B/R: Bills have third-best chances of repeating as division champs

The Buffalo Bills are back-to-back AFC East champs. Could they go for the three peat?

After years of domination in the division by the New England Patriots, Buffalo would love nothing more than stacking more division titles.

Bleacher Report thinks that’s likely to happen in 2022. However, B/R did acknowledge some steps forward taken by the Bills’ rivals.

B/R ranked every division winner from last year in terms of how likely they are to repeat. Buffalo landed at the No. 3 overall spot.

In the end, B/R felt the defending division champs in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (NFC South) and Green Bay Packers (NFC North) were more likely to repeat because of their competition.

The AFC East has started to reload, but clearly there’s still some solid belief that the Bills will do it again. They are the highest-ranked AFC division winner on the list.

Here’s how B/R sees Buffalo’s chances at repeating in the division:

After years of New England Patriots dominance in the AFC East, the division seems to have shifted right into another dynasty.

The Bills snapped an 11-year streak of Patriots AFC East championships in 2020. They took a step back in terms of record in 2021 (going from 13-3 to 11-6) but still wound up clinching the division championship.

Josh Allen’s Bills still have a ways to go to establish that kind of dominance over the division, but they are the prohibitive favorite to win the division again.

The BIlls came in No. 2 in Bleacher Report’s post-draft power rankings. After taking the Chiefs to the wire in the playoffs, they added an elite edge-rusher in Von Miller.

The only reason the Bills aren’t higher is the competition within the division is better than the top two teams on the list.

The Patriots were only one game behind the Bills last season with a rookie Mac Jones. If he shows improvement in his second season, it stands to reason the Patriots could be a threat.

The Dolphins were one of the most improved teams in the league. The defense was solid last season, and they remodeled the offense with the additions of Tyreek Hill, Terron Armstead, Cedrick Wilson Jr. and Connor Williams.

Even the Jets took big steps toward becoming competitive. They had a great draft that included three first-rounders, including Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner, Garrett Wilson and Jermaine Johnson II.

Still, the Bills are in a much better position than the rest to win the division and contend for a Super Bowl.