There is a particular kind of joy in a Bills season that starts hot, and right now Buffalo is living in it. The Bills are 2-0, they have looked the part in both wins, and Josh Allen is doing Josh Allen things. On Sunday, September 27, at 1 p.m. on FOX, they get to do it in front of the home crowd against a Los Angeles Chargers team that showed up to the season a lot less ready than Buffalo did.

How the Bills Got to 2-0

Buffalo opened the year on the road and walked out of Houston with a 36-31 win over the Texans in a season-opening shootout. Then came the main event, the first regular-season game at the new Highmark Stadium, where the Bills hung 41 on the Detroit Lions in a 41-31 win. Allen put his stamp on the new building fast, throwing three touchdown passes and running for two more scores. Buffalo's 41 points were among the most any team has ever scored in its regular-season stadium debut.

The offense has been a machine. Through two weeks, Buffalo ranks first in the entire NFL in scoring at roughly 38 points a game, and it is piling up yards at a rate near the top of the league too. Allen has already run for four touchdowns, which is tied for the league lead, and he has been slinging it with the kind of efficiency that makes defensive coordinators lose sleep. This is the version of the Bills that makes the whole region walk a little taller on a Monday morning.

A Chargers Team With Its Back Against the Wall

The Chargers are the opposite story. Los Angeles comes into Orchard Park at 0-2, and both losses stung the same way, a pair of 26-14 defeats at home, first to the Arizona Cardinals and then to the Las Vegas Raiders. For a team with real playoff hopes, an 0-3 start would be a genuine hole, and everyone in that building knows it.

Head coach Jim Harbaugh, never one to sound rattled, said after the loss to the Raiders that he was not deterred. His quarterback was more blunt. Justin Herbert, who has completed under 60 percent of his passes through two games, said plainly that the team has to be better. Herbert is a legitimately great player having a rough couple of weeks, and the Bills have seen enough football to know that is a dangerous combination. A talented, cornered team on the road is exactly the kind of opponent that keeps a good coaching staff up at night.

The Worry Nobody in Buffalo Is Ignoring

Here is where the honesty comes in, because a good neighbor tells you the truth even when the beer is cold and the team is winning. The Bills defense has not been good. Through two weeks, Buffalo is giving up around 31 points a game, which ranks near the bottom of the league in yards allowed. When you are scoring 38 and winning by 10, that gets papered over. Against the right opponent, it does not.

The bright spot up front is real. Buffalo has racked up seven sacks already, with Greg Rousseau and Bradley Chubb doing damage off the edge. If the Bills can get to Herbert early and often, they can turn his rough patch into a long afternoon. If they cannot, a quarterback with an arm like his can heat up in a hurry, and suddenly a comfortable lead is a stressful fourth quarter.

The Captains Setting the Tone

This is a team that named its leaders and then went out and played like them. Allen, Chubb and long snapper Reid Ferguson were among six players named 2026 team captains, and the fingerprints of that leadership are all over a 2-0 start. Allen has been the engine, Chubb has been a force in the pass rush, and the whole group has carried itself like a team that expects to be in the conversation come January.

What To Watch on Sunday

Buffalo is favored by about a touchdown at home, which feels about right. The path to a comfortable win runs through two things. First, the offense keeps doing what it has done, and Allen keeps making the Chargers defense look a step slow. Second, and more important, the Bills defense gets after Herbert and makes a struggling offense stay struggling. Do both, and this is a fun one at Highmark. Do only the first, and it could be tense.

Either way, it is Bills football in a new building with the region buzzing and a 2-0 record on the line. Kickoff is 1 p.m. Sunday, September 27, on FOX. Wear the right colors, and maybe keep a little extra faith handy just in case, because it is never as easy as the paper says.