You laughed when they said Josh Allen would be good. You questioned everything about his game, talked about level of competition, his accuracy issues, the poor footwork and just about anything else you could find to pick him apart, aside from an arm that even the harshest critics knew could throw it out of the stadium.
Too raw, they said. Not enough polish. There was no way to fix his accuracy issues.
Bet you aren't saying that anymore.
Yes, it's been just two games against less-than-stellar competition, but Allen has been so good that he's actually in the MVP conversation as quarterback of the 2-0 Buffalo Bills. In two starts, Allen has 729 passing yards — tops in the league — six touchdown passes, no picks and a passer rating of 122.9. His completion percentage is 70.4, which means he's actually being really accurate.
Allen's quick start has the Bills looking like a legitimate Super Bowl contender, something I expected this season. They are now up to fifth in my Power Rankings this week and they are alone in first place in the AFC East.
If you don't believe in the Bills this season, you are misguided. In addition to Allen, they have a talented defense, playmakers on offense and a coach in Sean McDermott who will be in play as a Coach of the Year candidate.
The top of the rankings remains pretty much the same, although I did move the Baltimore Ravens ahead of the Pittsburgh Steelers into the fourth spot after the Steelers struggled at home against Denver, and I dropped the New Orleans Saints after their ugly loss on Monday night to the Las Vegas Raiders.
Three of the top four teams are from the AFC, so the Bills have big-time competition in the conference and the Patriots will be better than I expected. But keep a close eye on this Bills team. If Allen keeps growing, they will challenge the best in the AFC this season — including the Ravens and Kansas City Chiefs.
Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | It wasn't pretty against the Chargers, but they found a way. The offense isn't close to clicking yet. That will come. | -- | |
| 2 |  | The defense still needs to tighten up some, but that offense is explosive. They are dominating in Matt LaFleur's second season on that side of the ball. | -- | |
| 3 |  | They rolled over the Texans, dominating on both sides of the ball. Now they get that chance they didn't get in the playoffs last year to take on the Chiefs. Too bad it won't mean as much. | 2 | |
| 4 |  | They didn't quite dominate the way I expected against the Broncos - especially with a backup quarterback playing for Denver. They have to play better against the good teams. | -- | |
| 5 |  | The defense gave up some big plays, but they were without two top linebackers. But Josh Allen has to love having Stefon Diggs to throw the football to this season. | 1 | |
| 6 |  | Russell Wilson is cooking for sure. He has nine touchdown passes in two games. It's nice to see him throwing it as much as he has. | 1 | |
| 7 |  | Kyler Murray is in the MVP conversation and his offense will be tough to stop for any defense. The defense is also much improved over a year ago. | 1 | |
| 8 |  | Sean McVay has this team rolling after two games. Maybe all those coaching changes were really important, like he said. Jared Goff is off to a good start. | 4 | |
| 9 |  | They are 2-0, but they really haven't played great football. Ryan Tannehill had another good day in the victory over the Jaguars, but the defense had issues. | 4 | |
| 10 |  | Jon Gruden has this team at 2-0 and playing good offensive football. They dominated the Saints Monday night. | 9 | |
| 11 |  | They hardly looked like a Super Bowl contender against the Raiders. The defense was shredded and the offense didn't look the same without Michael Thomas. | 8 | |
| 12 |  | They have to do something with that defense. It's bad right now. The pass rush is non-existent. Cam Newton is going to be forced to score a lot. | 1 | |
| 13 |  | It still wasn't pretty last week, but you can see signs that the offense is coming around. The defense is what will decide how far this team goes and it did some good things against Carolina. | 3 | |
| 14 |  | Dak Prescott was sensational in rallying the Cowboys past the Falcons. Now comes a tough one on the road at Seattle, where he has to prove he can do the same type of thing away from home. | -- | |
| 15 |  | It looks like Tyrod Taylor is back in at quarterback after missing last week, but they have to feel good about the way rookie Justin Herbert played. He is the future. | -- | |
| 16 |  | The injuries are crippling this team, which might make it tough to repeat as division champs. They dominated the Jets, but that wasn't the story of the day with players like Nick Bosa going down. | 7 | |
| 17 |  | They bounced back in impressive fashion from their upset loss to the Jaguars by dominating the Vikings. The defense looked like the unit I expected to see. | -- | |
| 18 |  | Mitch Trubisky is 2-0. Think about that. Now give him credit. He's done some good things to get them going to start the season. | 2 | |
| 19 |  | Their running game was impressive against the Bengals, which helped Baker Mayfield. They actually looked good in beating Cincinnati. | 6 | |
| 20 |  | That meltdown in Dallas could be the undoing of this team and the ultimate end for Dan Quinn if they don't turn it around. They had no business losing that game and falling to 0-2. | 2 | |
| 21 |  | At 0-2, they are staring another tough game in the face this week when they play the Steelers on the road. The worst part is they haven't looked good in either game. | 1 | |
| 22 |  | At 0-2, they have looked awful for two weeks. Is it possible to turn it around? The defense was terrible against the Rams. | 6 | |
| 23 |  | Gardner Minshew is showing that he might be around to stay. He has six touchdown passes in two games. The defense has to be better. Gardner Minshew is showing that he might be around to stay. He has six touchdown passes in two games. The defense has to be better. | 4 | |
| 24 |  | With Drew Lock out 2-6 weeks with a shoulder injury and Courtland Sutton done for the year, it's not pretty right now for the Broncos. It's all about building to the future. | 3 | |
| 25 |  | Their start has been a disaster so far and it hasn't been pretty for Kirk Cousins. They are in a big hole with a tough game against the Titans this week. | 2 | |
| 26 |  | They lost to the Browns, but they have to be thrilled with what they have in Joe Burrow. He is going to be a star. | 2 | |
| 27 |  | They've had a ton of injuries, which They've had a ton of injuries, which showed up in the loss to the Packers. But how long does Matt Patricia have to turn it around? | 1 | |
| 28 |  | They came back to reality against Arizona after their Week 1 upset of the Eagles. The defense had a rough showing. | -- | |
| 29 |  | Saquon Barkley is done of the year, which means they have little in terms of a running game. That means Daniel Jones will have to do even more. Can he carry this team? | -- | |
| 30 |  | They battled against the Bills, but at some point they have to start winning those types of games. When is Tua time coming? | -- | |
| 31 |  | They have defensive issues that will show up on a weekly basis. The offense needs to do more than it did in the first half against Tampa Bay, but that will be tough without Christian McCaffrey. | -- | |
| 32 |  | This is going to be a long season for this group. There isn't enough talent. How long does Adam Gase get to turn it around? | -- |
