Buffalo Bills NFL Power Rankings: Moving Up While Fighting Like 'Rocky'?

The Buffalo Bills aren't blowing out teams like they used to. Does that affect their placement in this week's power rankings?

Jeremy Brener | Dec 13, 2022

The Buffalo Bills are now members of the double-digit win club after their 20-12 victory over the New York Jets over the weekend.

However, the Bills haven't been as dominant in the second half of the year. In their first five wins of the season, the Bills outscored their opponents by 97 points. But in the last five wins, Buffalo has only outscored opponents by 43 points.

Despite not playing their best brand of football in recent weeks, Buffalo still moved from fourth to third in Sports Illustrated's power rankings.

"Like a cyclist or runner training at high altitude, it feels like the Bills will be better prepared (albeit a little more exhausted) for the playoffs after making each and every one of their games one of the latter rounds of Balboa-Creed," SI writes, with a "Rocky'' movie reference.

The turning point for the Bills this season was the two-game losing streak against the Jets and Minnesota Vikings. Since then, the Bills aren't stomping on teams. However, since the losing streak, the Bills are undefeated.

And when it comes down to games in December and January (February too), it doesn't matter what the scoreboard looks like, so long as Buffalo has more points than its opponent.

The Bills hope to maintain a high ranking next week after their game on Saturday against the Miami Dolphins. Kickoff is scheduled for 8:15 p.m.

Follow Jeremy Brener on Twitter @JeremyBrener.

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Published Dec 13, 2022

JEREMY BRENER

Jeremy Brener is an editor, writer and social media manager for several Fan Nation websites. His work has also been featured in 247 Sports and SB Nation as a writer and podcaster. Brener has been with Fan Nation since 2021. Brener grew up in Houston, going to Astros, Rockets and Texans games as a kid. He moved to Orlando in 2016 to go to college and pursue a degree. He hosts "The Dream Take" podcast covering the Rockets, which has produced over 350 episodes since March 2020. Brener graduated in May 2020 from the University of Central Florida with a Bachelor's degree in Broadcast Journalism minoring in Sport Business Management. While at UCF, Brener worked for the school's newspaper NSM.today and "Hitting the Field," a student-run sports talk show and network. He was the executive producer for "Hitting the Field" from 2019-20. During his professional career, Brener has covered a number of major sporting events including the Pro Bowl, March Madness and several NBA and NFL games. As a fan, Brener has been to the 2005 World Series, 2010 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 NCAA National Championship between the Villanova Wildcats and North Carolina Tar Heels. Now, Brener still resides in the Central Florida area and enjoys writing, watching TV, hanging out with friends and going to the gym. Brener can be followed on Twitter @JeremyBrener. For more inquiries, please email jeremybrenerchs@gmail.com.