The Bills are 4-1 through a third of the season, which is their best start since 2022. After three games at home, the Bills are on the road this week to face the Falcons on Monday Night Football.
Here are five storylines to follow for Week 6.
1. Learning from Week 5
After four straight wins, the Bills had their first loss of the season in Week 5 to the Patriots. The Bills tied the game up at 20-20 with less than three minutes to play, but the Patriots hit a 52-yard field goal with :15 remaining to win it 23-20. Even though it wasn't Buffalo's best game, they still stayed in it till the end.
When it comes to moving forward, the coaches believe they can learn from the loss and improve in areas that weren't good enough.
"It's good reminder for us of how you really don't want to play and don't want to live that type of life," head coach Sean McDermott said. "And why it's important we stay on the details, we stay disciplined, and we stay urgent. Our approach, we finish plays and we take care of the football, make good decisions with the ball in our hands. All those things are kind of the foundation of what leads to the results."
"Losses like this will bring urgency back to your locker room, back to your meeting rooms, back to your preparations," ESPN NFL analyst Dan Orlovsky said on One Bills Live. "…I think the reemphasis of decision making, reemphasis of valuing the football, reemphasis of trying to take it away, I think is valuable."
The Bills know taking care of the football and winning the turnover battle is one of the biggest things that can help a team win. Looking back on the offense's start, offensive coordinator Joe Brady said the performance wasn't up to the team's standard.
"That first half especially was about as bad as it gets," Brady said. "I have opportunities. The way the defense was playing right there. You have opportunities to, not necessarily put the game away, but you have opportunities to take a lead. And instead, we kind of gift wrapped them some points, so disappointing from that, but definitely wasn't the standard. And our guys kind of understand that."
In terms of spinning it forward to Week 6, Bills legend and radio color analyst Eric Wood wants to see Buffalo get back to leaning on the run game. The Bills put up 118 rushing against New England but were averaging more than 160 per game before Week 5.
"Continue to lean into the run game, not necessarily be predictable with the run game. Establish the run game and when you get the right boxes, get to your play action game," Wood said on One Bills Live. "Josh Allen play action and under center this year has been excellent. Those tight ends are matchup nightmares, lean into that."
2. Falcons coming off a big win
The Falcons had their biggest win of the season in Week 4 against the Commanders before their bye in Week 5. They beat the NFC foe 34-27 and held the lead for the entire game. It's their most post scored in a game this season.
Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr. had one of his best games as a starter. Penix had career highs in completion percentage (77%), passing yards (313), yards per attempt (12) and passer rating (126). Atlanta totaled 435 yards of offense thanks to playmakers like wide receiver Drake London and running back Bijan Robinson who each had more than 100 receiving yards, Robinson added another 75 on the ground.
ESPN NFL analyst Dan Orlovsky believes it's an athletic, young offense.
"Six first round picks in their starting eleven. Seven are picks in the first two rounds. So, they're a very talented, a very young football team," Orlovsky told One Bills Live. "This is a zone centric run game meaning they are trying to just run to areas. It's athletic. It's a big offensive line. They'll play with multiple tight ends on the field. Bijan Robinson is as good as any back in the NFL."
Robinson has 314 rushing yards on the season and averages the most scrimmage yards per game at 146. Overall, their offense ranks sixth averaging 363 total yards per game.
Against the Commanders, Atlanta's defense held them to 300 total yards and just a 13% conversion rate on third down (1/8). Through five weeks, they have the best total defense (allowing an average of 244 total yards per game), the best pass defense (allowing 135 passing yards per game) and allow the lowest completion percentage (58%).
"Defensively, they're young. They've got edge rushers that are talented and putting it all together," Orlovsky said. "(They have) a really good linebacker in Kaden Elliss. They've got some young pieces in their secondary…It's a defense that has played better at times but still is not the strength of the football team. This feels like it could be a high scoring football game."
3. Containing Bijan Robinson
The Bills will face a top 10 rushing offense on Monday night. The Falcons are averaging 136.5 rushing yards per game, which is the sixth most in the league. Running back Bijan Robinson is a dynamic weapon and one of the biggest reasons why Atlanta has a top 10 rushing offense.
Robinson leads the NFL averaging 146 scrimmage yards per game and has 584 through four games. The RB had 1,887 scrimmage yards and 15 total touchdowns in 2024.
Bills defensive coordinator Bobby Babich said Robinson will be a challenge.
"From what I've seen so far, he can do it all," Babich said. "He can tote the rock. He can play in the pass game. Just watched a clip, extremely good slasher, cutter, and he'll certainly be a challenge."
ESPN NFL analyst Dan Orlovsky said Atlanta will try to get Robinson the ball in a variety of ways.
"Bijan has got ridiculous vision," Orlovsky told One Bills Live. "They try to get him the ball as much as possible. They're going to line him up in the slot, they're going to line him up in the backfield, they're going to hand it off to him, they're going to throw it to him, they're going to screen it to him. You're talking about a 25 touch a game guy. He's they're version of a Christian McCaffrey in his heyday, a tremendous player."
The Bills are allowing an average of 145.6 rushing yards per game (28th) but improved on that number only allowing 71 to New England.
4. Leaning on the tight ends
The Bills are leaning on their tight ends through five weeks of play. Buffalo leads the NFL with 395 receiving yards from their tight ends. Tight end Dalton Kincaid has been a big factor in this number.
Kincaid had a career game in Week 5 with six catches for a career-high 108 receiving yards.
Head coach Sean McDermott said Kincaid's work ethic speaks volumes for who he is.
"He is highly competitive, driven, wants to be as good as he can be," McDermott said. "And I think every catch he makes you kind of feel that. You see the passion that comes out. And I love watching him. It's fun to watch him play."
Against New England, Kincaid was targeted from various alignments, catching two passes from wide, slot and tight alignments according to Next Gen Stats.
Offensive coordinator Joe Brady was impressed by Kincaid's ability to make plays off schedule.
"Making those critical catches and Josh trusting him in those moments, but I thought he was outstanding," Brady said of his performance in Week 5. "…And just for his confidence and everything, but that's what we've seen from the last six months. It was really good to see him just continue to make those plays."
Kincaid has the second-most yards when it comes to tight ends with 287. His 83.3% catch rate ties for sixth among tight ends.
5. Bills enter long road stretch
The first five weeks of the season consisted of four home games for the Bills. That will all change this week. Buffalo will be road dogs for the months of October and November.
The Bills have back-to-back road games separated by their bye over the next three weeks. Hard to believe, but the Bills only have two home games between Week 6 and Week 13. That means they'll only play at Highmark Stadium twice before December 7.
