ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) -The Buffalo Bills spent the first seven weeks proving they can get off to a strong start and be counted among the NFL’s early-season playoff contenders.
Now comes the next test: Showing that they are, in fact, the best team in the AFC East.
The Bills (5-1), coming off a 23-14 win over San Diego on Sunday, might be off to their best start in 13 years and find themselves sitting alone atop the division standings. Trouble is, Buffalo has yet to face a division rival, which is something that’s going to change quickly.
Buffalo next plays at Miami (2-4) on Sunday to open a three-week stretch of games exclusively within the division, including a home game against the New York Jets on Nov. 2 and a game at New England on Nov. 9.
hey’ve not won since 1995, unseat the Patriots as the five-time defending East champs, and end an eight-season playoff drought, the longest in franchise history.
“It’s weird not having seen any one of these teams to this point this year,” offensive lineman Duke Preston said Monday. “It is a test that I think we’re ready for.”
The Bills are brimming with confidence following what they considered to be a signature victory against a Chargers opponent that reached the AFC Championship game last season.
In bouncing back from a 41-17 loss at Arizona, Buffalo came out of its bye week to produce its most complete showing of the season.
Trent Edwards, showing no signs of the concussion he sustained against the Cardinals, went 25-of-30 for 261 yards and a touchdown. In doing so, the second-year quarterback set a franchise record by completing 83.33 percent of his passes, marginally better than the previous mark of 82.86 set by Jim Kelly in 1994.
The offense generated 370 yards, and has now produced 277 or more yards in each of its six games this season after managing that number only six times only last year.
e to two touchdowns and 263 yards.
Coach Dick Jauron had differing reactions to the victory.
On Sunday, he referred to it as “a big win,” and one that few outside the Bills locker room expected by saying: “Everybody thought (San Diego) was going to come in here and beat us pretty soundly.”
On Monday, when asked if the Bills had earned their due, Jauron shrugged off the question.
“The truth is, and I can’t speak for anybody but myself, but we don’t particularly care,” Jauron said. “We just have to keep playing.”
Bills owner Ralph Wilson, who turned 90 on Friday, was excited in receiving a belated birthday present.
“They’re all big (wins), but this is kind of special because the Chargers, gosh, they’re a heck of a team,” Wilson said in the locker room following the win.
The Bills certainly earned the respect of their opponents.
“I do think the Bills are a legitimate 5-1,” Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson said. “They will be a team to reckon with late in the season.”
Much of that will be determined by how Buffalo does within its division. And that could come down to the end of the season, when three of the Bills’ final four games are against division rivals, including a season-finale against New England.
NFL realigned its divisions.
Mitchell described the Bills as a work in progress.
“We haven’t won a lot of games to gain that respect, and it’s definitely what we’re trying to do,” Mitchell said. “So we’re off to a good start.”
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