6. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-2)
It really feels like the Bucs are too high on these rankings and they are in for a huge fall, but right now I am going to give them the benefit of the doubt based on the names on that roster.
The defense started off slow today and then got it together in the middle of the game, but the Bucs can’t get away with that. The last five games or so of the Bucs have taught us that they need a great game from their defense to win right now and if they don’t get that, then Tom Brady gets exposed.
They aren’t one of the NFL’s best teams, but they are one of the NFL’s best collections of talent. That won’t keep them this high in the rankings next week.
5. Buffalo Bills (+2)
Something seems off with the Bills’ offense and even though they came away with another win today, it feels like we are slowly seeing Buffalo morph into a defensive-minded team that wins with chunk plays on offense and a smothering defense (give or take a Hail Mary).
Right now I am holding out hope that Josh Allen will come back into form and play at an above-average level, but this team seems to have enough juice around him and on defense to get them to the playoffs without that.
I am painting a negative picture, but the Bills have won 4 of their last 5 and they only lost the 5th one because of a last-second play. Without that miracle, the Bills would be sitting on a season that saw them start 4-0 and then have a 5-0 stretch after their only 2 losses of the year.