These Bills could just go all the way

Sean McDermott’s weekly press conferences aren’t known for bursts of stand-up comedy — which is a good thing, we all remember Rex Ryan — but there are still some moments of levity here and there. With the Bills racking up win after win against top opponents, it’s become a running gag for McDermott to be asked if Buffalo’s latest win was a “statement win” in his book.

- MARK LUDWICZAK

It happened again after Buffalo’s Week 16 win over the New England Patriots on Monday Night Football. “Good try,” McDermott said with a smile, once again declining to answer. “I appreciate the effort, man.”

There was some significance in the way the Bills absolutely picked apart the Patriots in a 38-9 drubbing. Buffalo became the first team to sweep the Patriots in the regular season since 2000, which was Bill Belichick’s first year with the team. There have been plenty of “passing the torch” moments this season following Buffalo’s ascension and New England’s slide, and this may have been the most glaringly obvious one yet. After two decades of Patriots dominance, the AFC East is now Buffalo’s division.

What was striking about the victory, however, was just how matter of fact it seemed. Just like the many games that came before it, a Bills win — and a comfortable win, at that — always felt inevitable. It didn’t matter when the Patriots caught the Bills off guard on a handful of plays in the game’s opening minutes. The Bills were always going to win this one, and they were going to do so handily thanks to players like Josh Allen and Stefon Diggs.

A final score of 38-9? Piece of cake. Had the Bills wanted to run up the score and leave Allen in the game, they could have flirted with 50 like their win over the Broncos from two weeks earlier. In Week 17, the Bills did in fact score 56 points in a blowout win over Miami.