The Buffalo Bills played a chaotic brand of dominating football against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this past Sunday. It was the sort of game that endears quarterback Josh Allen to his faithful fans, where an ugly turnover or two prove mostly meaningless in the big picture. Most of all, Buffalo fielded a competent passing attack the likes of which has gone missing too many times in 2025.
Their win wasn’t without criticism, and skeptics remain — especially among those who power rank the NFL each week.
We’ll skip much of the bravado this round given the Bills play their Week 12 game in a matter of hours.
It’s noteworthy that some writers spent this week mentioning wide receiver Keon Coleman. We’ll refrain from editorializing further on that, but it’s clear his situation is an unavoidable topic right now.
to the parents in the room: Just be aware, if you’re triggered by “six seven,” there’s a lot to be found below.
Before we get to the latest rankings, let’s catch up with the latest ESPN playoff odds for the Bills in four key metrics. Buffalo stays put in fourth, despite the movement in front of them. Though they don’t improve their slotting, the Bills do see some improvement in certain metrics.
Entering Week 11, Buffalo’s odds of making the playoffs jumped back up to 90% (was 86%); their odds of winning the division dropped to 28% (was 29%). As for earning a playoff bye, the Bills’ odds improved to 10% (was 9%), while Buffalo’s odds of making it to the Super Bowl saw a similar improvement to 14% (was 13%).
The Week 15 showdown against the New England Patriots cannot get here soon enough.
Now, let’s live in the present and dive into the latest NFL power rankings, passing the mic to hierarchy experts around the country (a few notwithstanding). Ready? It’s not pretty. (Week 11 Power Rankings for comparison)
ESPN: 6 (up from 7 in Week 11)
“Who’s under the most pressure: Wide receiver Keon Coleman”
“Coleman, the 33rd pick in the 2024 draft, was a healthy scratch for Week 11 after being late to a meeting. The benching marked the third instance of Coleman, 22, missing game time for disciplinary reasons. On the field, he hasn’t popped outside of Week 1, with 24 receptions, 27.3 receiving yards per game and two receiving touchdowns from Weeks 2 to 10. Wide receiver is already a huge need for the Bills, and the rest of the season will go a long way in determining the team’s plan for Coleman in 2026.” — Alaina Getzenberg
NFL.com: 7 (up from 9 in Week 11)
“Josh Allen accounted for his fourth, fifth and sixth touchdowns of the game on the Bills’ three most important drives of the game, fending off the tenacious Bucs for a much-needed win. All is not suddenly pristine in Billsdom after another long day defending the run and with Allen also adding two interceptions that hurt. But it was notable that the offense could put up its highest point total of the season with Dalton Kincaid and Keon Coleman inactive. A few tough road tests at Houston and Pittsburgh await before the big, mid-December matchup against the first-place Patriots in Foxborough. Sean McDermott and Co. will need to clean up a few things in all three phases to win all of those games, but the Bills just reminded everyone — imperfect as they might be — they still possess the firepower to do so.” — Eric Edholm
Pro Football Focus: 5 (up from 7 in Week 11)
“Chance of making playoffs: 91%”
“Chance of winning Super Bowl: 9%”“Josh Allen (84.7; 6th) put forth a superhuman performance against the Buccaneers, scoring six total touchdowns (three rushing, three passing) while earning a 72.4 grade in the 44-32 win. It’s hopefully enough to put a Week 10 loss to the Dolphins in the rearview mirror, though legitimate concerns over the defense — a unit that ranks 18th in EPA per play allowed — are still valid. Buffalo’s group has allowed over 30 points in back-to-back games. But when the offense, and Allen in particular, is operating at such a high level, it’s covered up.” — Thomas Valentine
The Athletic: 7 (up from 11 in Week 11)
“A suggestion: Let Josh cook”
“Who needs James Cook? Sure, a running game is nice, but watching Josh Allen go full Josh Allen — 317 passing yards, three passing touchdowns, two interceptions, 40 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns — is one of the best ways to spend a Sunday. He became the first player in NFL history to have three passing touchdowns of 25 yards or more and three rushing touchdowns in the same game.” — Chad Graff/Josh Kendall
CBS Sports: 6 (up from 8 in Week 11)
“They set Josh Allen free against the Bucs. That’s the right way to play considering the defense is so bad against the run.” — Pete Prisco
Sports Illustrated: 5 (up from 8 in Week 11)
“Column on the Bills Sunday: Josh Allen cannot be contained by an offensive system. Let’s stop trying to hire, fire and rearrange. Let’s just be.” — Conor Orr
USA Today: 6 (up from 7 in Week 11)
“Six from seven? Anyone? It’s no surprise this team goes as QB Josh Allen goes, and he was epic Sunday against the Bucs. But hard to envision the Bills, who have only one more home game before Christmas, catching the Pats for the AFC East lead.” — Nate Davis
FOX Sports: 7 (up from 11 in Week 11)
“Josh Allen looked a little more like the MVP he once was, leading a fourth-quarter comeback against the Bucs. It was almost enough to forget the Bills lost to Miami one week earlier.” — Ralph Vacchiano
Tom Brady with FOX Sports: 5 (unranked in Week 11)
Brady didn’t have the Bills as part of his top-10 rankings in Week 11, which implies a large jump from at least 11 to five in Week 12. Here’s what he had to say:
“They survived five lead changes in a classic against the Bucs. That felt a little bit like a playoff game, but I think it’s a good representation about Josh Allen, how good they are and what they’re going to look like in the playoffs.”
