After six weeks, the Bills are 5-1 and sitting in the AFC’s No. 2 spot. They’re also on bye, which means Buffalo gets to watch the rest of the league do the work for them this weekend.
The good news for the Bills is simple: nobody can knock them out of second place while they’re off. The catch is just as clear.
They also can’t climb to No. 1 this week. Kansas City still sits ahead of Buffalo, and the Chiefs remain the only team in front of them in the conference race.
There is one swing result that would make things a lot more interesting. If Kansas City loses, the Chiefs would fall to 5-1 and pull even with Buffalo in the standings.
Even then, Kansas City would keep the top seed for now because of the conference-record tiebreaker. New England is the other club worth watching in the AFC East, though the Patriots would still be behind Buffalo even if they beat Chicago.
A Patriots win would leave them at 5-2 and give them a half-game gain on the Bills.
AFC East pressure is limited, but Buffalo still has reasons to root against New England. The Patriots are the only division team with a realistic path to catching the Bills at the moment, and a loss would drop them to 4-3. That would give Buffalo a little more cushion without the Bills even stepping on the field.
Beyond the division, the Bills have a clean list of rooting interests scattered across the AFC and beyond. Pittsburgh at New Orleans is an easy one: root for the Saints. The Steelers are one of several 4-2 teams lurking just behind Buffalo, and a loss would slow them down in both the AFC North and wild-card race.
Indianapolis at Minnesota points the same way for Buffalo, with the Vikings as the pick. The Colts are 2-4 and not an immediate threat, but there’s no reason to help an AFC team move back toward relevance. A Minnesota win also helps Buffalo’s Strength of Schedule, since the Bills play the Vikings in a couple of weeks.
The Bengals and Ravens matchup offers a different kind of tradeoff, and Buffalo should be pulling for Cincinnati. Baltimore is the bigger concern at 4-2, and a Ravens loss would keep another four-win AFC team from gaining ground on Buffalo. Cincinnati would benefit, but that’s the better move for the Bills.
Cleveland against Tennessee leans Titans. The Browns currently hold the AFC’s No. 4 seed, so a loss would drop them to 4-3 and widen the gap between Buffalo and another division leader. Tennessee, sitting at the bottom of the AFC South, is not the kind of team Buffalo needs to worry about helping.
There’s a small wrinkle in Giants at Texans, because a Houston win would improve Buffalo’s Strength of Victory. Still, the better play is rooting for New York. Houston is still alive enough in the AFC race that Buffalo doesn’t need to help it along, especially when the Bills can manage their own path.
Denver at Arizona is another easy call: Cardinals. The Broncos are 4-2 and currently hold a wild-card spot, so a Denver loss would keep Buffalo safely ahead of another playoff contender.
For Rams at Raiders, the Bills should lean Los Angeles. Buffalo already beat both teams on its West Coast trip, so either result helps a little with Strength of Victory.
But the Raiders are still hanging around in the AFC picture, while the Rams are an NFC team. That makes the Rams the cleaner choice.
And then there’s the big one: Chiefs at Seahawks. Seattle is the pick here, no question.
Kansas City is the only AFC team ahead of Buffalo, and a Chiefs loss would be their first of the season. That would put Buffalo and Kansas City at 5-1, though the Chiefs would still hold the No. 1 seed on the tiebreaker.
Buffalo, of course, can address that later.
In NFC games, the Bills can still pick up some help too. Buffalo already has a win over Detroit, so Lions victories improve the Bills’ Strength of Victory. That matters more than the Strength of Schedule boost Green Bay could provide, especially since Buffalo still has a trip to Green Bay on the schedule.
So while the Bills are off this weekend, there’s still plenty on the board for them. A few favorable results, and this bye could end up looking a lot more useful than it sounded at first glance.
In Other News...
Bills Bye Week Has Fans Debating One Receiver's Future
With the Bills heading into their Week 7 bye at 5-1 and getting Tre'Davious White back into the mix, the roster conversation has shifted from week-to-week survival to bigger-picture questions. One of those centers on the receiver room, where Buffalo has seen other pass catchers make their presence felt while Joshua Palmers role has stayed relatively limited since he arrived.
Palmer signed a three-year deal in March, so this is not exactly the kind of early-season development the Bills had in mind when they brought him in. Still, the combination of his uneven production and the way the depth chart has shaken out has made him a player worth watching as the deadline chatter starts to build. [Read more 🡒]
Bills Cornerback Debate Just Got More Interesting With Tariq Woolen
The Bills cornerback conversation has a new wrinkle with Tariq Woolen entering the picture, and it is easy to see why Buffalo would spend time on the outside defender. Woolen has the kind of length and size that stand out immediately, and his past production has already shown he can be a real factor on the boundary. For a defense that is always weighing fit as much as raw talent, that profile naturally puts him on the radar before the trade deadline.
Buffalos interest would come down to more than just traits, though. Woolens contract status and modest salary make him a plausible deadline target, while the Bills would also need to sort out how he would fit schematically alongside the corners already on the roster. The bigger question now is whether the price stays in a range Buffalo can justify, because the kind of move this would be could say plenty about how the front office views its current outside cornerback options. [Read more 🡒]
Bills Bye Week Could Shape Their Biggest Roster Decision Yet
The bye week arrives with the Bills sitting at 5-1 and still looking like one of the AFCs most balanced teams on offense, even as the defense leaves room for a midseason jolt. For a front office that has already seen how narrow the margin can be, this quiet stretch is the natural time to assess whether the roster needs a splash addition, and the names being tossed around tell you plenty about the kind of upgrade Buffalo would be chasing.
Wide receiver Tyreek Hill is the headline-grabber, but cornerback Marshon Lattimore would speak to a more immediate defensive need, and linebacker Matt Milano also looms as a familiar fit in the conversation. Buffalo does not need to remake its identity to justify a move, but the bye week offers a rare window to weigh how aggressive it wants to be before the seasons second half starts tightening the race. [Read more 🡒]