The Bills have earned the respect of the nation

The Bills’ 31-10 win over the Rams was enough to earn the nation’s respect

What makes beating last year’s champs in the season opener even better is that it was on the road and it was a game that the Bills controlled all the way through. Getting off to a fast start worked in the Bills’ favor, and even though the Rams fought back, they could not catch up.

I have mentioned in the past that the national media has not given the Bills enough credit. However, I think that has changed after the statement win on Thursday night. I think the Bills have earned their due respect across the league. They were playing at an all-time high last postseason, and it appears they’ve gotten even better, in large part due to their revamped defensive line.

The Bills gave up 243 yards on defense to the Rams. The young cornerbacks looked good, and the defensive line made big plays throughout the game, led by Von Miller and Jordan Phillips. The Bills had a little trouble getting the Rams off the field on third down, but they definitely played well enough to prevent Matthew Stafford from getting in sync.

Combine last year’s No. 1 defense (which added Von Miller) with Josh Allen quarterbacking the offense, and you can see why opinions have shifted about the Bills. Allen was the difference maker on Thursday, as he was 26/31 for 297 yards and three touchdowns in the air and added 56 yards rushing and a rushing TD. The Bills had 413 yards of total offense in the blowout, but there is still work to do to cleanup the turnovers. Despite the 21-point win, the Bills had four turnovers. Allen had two INTs (one was a drop by McKenzie) and Zack Moss and James Cook each coughed up a fumble. The good news for Sean McDermott is there is something to work on heading into Week 2’s Monday Night Football matchup with the Tennessee Titans.

When the Bills host the Titans a week from today, they’ll be treated with the level of respect that they deserve. The last three meetings between the two have all been played in Nashville, with the Titans winning two of the three. The last time the Bills hosted Tennessee was in 2018 when the Bills won with a rookie Josh Allen playing quarterback.