The Buffalo Bills officially have leaped the New England Patriots as the best team in the AFC East.
The Bills pantsed the Patriots in Saturday's AFC wild-card game by a 47-17 verdict. The score was perhaps closer than the game felt. It was over midway through the second quarter when Buffalo scored its third touchdown on its third possession with the Patriots proving throughout the season they didn't have the quick-strike offense to rally for a comeback win.
The Bills, though, didn't feel like leaving it in doubt. They scored touchdowns on each of their first seven possessions, recorded 8.9 yards per play and forced a pair of interceptions by quarterback Mac Jones, perhaps neither of which were the rookie's fault.
Josh Allen put together arguably the best performance by a quarterback this season. He threw more touchdowns (five) than incomplete passes (four).
It would be hard to imagine Allen playing better Saturday than he did during a Week 16 win against the Patriots, which eventually earned Buffalo its second consecutive AFC East crown. But that's exactly what he did. Allen threw for 308 yards while running for 66 yards on 11 yards per rushing attempt.
The Bills on Saturday were the first team in NFL history to not kick a field goal, punt or turn the ball over. It was the worst playoff loss under Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and their third-worst playoff loss in franchise history, as pointed out by the Boston Herald's Andrew Callahan.
Buffalo's 47 points were the most ever allowed under Belichick, too.
Saturday's result, while the most notable, isn't the lone example either. Buffalo now has won four of the five games against New England in the last two seasons, including three of four regular-season matchups.
The Patriots ran the division (and conference) for the better part of 20 years with Tom Brady and Belichick in New England. And while the Cam Newton era was incredibly brief and tough to draw conclusions from, the fact the Bills now have repeated as division champions and advanced further in the postseason than the Patriots -- and dominated them head-to-head -- proves that Buffalo is the best the AFC East has to offer.
Buffalo's pros-and-cons list obviously is helped by the fact Allen looks like a budding superstar behind center. They have a complete roster with the league's best pass defense and a true No. 1 receiver in Stefon Diggs. All told, the talented roster and proven success of the Bills could mean the Patriots grow familiar to being a wild card team for years to come.
That's not to say the season was some big disappointment in New England. It wasn't. But the reality is that the AFC East no longer runs through Gillette Stadium, and the Bills are far more of a Super Bowl contender than the Patriots are.
