Buffalo Bills

The Buffalo Bills battled back from an 0-3 start last season to reach 7-6 before losing their last three games to finish with their second straight 7-9 mark under coach Dick Jauron. But Buffalo was a bit fortunate to even win seven games; they got outscored by nearly a touchdown per game, won four games by five points and less, and ranked 30th in total offense at just 277 YPG. They also ranked 31^st in total defense at 363 YPG, 31^st in total yardage at -86 per game and 27^th in average time-of-possession at -2:20 per game. Not really the form that sets the football odds tumbling.

The Bills benefited from the sixth-best turnover margin in the league at +9, but that particular statistic tends to balance itself out from season-to-season. And while the running game ranked a middle-of-the-league 15^th at 113 YPG, the run defense ranked 25^th at 125 YPG. Buffalo did manage, though, to go 9-6-1 vs. the NFL betting odds last year, and 5-2 ATS as home underdogs. But it's now been eight seasons since this once-proud franchise made a postseason appearance, the longest such drought in Bills history.

Second-year man Trent Edwards appears to have the starting QB job going into this season, but he and JP Losman combined to post a meager 11/14 TD/INT ratio last year. RB Marshawn Lynch ran for 1,110 yards as a rookie last year, and will be expected to expand on that – and his role in the passing game – this season. WR Lee Evans is a legitimate offensive threat, but he's got to get the ball more than 55 times and score more than five touchdowns, as he did last season.

The defense will include at least three new starters this year, after the offseason acquisitions of DT Marcus Stroud and LB Kawika Mitchell and the first-round choice of CB Leodis McKelvin. And Buffalo may have found a second receiver who could take some of the defensive attention away from Evans in second-round pick James Hardy, a big target at 6-foot-5.

The Bills may be helped along this season by playing the 5th-easiest schedule, but this is one of the youngest teams in the league – built mainly through recent drafts – and is probably still at least another season away from contending in the AFC. A playoff berth would go a long way toward assuring Jauron's job security, while another year without a postseason appearance may be his last in Buffalo.