Stephen A. Smith questions Bills’ Super Bowl odds with blunt verdict

The Buffalo Bills are once again considered one of the NFL’s leading Super Bowl contenders. Stephen A. Smith has already seen enough.

During Monday’s episode of ESPN’s "First Take," Smith was asked whether Buffalo deserved to hold the second-shortest odds to win Super Bowl LXI. His response did not require a lengthy explanation.

“No,” Smith said. “No, I don’t.”

Smith praised quarterback Josh Allen and new head coach Joe Brady, who previously served as Buffalo’s offensive coordinator. He acknowledged that the Bills have consistently produced one of the league’s most productive offenses under Brady. That was where the compliments ended.

“To have them number two overall, over anybody in the NFL ... that’s ignoring Seattle,” Smith said. “That’s ignoring Denver.”

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The Los Angeles Rams currently own the shortest odds, with Buffalo followed by the Baltimore Ravens and Seattle Seahawks. Smith had no problem placing Los Angeles first. Earlier in the segment, he predicted the Rams would finish 13–4 and secure the NFC’s top seed.

His hesitation with Buffalo comes from the other teams being overlooked, not a lack of respect for Allen.

Denver reached the AFC Championship Game last season despite losing Bo Nix to an injury late in its divisional-round victory over Buffalo. Smith went as far as suggesting the Broncos would have reached the Super Bowl if Nix had remained available.

Then there are the Kansas City Chiefs.

Kansas City finished 6–11 and missed the playoffs, while Patrick Mahomes suffered an injury during a disastrous season. One miserable year was apparently enough for plenty of people to bury a franchise that has won three championships and appeared in five Super Bowls with Mahomes.

Smith is not joining them.

“You can’t sleep on these brothers,” he said. “These are three-time champions who’ve been to five Super Bowls. They know what it takes.”

Buffalo is still being priced on potential

That is the real problem with Buffalo’s position. The Bills are being priced partly on what Allen is capable of doing, while several rivals have either accomplished more or assembled stronger rosters around their quarterbacks.

Buffalo also enters the season with uncertainty on defense. Jason McCourty noted that new defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard plans to install a more aggressive system than the one previously used by Sean McDermott. That change could ease the burden on Allen, but it remains a theory until the defense proves it can deliver in January.

Nobody should be surprised if Buffalo wins the AFC. Allen is talented enough to drag almost any roster deep into the postseason, and keeping Brady provides continuity for an offense that should remain dangerous.

Giving the Bills the second-shortest championship odds is still an enormous show of faith in a team with something left to prove. Buffalo has been treated like an eventual champion for years. At some point, “eventual” has to arrive.