Are the Buffalo Bills playing the best football in the NFL right now?
Good Morning Football's Peter Schrager: "I think [Josh] Allen and the Bills right now are playing better than any team in the league, and that includes the defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs"; Watch Buffalo at New England on Monday night, live on Sky Sports NFL from 1.15am
Tuesday 29 December 2020 08:22, UK
The Buffalo Bills clinched their first division title since 1995 last weekend with a 48-19 hammering of the Denver Broncos, ending the New England Patriots' two-decade-long dominance of the AFC East.
The Bills and Patriots now square off in New England - live on Sky Sports NFL from 1.15am, Tuesday morning - gifting Buffalo the opportunity to further emphasise their new-found dominance of the division.
The Bills have won seven of their last eight games, with a Hail Mary touchdown from Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals in Week 10 the cause of their only recent blemish, so are we looking at the form team in the NFL right now?
"In the entire league, I would say the Buffalo Bills look like they are peaking at the right time," said Good Morning Football's Peter Schrager this week.
"Every night they're on prime-time, it feels like they just blow teams out and, guess what, in Week 16 they play in Foxborough on Monday night.
"I don't know whether they'll be going up against Cam Newton, Jarrett Stidham or what, but I can tell you I like the Bills - and the Bills to win big.
"They are rolling right now. They have been ascending and they haven't even hit their apex.
"With that quarterback [Josh Allen], he might have inserted himself into the MVP conversation. Move over [Patrick] Mahomes and [Aaron] Rodgers - we might have a late entry into the convo.
"I think Allen and the Bills right now are playing better football right now than any team in the league, and that includes the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs.
"Who is ascending right now? Who is peaking right now? It has got to be the Bills; they have won all of these games in a row - they're a Kyler Murray 'Hail Mary' away from winning eight in a row."
As for the Patriots, they saw their 11-year playoff streak snapped last week with a loss to the Miami Dolphins dropping them to 6-8 on the season.
Quarterback Cam Newton has ruled out the possibility of retiring after a disappointing season in which he has thrown just five touchdowns to 10 interceptions in his 13 starts, and has even spoken of his hope he'll be kept on beyond his agreed one-year contract to try and turn the ship around in 2021.
Scott Pioli, former vice president of player personnel in New England, told Good Morning Football that he doesn't believe a complete rebuild is required in New England, but that Newton's position is one that needs to be addressed.
"Things went sideways this year, but people are just looking at what is going on now," said Pioli. "This started when a lot of key veteran players - big voices in the locker room - opted out for Covid. That really affected the team.
"It's not an excuse, it's just the reality. This is not a bad football team; I don't think it's a complete rebuild.
"What they'll do is what they've always done. They'll take a couple of weeks off, let the emotion be eliminated and then go back and objectively look at what went wrong - evaluate the players, evaluate the system, self-scout the scheme as you move towards next year.
"Are there going to be a couple of significant changes? Yes.
"Truthfully, I think they have to look at this quarterback situation and decide whether he is the player they feel like they can win another championship with, or not."
Watch the Buffalo Bills at the New England Patriots on Monday Night Football, live on Sky Sports NFL from 1.15am on Tuesday.
