Buffalo Bills (o8.5 -143 / u8.5 +118) 2020 Preview

How fun are the Bills? You gotta love someone like Josh Allen running around and trying to make shit happen. You have Smokey Brown running down the field deep. Now, Stefon Diggs, a true #1 guy is in the mix. Another year of Devin Singletary and an exciting prospect, Zack Moss, coming in. Josh Allen is a lowkey fantasy league winner or dark horse MVP candidate.

The Bills are a slight favorite to win the division (+120) over the Pats (+130). And they should be. They made the playoffs last year and almost beat Houston in a wild game that went to overtime. (In fact, that was the only game in last year’s playoffs where I was on the wrong side. The game was -2.5 Texans, I took the points and missed by 0.5 point. Humble brag). The Bills had the 6th ranked Defense DVOA from last year. And their coach, Sean McDermott, is good, like top third of the league good. The guy is criminally underrated.

With the departure of Tom Brady, are the Bills ready to ascend to the top spot in the AFC East? I think so! Other than bringing in Diggs, the team has remarkable consistency from last year. The entire offensive line is getting another year together. This type of consistency is going to be important in a COVID-atmosphere training camp. Not enough practices and no preseason games are going to be favorable to teams and units that have  been together for a number of years. As I write this, Tre’Davious White is considering opting out for the season, which would be a huge blow, given that the Bills ranked 5th against the pass last year. Either way, I think the Bills have a legit shot to win 10 games this year.

Even if you aren’t sold on the Bills, think about this, the only threat to them not winning the division is the Pats. While Cam Newton might do amazing things this year under Belichik and McDaniels, that’s not assured. Also keep in mind that his skill position players are nothing to brag about. The Jets and Dolphins are in rebuilds and aren’t probably winning this year. Since the Bills can easily win this division (assuring a playoff spot) or win double digit games (pretty much assuring a playoff appearance), I’m going to go with them to just make the playoffs. Gotta lay a little on this one, but, they have a good track record and they’ve gotten better without losing major talent.

Bills -182 To Make the Playoffs.