Week 9 AFC East predictions: Can Bills snap surging Bengals' winning streak?

The New England Patriots were the only AFC East team to lose in their last game, but they have the easiest matchup of anyone in the division this week. Here are our predictions for Week 9's slate. 

Buffalo Bills (5-3) at Cincinnati Bengals (4-3): Coming off another narrow win, Buffalo aims to avenge its 27-10 home loss in last season's AFC divisional round on "Sunday Night Football." After starting 1-3, Cincinnati appears to be the team we've grown accustomed to seeing in recent seasons and has won its last three games. Meanwhile, Buffalo is fending off injuries on the defensive side of the ball but is playing well enough to scrape by.

The Bengals defense is one of the more underrated units in the NFL, but it has been vulnerable in the passing game, especially in recent weeks. Cincinnati's 285.7 passing yards per game allowed over its last three contests are the fifth-most over that span, a good sign that Bills QB Josh Allen (270.6 passing yards per game) should have a strong performance. As long as Buffalo can move the ball effectively and limit turnovers, it could be able to shake off its recent sluggish stretch. 

PREDICTION: Bills, 28-24

Miami Dolphins (6-2) at Kansas City Chiefs (6-2): Wideout Tyreek Hill, who became the first player in the Super Bowl era to amass 1,000 receiving yards throughout the first eight games, will finally face his former team as Kansas City and Miami meet in Frankfurt, Germany. The Dolphins bounced back from a Week 7 loss to Philadelphia with a convincing win over New England, while the Chiefs were stunned by an inferior Denver team in their last game.

Miami still sits atop the NFL in practically every major offensive category and has proved it can dominate through the air or on the ground. As for the Chiefs, they boast the league's third-best passing attack (2,211 yards) despite not getting much production from their pass-catchers outside of TE Travis Kelce. Although the Chiefs may have lost a game they shouldn't have last week, chances are they were looking ahead to this matchup.

Considering this, as well as Miami's 1-4 all-time record in international games and 0-2 mark against teams with a winning record this season, expect the reigning Super Bowl champions to prevail in a high-scoring affair. 

PREDICTION: Chiefs, 31-28

Washington Commanders (3-5) at New England Patriots (2-6): New England couldn't build on its surprising Week 7 upset over Buffalo when it took on Miami, but it gets a more favorable assignment against Washington on Sunday. Washington is on a two-game losing streak, suffering close defeats to its NFC East rivals New York and Philadelphia, which prompted the team to sell at the trade deadline. 

Losing Kendrick Bourne, New England's leading receiver, to a season-ending ACL tear is a significant blow to an offense that is averaging the second-fewest points per game (14.8). However, Washington allows the second-most points per game (28.5) and just traded away star defensive ends Montez Sweat and Chase Young. While the Sam Howell-led Commanders should still put up their fair share of points, this could be one of the rare instances this season where the Patriots offense does enough to win.

PREDICTION: Patriots, 24-21

Los Angeles Chargers (3-4) at New York Jets (4-3): The Jets needed overtime to beat a Giants team that finished with minus-nine net passing yards last week, and if their offensive ineptitude continues, they'll have even greater trouble against the Chargers. New York has scored more than 22 points in a game only once this season, coming against a bottom-five Broncos defense, and will have to keep pace with the NFL's ninth-best offense on a points-per-game basis (24.9).

Despite allowing the third-fewest passing yards this season (1,291), the Jets have struggled against pass-catching running backs, giving up the sixth-most receiving yards to the position (322), potentially setting Austin Ekeler up for a productive outing. If the Chargers come out as aggressively as they did in last week's 30-13 win over Chicago, they should be able to snap New York's three-game winning streak. 

PREDICTION: Chargers, 21-17