Buffalo Rumblings
The one where we’re asking if it matters once the playoff spot is locked in.
Anyone who’s watched at least half a dozen Buffalo Bills games during the 2025 NFL season understands that they struggle to stop the run, and that Josh Allen is still incredible, somehow still putting up stats with a less-than-supportive cast of wide receivers. Make no mistake, running back James Cook III is a huge part of the reason for Buffalo’s success in 2025. The Bills go as Allen & Cook do this season.
That makes for a bit of head scratching over the latest batch of NFL power rankings. Some of you will be excited to know that this is the penultimate look at such lists for this season, just one more to go for Week 18. But for how much the Bills continue to win, as good teams do no matter the flaws and circumstance, they seem to have lost favor with the majority of power ranking “experts.”
Did Buffalo struggle to put away an inferior Cleveland Browns team? You’ll find no argument from me there. But it’s not worth getting too caught up in all that mess. Some of the same folks who push aside the Bills for how they won in Cleveland also went out of their way to praise the Patriots and quarterback Drake Maye’s comeback win against a Baltimore Ravens team that played most of the game without quarterback Lamar Jackson (and for some reason refused to give running back Derrick Henry another snap with almost 13 minutes of game clock left).
Okay, Maye finally got his fourth-quarter comeback win. New England also beat the Ravens in similar fashion to Buffalo’s Week 1 win over Baltimore. They also may have lost if the Ravens simply thought to involve Henry on offense, you know — instead of benching him after he scored a long touchdown run in the second half.
This season has been all about the turnover at the top, and for some that appears to be incomplete if Allen and the Bills aren’t on the outside looking in. Oops. Guess what? They’re back, and it may not matter much where they end up seeded.
So what does that mean for the Bills’ within the latest batch of NFL power rankings? Let’s live in the present and dive into the latest NFL power rankings, passing the mic to hierarchy experts around the country. Ready? After you take a few minutes reading what others have to say about the Bills, be sure to sound off in the comments! (Week 16 Power Rankings for comparison)
“(Bills) Rookie of the year: Tight end Jackson Hawes”
“This is very close between Hawes and defensive tackle Deone Walker, who has started 14 games this season. The edge goes to Hawes, a fifth-round pick, for his significant impact in helping James Cook III deliver one of the best rushing seasons in team history...
