While the Buffalo Bills enter the 2022 NFL season as favorites to win the Super Bowl under superstar quarterback Josh Allen and their newly-revamped roster, no one is expecting the team to have a perfect season.
DrafKings Sportsbook projects the Bills will have a win total of 11.5 games this season, while also noting they could very well surpass that number.
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With “a number of their star players returning in 2022,” DraftKings Nation reporter Derek Hryn wrote, “the offense should be imposing once again, and will likely be top-5 caliber throughout the season. They swapped out Cole Beasley for Jamison Crowder in the slot to sharpen up the receiving corps for MVP candidate Josh Allen, and drafted Georgia RB James Cook to presumably command head coach Sean McDermott’s rugged backfield moving forward. Expectations couldn’t be higher for this early Super Bowl favorite, so anything below their win total cannot be justified.”
While that win total could slip if Buffalo suffers an unexpected upset like their inexplicable 9-6 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars last season, Hryn notes that the “Bills probably have the greatest odds to make it a reality” as only two other teams, the Green Bay Packers and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, are also projected to have 11.5 wins this season.
NFL Network Analyst Predicts the Bills’ Win/Losses for All 18 Games of the Regular Season
GettyKansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (L) will face Bills star Josh Allen (R) in Week 6 of the 2022 NFL season
There are still 51 days until the Bills face the Los Angeles Rams for the 2022 NFL season opener, and while the team’s 53-man roster isn’t even set, that hasn’t stopped NFL Network’s Adam Rank from predicting every win/loss for their upcoming season.
According to Rank, Bills Mafia should prepare for a heartbreaking loss in Week 1 but will win the next three straight matchups against the Tennesee Titans, Miami Dolphins, and the Baltimore Ravens. While the team’s Week 5 matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers “could be a trap,” he sees the Bills ultimately coming out victorious.
Before the bye in Week 7, Rank sees the Bills getting sweet revenge over the Kansas City Chiefs. With momentum in their favor, he expects the Bills to win their next five games over the Packers, New York Jets, Minnesota Vikings, Cleveland Browns, and the Detroit Lions.
However, Rank believes the Bills will suffer a major upset during their first meeting with their AFC East rival, the New England Patriots, in Week 13. The NFL analyst believes the Bills will quickly bounce back with consecutive wins in their rematches against the Jets and Dolphins in Week 14 and Week 15, followed by a victory over the Chicago Bears in Week 16.
While the analyst expects Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals to defeat the Bills in Week 17, based on his predictions across the league, the Bills will clinch the No. 1 seed in the AFC. If that’s the case, he expected the Bills to rest their starters during the final regular season game against the Patriots, and take a loss.
Overall, these circumstantial guesses would have the Bills finishing the 2022 NFL regular season with a 13-4 record.
McDermott Is Keeping His Team Grounded Amid the Hype
GettySean McDermott of the Buffalo Bills talks at a press conference during Bills mini camp on June 14, 2022 in Orchard Park, New York.
While it’s wonderful to have analysts across the league have such high expectations for the Bills, that pressure can weigh heavy on a team. McDermott is aware of the Super Bowl or bust hype, the fact of the matter is that the Bills haven’t played any games yet.
“Obviously we know the noise that’s out there,” McDermott said, as reported by The Buffalo News. “When you’re doing things right and when you’re having success, that’s going to be there. That’s what we’ve worked for, quite honestly, where we’ve come from the last five years to where we are now. There’s been a lot of hands in that, and I’m extremely grateful for that and proud of this organization.
“We’ll see where this season goes. I’m excited about it. Right now, it’s names on paper and we’ve got to bring those names to life and the team has to come together. So how we handle distractions, the commitment level that we all commit to one another as a team and how this thing comes together ultimately will govern where we go.”
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Bills’ Predicted Wins & Losses for Every Game of the 2022 Season: Analyst