What the Bills Have to Do to Prove They've Surpassed the Jets

Ask the Washington Redskins how it feels to win free agency year after year and you'll get tales of mountainous expectations followed by cavernous output. 

That's not to say that the Buffalo Bills will suffer the same fate, but it does serve as a reminder that success isn't measured in March, but it has to wait until the regular season and playoffs.

No one is trying to argue that the Bills have surpassed the Patriots as the kings in the AFC East; the greater contention has been whether they've surpassed the Jets for the role of bridesmaid. It's hard, and some might say impossible, to actually surpass a team in the offseason, so here are some things the Bills can do to prove they've done it once the season has begun.

Win One or Both Games Against the Jets

This one's fairly obvious, but it's especially important because the Bills have lost five-straight contests against their in-state rivals. The Bills last beat the Jets in 2009, Mark Sanchez's rookie year, in a game where Sanchez threw a career-high five interceptions.

The Bills may have ranked among the top defenses in interceptions last year, but they can't expect to get that many against Sanchez again.

It's not just that they've lost all those games, but the Jets have thoroughly dominated the Bills throughout that process in nearly every area that matters. To truly surpass the Jets, the Bills can no longer be the little AFC East sibling upon which the Jets take out their frustrations.

Improve on Defense

The Bills were a top-10 offense for a good portion of the season before falling off due to injuries and overall ineffectiveness. The defense, however, was woeful all season.

They added two of the best pass-rushers free agency had to offer in Mario Williams and Mark Anderson and bolstered their secondary with first-round draft pick Stephon Gilmore and fourth-rounder Ron Brooks.

Pass-rushers and cover corners are important additions to the Bills defense, especially considering sacks (29 sacks ranked 30th in the NFL), yards per attempt (7.7 YPA ranked 25th) and defensive passer rating (90.6 ranked 26th) were three of their worst statistical areas in pass defense.

But as we learned with the Philadelphia Eagles last year, added talent doesn't necessarily equal added wins. These pieces will have to come together as a unit to prove that they were worth the investment and the confidence the team showed in them. 

Beyond the obvious relationship between performance and wins, it's up to these acquisitions to prove that the Bills are making the right decisions in terms of personnel and that they are actually building toward something instead of running in place, as they have for the past decade.

Post a Winning Record and/or Make the Playoffs

The Bills haven't posted a winning record since 2004, and they haven't made the playoffs since 1999.

In that time, the Jets have posted a winning record eight times and have made the playoffs six times.

No matter what happens to the Jets' season, the Bills aren't surpassing anyone if they don't win more games than they lose. If they go 7-9 with the Jets going 6-10 (not a prediction, just a hypothetical), will anyone say the Bills have surpassed the Jets? Or will they instead change the discussion to which one can pick up the pieces first?

Likewise, if the Bills go 9-7 and the Jets go 8-8 (again, just a hypothetical), at least the Bills will be trending in the right direction. 

Erik Frenz is the AFC East lead blogger for Bleacher Report. Be sure to follow Erik on Twitter and "like" the AFC East blog on Facebook to keep up with all the updates.