NFL Power Rankings Week 16: Hungry Bills are daunting Super Bowl contender if they can sneak into playoffs

The Buffalo Bills can win Super Bowl 58.

I don’t write this as some massive revelation. Any team with Josh Allen at quarterback will be an understandably popular pick to contend for a championship, and that was the baseline expectation in Western New York this season, anyway.

I write this as a warning to the other AFC playoff teams.

Because the Bills have almost everything needed to play in Las Vegas this February. A superstar quarterback; a defense finally pulling its own weight despite a rash of injuries; more than enough playmakers thanks to the emergence of James Cook. But there’s a crucial rub. The Bills have everything except for a current spot in the postseason.

Even after humbling the Kansas City Chiefs and Dallas Cowboys in back-to-back weeks, Buffalo is still on the outside looking in of the AFC playoff picture. That is the product of an unfortunate midseason hole the Bills are slowly but surely digging themselves out of. Buffalo still, more than likely, needs to take care of business in a final stretch run featuring dates with the Los Angeles Chargers, New England Patriots, and Miami Dolphins just to have a chance at taking this newfound momentum and unleashing it on an unsuspecting conference in January.

I like what the Bills have cooking. A lot.

I struggle to consider how any of the other extremely flawed AFC heavyweights can match up with a Bills team that suddenly understands it’s wise to feed the ball to non-Stefon Diggs skill players and that Josh Allen shouldn’t have to put on his red cape all the time. They might be the second-most complete team in football if they keep playing like this. The efficiency metrics (No. 2 and No. 10 in offensive and defensive DVOA, respectively) match up with the eye test.

But this entire conversation is moot if the Bills end up missing the postseason. So, I’m warning contenders like the Baltimore Ravens and Miami Dolphins. The absolute last thing you need is the Bills to find a way to play meaningful football this winter. I see a huge run coming if they can find a way to crash pro football’s big dance.

The Bills are a featured topic of conversation in For The Win’s Week 16 NFL power rankings as we start preparing for a wild postseason.