Several NFL teams had surprising, yet impressive starts to their 2011 seasons Sunday, but no one was as surprisingly dominant as the Buffalo Bills.
Winners of just four games a year ago, the Bills marched into Kansas City and dismantled the hosting Chiefs, 41-7. In comparison, Buffalo didn't get their first win in 2010 until Week 10.
Arrowhead Stadium is typically a difficult place to play for opponents, as the fans can feel like they're on top of you from the playing field and the stadium holds the fourth-most people among NFL venues. The Chiefs went 7-1 there last season, losing their regular-season finale to the Raiders.
The Bills weren't rattled, however, and they treated Arrowhead like it was Orchard Park, New York. Buffalo out-gained the Chiefs by over 150 yards and held the ball for 15 minutes longer. It was a dominating performance from the Bills in all aspects.
But how high is this team's ceiling in 2011?
That's a hard question to answer after 60 minutes of football.
The Bills certainly look like a better team overall, but remember, the Chiefs were in panic mode even before this blowout.
They played some their starters into the second half against the Packers in the preseason finale, which is almost unheard of in the NFL. Even then, the Packers' second-and third-stringers beat Kansas City. Matt Cassel got banged up and he lost one of his favorite targets in Tony Moeaki for the season.
The writing was on the wall for this kind of performance.
Give credit to Buffalo for taking advantage of that early on, but their ceiling is still fairly low in the AFC East. While they'll be more competitive in games against the New England Patriots and New York Jets, the Bills are still a team that's in rebuilding mode. Expecting anything more than six or seven wins is probably still a stretch.
They need to continue to add pieces like they have in recent years, and also decide on whether or not quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick is the future in Buffalo. Those should be the goals in 2011.
The Bills are on the right track, but don't look into the 41-7 scoreline as a predictor of the playoffs.
Week 2 Power Rankings
| 1. Green Bay Packers (1-0) | 17. St. Louis Rams (0-1) |
| 2. New England Patriots (1-0) | 18. Washington Redskins (1-0) |
| 3. Baltimore Ravens (1-0) | 19. Jacksonville Jaguars (1-0) |
| 4. Philadelphia Eagles (1-0) | 20. San Francisco 49ers (1-0) |
| 5. New York Jets (1-0) | 21. New York Giants (0-1) |
| 6. New Orleans Saints (0-1) | 22. Oakland Raiders (1-0) |
| 7. Chicago Bears (1-0) | 23. Miami Dolphins (0-1) |
| 8. San Diego Chargers (1-0) | 24. Minnesota Vikings (0-1) |
| 9. Houston Texans (1-0) | 25. Cincinnati Bengals (1-0) |
| 10. Pittsburgh Steelers (0-1) | 26. Carolina Panthers (0-1) |
| 11. Atlanta Falcons (0-1) | 27. Tennessee Titans (0-1) |
| 12. Detroit Lions (1-0) | 28. Denver Broncos (0-1) |
| 13. Dallas Cowboys (0-1) | 29. Seattle Seahawks (0-1) |
| 14. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-1) | 30. Indianapolis Colts (0-1) |
| 15. Buffalo Bills (1-0) | 31. Kansas City Chiefs (0-1) |
| 16. Arizona Cardinals (1-0) | 32. Cleveland Browns (0-1) |
Mike Stanton Josh Bailey Mark Eaton Trent Hunter Andy Hilbert Bruno Gervais
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