BUFFALO BILLS 2021 WIN PREDICTION

BY ADAM GREENE

This offseason, the Buffalo Bills had one goal; catching the Kansas City Chiefs. Seeing as how they’re arguably the third best team in the NFL coming into the 2021 season, it doesn’t seem that they would have that far to go. But, the Chiefs are a monster that can only be tamed with half their offensive line out, so we won’t know if the Bills did it until the two teams face off on Oct 10.

Did they get better? On paper, it mostly looks like a push. They’ve beefed up their pass rush, but lost some corner depth. On offense, Buffalo switched out some receivers for new guys that bring pretty much the same skillset as the dudes that walked.

Nope, this season is all about Josh Allen. Can he continue to grow and become the QB he looked like he was blossoming into in 2020 or will he regress, as guys like Jared Goff, Carson Wentz and Jameis Winston did before him?

BUFFALO BILLS

Last season: 13-3, AFC East Champion, AFC Conference runner up

2021 odds: over 11 wins -115, under 11 wins -115

2021 NFL Draft: Gregory Rousseau, DE, Miami – Round 1, Carlos Basham Jr., DE, Wake Forest – Round 2, Spencer Brown, OT, Northern Iowa – Round 3, Tommy Doyle, OT, Miami (OH) – Round 5, Marquez Stevenson, WR, Houston – Round 6, Damar Hamlin, Safety, Pittsburgh – Round 6, Rachad Wildgoose, Wisconsin – Round 6, Jack Anderson, OG, Texas Tech – Round 7

UDFAs: Olaijah Griffin, CB – USC, Nick McCloud, CB – Notre Dame, Quintin Morris, TE – Bowling Green, Tre Walker, WR – San Jose State, Tariq Thompson, Safety – San Diego State, Syrus Tuitele, OL – Fresno State

Acquisitions: Emmanuel Sanders, WR – Free Agent, Bobby Hart, RT – Free Agent, Matt Breida, RB – Free Agent, Jacob Hollister, TE – Free Agent, Matt Haack, P – Free Agent, Forrest Lamp, LG – Free Agent, Lee Smith, TE – Trade, Tyrell Adams, LB – Free Agent, Joe Giles-Harris, LT – Free Agent, Jake Kumerow, WR – Free Agent, Efe Obada, Edge – Free Agent, Eli Ankou, DL – Free Agent, Brandon Powell, WR – Free Agent, Jamil Douglas, RG – Free Agent, Mitchell Trubisky, QB – Free Agent

Key Losses: John Brown – WR, Josh Norman – CB, Matt Barkley – QB, T.J. Yeldon – RB, Andre Roberts – WR, E.J. Gaines – CB

PRESUMED STARTERS

QB: Josh Allen

RB: Devin Singletary

WR: Stefon Diggs

WR: Emmanuel Sanders

WR: Cole Beasley

TE: Dawson Knox

FB: Reggie Gilliam

LT: Dion Dawkins

LG: John Feliciano

C: Mitch Morse

RG: Cody Ford

RT: Daryle Williams

LDE: Jerry Hughes

LDT: Vernon Butler

RDT: Ed Oliver

RDE: Mario Addison

OLB: Matt Milano

MLB: Tremaine Edmunds

OLB: A.J. Klein

CB: Tre’Davious White

CB: Levi Wallace

SS: Jordan Poyer

FS: Micah Hyde

K: Tyler Bass

P: Matt Haack

FORECAST

Buffalo, as the defending AFC East champion and AFC second place finisher, will get no help from its schedule this season. They play four playoff teams in their first six games, plus the Miami Dolphins, who almost made it into the postseason. The only cupcake they can enjoy before the bye is the hapless Houston Texans, but if they coax a (publicly) wounded Deshaun Watson back, that game becomes a real contest too.

It doesn’t get much better after the bye, with another match up with the Dolphins, then the Indianapolis Colts, New Orleans Saints and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They do get to cruise through the season’s final weeks, with four straight games against teams that all finished below .500 in 2020.

Final Record Prediction: 13-4, AFC East Champion

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