Bills Central

Next four games will show us who the Bills really are

The Bills are 8-2 and off to their best start since 1993, but the next four games on the schedule will be telling about the team's championship aspirations.

Ronnie Eastham

Grace Smith/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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"Just win, baby."

Those were the famous words of the late Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis. Whether you play football at the high school, collegiate, or professional level, winning is the ultimate goal of every athlete. The Buffalo Bills are doing a terrific job of doing just that, having won eight games through the first 10 weeks of the 2024 season to get off to their best start since 1993. However, winning isn't enough for some fans and media. Buffalo is taking some heat for beating only one team with a winning record thus far, that being the Arizona Cardinals in Week 1.

Teams can only win the games on their schedule. They can't control who they play or how good those other teams are. One of the things you'll hear coaches tell you, is you have to win the games you're supposed to win. In that regard, Buffalo is doing exactly what it's expected to do. The problem is that only three of the teams they've played currently have winning records (the Cardinals, Baltimore Ravens, and Houston Texans), and were dominated by one of them.

Related: 5 stats you'll want to know from Bills' Week 10 win over Colts

Buffalo has an opportunity to shut down the naysayers and prove to everyone it's for real by maintaining its form throughout the next four games. Over the next five weeks, the Bills will host the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers (with a bye week sandwiched in between), then take on the Los Angeles Rams and Detroit Lions on the road. The Chiefs are currently undefeated, the 49ers and Rams have dipped this season but have been stellar in recent years, and the Lions look to be well on their way to representing the NFC in the Super Bowl; this is the toughest stretch on Buffalo's 2024 schedule by a considerable margin.

And the Bills are limping into this gauntlet with receivers Amari Cooper and Keon Coleman injured (Coleman has already been ruled out for the Chiefs game); tight end Dalton Kincaid also suffered a knee injury against the Colts and his availability is in question. On the bright side, Buffalo opened the practice window for linebacker Matt Milano on Monday, so hopefully he can get back on the field during this stretch of the schedule.

What makes this Bills 8 - 2 start for real?

Buffalo Bills
Grace Smith/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Bills fans will remember past seasons when the team got off to a strong start only to falter as the year progressed because they weren’t truly as good as their record indicated; 2008 comes to mind, as Buffalo got off to a 5-1 start only to finish 7-9. What sets this iteration of the team apart from others is how they're winning games; they aren't just beating these teams by three points. Their eight wins have come by an average point differential of 15.6. and they're the only team with four wins of 21-plus points. Buffalo isn't just winning; it has dominated the bad teams, which is what you would expect a legit team to do.

It’s also important to remember that Josh Allen is the man under center, and the Bills will be competitive in every game they play in which the quarterback suits up. While it’s true that the next four games of the season will be telling in terms of the actual quality of the 2024 Bills, don’t be surprised if the team continues to look like the genuine contender it has thus far this season throughout the stretch.

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Ronnie Eastham
RONNIE EASTHAM

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