The Bills are surging at the right time.
After dismantling Pittsburgh, 26-7, to close out November, the Bills climbed to a mean power ranking of 7.83 and a median of 7.5, a sharp jump from last week’s 10.43 and 10.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAcross major outlets, Buffalo now sits firmly inside the top 10, with The Sporting News and Sports Illustrated placing them at No. 7.
At 8-4, the Bills control their playoff destiny and remain a dangerous wild-card threat no one wants to face. Meanwhile, Cincinnati’s revival under Joe Burrow has pushed the Bengals to No. 21–22, but their uphill climb means they’re more spoiler than contender.
James Cook (4) of the Buffalo Bills rushed for 144 yards against the Pittsburgh Steelers on November 30, 2025. That's the third highest total in his career.Sporting News
Bills ranking: 7 (⬆ two spots)
Bengals ranking: 22 (⬆ four spots)
Bills: The Bills ran all over the Steelers to establish their dominant strength of the season and had to be inspired by all the big plays its defense was able to make when not gashed by the run.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementBengals: The Bengals came back to life with Joe Burrow leading their offense to beat the Ravens, but the biggest twist is how their defense turned in the most inspired effort with the season on the line. They totally can't be ruled out to rally and steal an AFC North title that no one seems to want.
Sports Illustrated
Bills ranking: 7 (⬆ five spots)
Bengals ranking: 22 (⬆ four spots)
Bills' odds of winning the Super Bowl: +900
Buffalo ran all over the Steelers on Sunday to move to 8-4 in the 2025 season. Buffalo is just the No. 7 seed in the AFC, but nobody wants to see Josh Allen in the wild card round in the playoffs.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementBengals' odds of winning the Super Bowl: +18000
The Bengals aren't done yet! Joe Burrow led Cincy to a huge win on Thanksgiving, and the Bengals are within striking distance in the AFC North. Cincy moved from +50000 to +18000 to win the Super Bowl after Thursday's win.
Sportsnaut
Bills ranking: 9 (⬆ three spots)
Bengals ranking: 22 (⬆ one spot)
Bills: Sunday’s victory in Pittsburgh might not have erased the concerns many have for the Buffalo Bills’ passing game, but all that matters right now is the win. By moving to 8-4 on Sunday, the Bills keep themselves in a favorable position for a playoff spot ahead of a critical two-game stretch versus the Bengals and Patriots. For the time being, Buffalo gets to control its destiny.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementBengals: It’s great for the Cincinnati Bengals that Joe Burrow is back under center, and he’ll likely look better throwing deep as he settles back down and gets further removed from toe surgery. We’re also not going to question Burrow wanting to return, as he’s determined to compete for a playoff spot and to just be out there on the field with his teammates. However, Cincinnati would need to win out to make the playoffs, and we just don’t see any scenario where that happens.
Bleacher Report
Bills ranking: 7 (⬆ one spot)
Bengals ranking: 21 (⬆ three spots)
Bills: The Bills were missing both of their starting offensive tackles, Dion Dawkins and Spencer Brown, Sunday because of injuries. Ten days earlier, the team surrendered a career-high eight sacks on Josh Allen. The Steelers' T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith were poised to light up Allen, right?
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementWrong. Buffalo's offensive line responded. Allen wasn't sacked once. In fact, he was barely touched. The group opened the way for another big day from running back James Cook, who accumulated 144 rushing yards on 32 carries. The Bills dominated at the point of attack and made the Steelers look soft in Pittsburgh. -- Brent Sobleski
Bengals: Let's get this out of the way. The Bengals aren't making the playoffs, even after Joe Burrow's return and the team's most impressive overall effort of the season in blasting the Ravens in Baltimore. Eight losses are too many, and next week the Bengals head to Buffalo.
But the Bills aren't feeling nearly as confident about taking on Cincy as they were a few weeks ago, and it has less to do with Burrow than it does a Bengals defense that has looked light-years better in recent weeks.
The Bengals host the Ravens the following week and then travel to Miami before facing two tomato cans to close the year. So while Cincy isn't making the postseason, they can ruin things for the Ravens and Dolphins—and a hot finish to a disappointing season might just be enough to save head coach Zac Taylor's job. -- Gary Davenport
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementNFL Spin Zone
Bills ranking: 9 (⬆ one spot)
Bengals ranking: 21 (⬆ two spots)
Bills: The Bills got a much-needed win against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, but I don’t think anyone’s declaring them officially “back” after that one.
Beating up an injured Aaron Rodgers isn’t going to be the moment this team looks back on at the end of the season as a turning point or anything, but winning against the Steelers this week absolutely had to be done, because the Bills have fallen way behind the New England Patriots in the race for the AFC East.
Their loss on Thursday night against Houston in Week 12 was brutal, and really exposed a lot of issues with the team overall. I think a couple of things can be true about the Bills right now. Of course they are a legitimate and viable threat in the AFC. You can’t count them out with the big games Josh Allen has been in and how he plays when he has to put on the Superman cape.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementBut also, this Bills team is not nearly as good as others they’ve had in their recent window.
Bengals: The return of Joe Burrow was as impactful as you could have possibly hoped if you’re a Cincinnati Bengals fan. I mean, my goodness. It almost hurts more seeing the way this team played with Burrow out there where, on the road in Baltimore in primetime, he’s out there counting down the play clock for his center Ted Karras.
That’s the kind of butt-kicking the Bengals gave to the Ravens on Thanksgiving, and the only unfortunate reality is that it’s probably too late for them to be anything but play villains the rest of this season. Even if the Bengals win out this year, it’s going to be far too competitive in the AFC to make it in with nine wins.
Who knows? Maybe nine wins would be enough to win the AFC North the way things have been going in that division. All the Bengals can do is take care of the business in front of them, and a win against the Ravens on Thanksgiving was a great step for them, certainly for head coach Zac Taylor.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementNBCSportsBayArea.com
Bills ranking: 8 (⬆ one spot)
Bengals ranking: 21 (⬆ four spots)
Bills: Back on track thanks to James Cook, who bailed out Josh Allen from another lackluster performance.
Bengals: Joe Burrow made his triumphant return and delivered a big win while attempting 46 passes. Cincy really just swapped in a younger gun-slinging Joe and thought we wouldn't notice.
— Bill Wolcott is a producer who helps cover the Buffalo Bills, high school and Rochester sports in general. The lifelong New Yorker has been a journalist for 31 years.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Buffalo Bills jump in NFL power rankings after win over Steelers
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