The Buffalo Bills have come out in the first seven weeks of play and taken the lead in the AFC East, spearheaded by Josh Allen. At 5-2, they hold first place atop the division, a spot that was usually reserved for the New England Patriots. They've only recently lost some steam against two formidable opponents in the Tennessee Titans and the Kansas City Chiefs.
They were, however, able to resume their dominative performances against the New York Jets, bringing them back into the winning column. They'll march into Week 8 against the Patriots, a squad in dire need of a win in order to silence the doubters around the league that question their capabilities of winning in a post-Tom Brady era. While that win will certainly come in the coming weeks for the Patriots, likely in Week 9 against the Jets, the Bills are on a determined path to continue their ascension into the conversation as one of the more dominating teams in the league.
Here are four daring predictions ahead of the Bills-Patriots bout in Week 8.
4. Bills' defense sustains high effort level from Week 7
The Bills haven't had the best defense near the halfway point of the season, but that dramatically changed in Week 7 against the Jets. After performing with a decent effort in the first half, the Bills came out in the second half with a historic defensive effort, holding the Jets to only four yards gained. Their increased efforts in blitzing was fundamental in their defensive output as well.
The Patriots are coming into Sunday with an unorganized quarterback in Newton. They'll also be without wideout Julian Edelman, which could spell trouble for Newton who continues to attempt to find his groove. If the Bills are able to bring the same defensive energy that they brought about in the second half of Week 7, it could be an early night for the Patriots.
3. Stefon Diggs takes it up a notch
Stefon Diggs has been instrumental in the success of the Bills offense alongside Allen. He's recorded 48 of his 70 targets this season and leads the team with 603 receiving yards and three touchdowns. As the No.1 option in the downfield, he hasn't had many big games yet however. Through five games, he's only recorded over 100 receiving yards twice. Other than those two contests, his yardage has hovered in the 46-49 range.
Diggs has to increase not only his yardage, but his scoring as well. The 26-year old wideout has only scored three touchdowns this season, which ties him at 20th amongst his position.
Diggs will finish Sunday's outing with three touchdowns while totaling 160 receiving yards.
2. Josh Allen will throw for 400 yards, 4 touchdowns
Allen has put the league on notice as one of its premier quarterbacks during the 2020 season. The third-year field general has completed 67.6 percent of his passes through Week 7 for 2,018 yards, resulting in an astounding 16 touchdowns. Allen has outperformed Cam Newton at every turn of the season so far as well, ensuring that his offense runs on a much smoother assembly line than that of Newton and the Patriots.
His latest outing against the Jets can't persist into Week 8. He ended that contest throwing no touchdowns which is an unrecognizable stat line given his other performances. For the Bills to obtain any success, Allen has to continue his monstrous performances. With the Patriots still in the process of figuring out their defense, leading to the speculation of reigning DPOY Stephon Gilmore possibly being on the move before the deadline, Allen is primed for another enormous game.
Allen will end Sunday against the Patriots throwing for 400 yards and four touchdowns.
1. Bills win in a blowout
The Patriots are currently 2-4, below even that of the Miami Dolphins. Their best player just stunk up the joint against the San Francisco 49ers last Sunday. To be blunt, this game may be over by the end of the first half if all goes well for the Bills. Buffalo is on course for taking the AFC East, a feat they haven't accomplished since 1995.
The Bills will also be looking to snap a losing streak against the Patriots that currently stands at seven. There's no telling when the Patriots will actually be able to string together a successful amount of wins this season, and their time to do that could began to fade quickly if they fall to the Bills on Sunday. Their respected defensive rankings in passing and rushing gains has dropped dramatically since the departure of Tom Brady, a move that apparently took most of this team's identity with him.
The momentum simply isn't on their side at this point in the season. With that, expect a blowout by the Bills by halftime. More so, if last week repeats itself, we may get some more Jarrett Stidham action early.
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