Buffalo Rumblings
Which Bills players (and coaches) see their stock rising/falling after the Week 8 win at Seattle?
“The New York Jets and Miami Dolphins are better” or “The Buffalo Bills lost too many important pieces” were common phrases shared by Bills Mafia ahead of the 2024 season. When I dared to say the Bills would be fine and there was no reason for so much pessimism, I was labeled a “homer.”
Fast forward to Week 9. Here we are with the Bills in position to, way ahead of schedule, put an end to the Miami Dolphins’ season and continue their steady march to a fifth AFC East title in a row by opening a four-game lead to the second-place New York Jets.
Head coach Sean McDermott has a proven track record preparing rosters for the regular season, and having a franchise quarterback like Josh Allen leading the offense obviously helps. The Bills’ question marks never were about October, November, or December. They continue to own the division and they are who we thought they were — a well-coached, well-prepared team with star power at quarterback and a lot of discipline all over the board, with players willing to do their jobs and putting the team first.
So, with things going as expected, without any homerism, here are my Bills players trending up and those down ahead of Week 9’s game against the Dolphins.
I try to avoid having players on this list for consecutive weeks. After all, how much can you continue to rise if you were already trending up in the previous week? Rookie wide receiver Keon Coleman has proven to be a capable exception.
Facing off against a cornerback who was supposed to be one of the toughest matchups for him all year long (Tariq Woolen is big and physical, but also extremely fast), Coleman put on a show, finishing the game with five receptions on seven targets, for 70 yards and one touchdown. Even more impressive than the stat line was the way he performed.
Woolen was able to win against Coleman the first time Allen targeted him, on a goal-line fade. Woolen tried to intimidate Coleman making sure he knew he couldn’t beat him on that type of play. Poor Woolen, it was way too soon for such behavior. On the very next pass play, Allen went to Coleman again, with the same type of route, but this time the rookie made an impressive catch over the veteran and also answered Woolen’s trash without saying a word.
It was just the start, as Coleman continued to make plays over Woolen — no matter if it was in the passing game, where he continued to win on all levels, catching passes and forcing DPI penalties, or in the running game, pancake blocking the veteran and pointing to his face. Coleman won the matchup big time, which should give him plenty of confidence going forward. Right now, the sky’s the limit for...