Pressbox: 6 (up from 8 in Week 11)
“I didn’t catch the final number, but I’m pretty sure Josh Allen scored 52,000 or 53,000 points for your fantasy football team this week.”
Bleacher Report: 6 (up from 8 in Week 11)
“The Bills had a much better afternoon on Sunday than they had a week ago. Buffalo bounced back from that blowout loss in Miami to defeat a very good Buccaneers team.
However, the Bills’ latest win isn’t likely to settle fans’ nerves. While Josh Allen’s six-touchdown day was remarkable, the defense was tough to watch for much of Week 11.
The defense did make a couple of critical plays, including a late strip sack that secured the win. However, Buffalo is looking up at a far more balanced New England Patriots team in the AFC East—and the Bills can’t expect Allen to play Superman every week.” — Kris Knox
Sportsnaut: 5 (up from 7 in Week 11)
“Despite three turnovers and some horrendous defense, the Buffalo Bills still found a way to a much-needed victory. It felt like the Josh Allen we saw a season ago, making a few mistakes (2 interceptions) and then wowing with everything else in a six-touchdown performance. Buffalo won’t get much rest, facing the Texans defense on Thursday Night Football, but fortune might be on the team’s side with C.J. Stroud (concussion) out.” — Matt Johnson
The Sporting News: 6 (up from 8 in Week 11)
“The Bills were able to get their defense going at the right time against the Buccaneers despite being gashed by a running game again. Josh Allen had one of his classic dominant reckless abandon days to save the winning result.” — Vinnie Iyer
New York Post: 7 (up from 8 in Week 11)
“Just a six-touchdown game for Josh Allen, who was remarkable in a 44-32 win against the Buccaneers. Two of the three instances in NFL history in which a player has three rushing and three passing touchdowns now belong to Allen, who overcame an early “boneheaded” interception. All three touchdown passes covered at least 25 yards. The Bills had lost three of their last five games.” — Ryan Dunleavy
Yahoo! Sports: 8 (down from 9 in Week 11)
“Keon Coleman showing up late to meetings and getting himself suspended overshadowed another monster Josh Allen performance. The Bills need help at receiver and Coleman has been disappointing on and off the field. Patience might be running out, even in just his second season.” — Frank Schwab
NFL Spin Zone: 2nd out of 5 (were ranked 8 overall in Week 11)
Scataglia muddies up his rankings often on a weekly basis, here ranking all the seven-win teams to discuss the Bills.
“The Buffalo Bills are not quite as good as they have been in previous years – the defense is definitely a problem, and the wide receiver room is just bad. The roster as a whole is nothing more than ‘good,’ so it might take some more Josh Allen heroics to make a run here in 2025.
The good thing, though, is that Allen can do that, as he was responsible for six touchdowns in the win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. With Buffalo’s experience in the playoffs and history of winning a ton of games, they should still be taken seriously, but I am not sure this team is a contender at the moment.” — Lou Scataglia
“The Rich Eisen Show”: 7 (not ranked in Week 11)
Computer Cowboy (Ben Baldwin): 3
That’s it for another week of the always scientifically correct and never indisputable world of NFL power rankings. What’s your take on the latest Bills rankings?
