Loss to Miami Did Not Hurt Buffalo Bills AFC East Futures Odds

Let’s face it–the Buffalo Bills probably weren’t going to go 17-0, no matter how good they looked in Week 1 and 2 wins over Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams and 2021 AFC No. 1 seed Tennessee.

For Week 3, the Bills visited AFC East rival Miami, a team the Bills have owned in the past two seasons by going 4-0 straight up and against the spread in wins by 15 or more). But the Dolphins wore out the Bills in the intense south Florida sun and used a late defensive push to defeat Buffalo 21-19 on Sunday.

But despite offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey’s meltdown in the booth, there’s no need to despair, Bills fans. It’s tough to go undefeated, and a close loss at their chief division rival is nothing to get too worked up about.

Despite falling from the ranks of the unbeaten and sitting one game behind the 3-0 Dolphins at 2-1, Buffalo remains the heavy betting favorite in the AFC East and for the Super Bowl 57 title. In fact, most of Buffalo’s chief competitors are are 2-1 or worse, as Miami and Philadelphia are the only 3-0 teams in the league (and the New York Giants entered play Monday night against Dallas at 2-0).

First, let’s look at the Super Bowl odds, courtesy of DraftKings, and the odds look like they did at the beginning of the year–with the exception of a big jump by the Eagles. The Dolphins, meanwhile, remain at good value at +1800.

The way the New York Jets and New England Patriots are looking (both 1-2 and having quarterback problems), the AFC East will be a two-horse race between the Bills and Dolphins.

Staying with DraftKings, despite the loss, the Bills are actually a heavier favorite than they were before the season started. That can be attributed to the Patriots and Jets being unlikely contenders at this point, as reflected in the early line changes.

Remember, after a 1-7 start last year, Miami finished the 2021 season on a 8-1 run. Head coach Mike McDaniel has infused some creativity to go with quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, and the acquisition of Tyreek Hill from Kansas City didn’t hurt either. But there are still 14 games left to play, and Miami will have to go to Buffalo later in the season, so we see no reason why to punt on the Bills–even if that punt doesn’t quite go where it’s intended.