MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. -- Months before the Buffalo Bills even began playing games this fall, it was clear their season would be divided into three parts.

The first slice of their schedule -- a three-game stretch that included hosting the two AFC finalists from last season and then traveling to play a division opponent -- is now over, and the Bills have emerged with a respectable 2-1 record following their 41-14 thumping Sunday of the Miami Dolphins.

The next section of the Bills' season has long been seen as their easiest stretch: they host the New York Giants (1-2), travel to face the Tennessee Titans (1-2), return home to play the Cincinnati Bengals (3-0) and then cross the Atlantic to meet the Jacksonville Jaguars (1-2) in London before their bye week.

Nothing in the NFL is ever truly easy, but the Bills have an opportunity to generate momentum over the next month before they enter the second half of their schedule, which includes a grueling slate of five road games in six weeks -- a Monday night trip to New England among them.

There are plenty of reasons to believe the Bills can enter their bye week with five or even six wins.

Tyrod Taylor, despite his three interceptions in the Bills' loss to the Patriots in Week 2, ranked eighth in the NFL with a 74.5 Total QBR as of Sunday night. Running back Karlos Williams leads qualifying NFL rushers with a 7.75-yard-per-carry average. The Bills' defense is tied for second in the NFL with five interceptions.

Take care of business over the next four weeks, and the playoffs will start to come into focus for the Bills.

But there are a few reasons for concern that can't be overlooked. First, what do the Bills do with LeSean McCoy, whose hamstring issue just won't go away?

I asked coach Rex Ryan after Sunday's game if he would consider sitting out McCoy for next week's game against the Giants in hopes of getting his star running back healthy for the rest of the season. He resisted the idea, saying McCoy was too valuable to the Bills -- even at 80 percent healthy -- to not be on the field.

I then asked McCoy the same question in the locker room, and he seemed more open to the concept, explaining that he needed to find a "medium" between being tough and being smart about his injury.

If the Bills decide to sit McCoy, the worst-case scenario is that Williams can't handle the load alone, the Bills' running game falters and they drop a game they otherwise should have won. But given Williams' recent surge, that outcome seems unlikely.

We also don't know much about the condition of receiver Sammy Watkins, who left Sunday's game with a calf injury. Watkins hasn't lit it up statistically so far this season -- he ranks 85th in the league with 99 receiving yards -- but he has been drawing the attention of defenses, and any absence would put more stress on Percy Harvin, Robert Woods and Charles Clay.

With or without Watkins, the next month of the Bills' schedule will go a long way to determining how fit this team is to compete for a playoff berth over the final two months of the season.