Coleman called for the ball in a "big boy play" against the Seahawks

While second-round rookie wide receiver Keon Coleman got off to a somewhat slow start to his professional career, he's come on strong over the last couple of weeks.

In Buffalo's 34-10 win over the Tennessee Titans in Week 7, he notched his first 100-yard game, catching four passes for 125 yards. Against the Seahawks in Week 8, Coleman caught five passes for 70 yards, one of which was a highlight-reel grab that went for a touchdown on the Bills' first offensive possession.

On 3rd & Goal from Seattle's 2-yard line, Coleman got behind Seattle cornerback Tariq Woolen but then jumped over and essentially through him to nab the pass from Allen for six.

Just two plays earlier on first down, Allen had targeted the rookie on pretty much the same play, but Woolen broke it up. Coleman clearly wasn't content and actually went back into the huddle and asked his quarterback for another chance, assuring Allen he'd catch a second attempt, which he obviously did.

"We miscued on the first one,” Coleman said after the game. "I told him, just put it even higher and give me another shot at it. He gave me another shot, and I went up there and made the play."

Khalir Shakir, who had a big day of his own with a career-high nine catches for 107 yards, called his teammate's score a "big boy play," and he's absolutely correct. Woolen is a solid corner and earned a Pro Bowl selection as a rookie only two seasons ago, but Coleman just made things look easy.

Throw in the fact that it takes guts for a rookie to go into a huddle and almost demand that a seasoned QB like Allen should get him the ball, and it's clear that the Bills have something special in Coleman, who's only going to get better.