The Buffalo Bills looked like a Super Bowl contender, and even one of the favorites, once again on Sunday, when they handed their arch-rivals, the defending AFC champion Kansas City Chiefs, a fourth loss of the season. The Bills held off a fourth-quarter charge by Patrick Mahomes and Co. to win 28-21 at Highmark Stadium.
The win by the Bills left the Chiefs in a highly unfamiliar position — outside of the AFC playoff picture looking in. The Chiefs now occupy the No. 8 seed in the conference. The last year in which Kansas City missed the playoffs altogether was 2014. After nine games that season, their record was 6-3. After losing to Buffalo, the Chiefs’ record now stands at 5-4.
With the NFL trade deadline zooming in — hitting at 4 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday — the Bills still have time to make deals to improve their Super Bowl chances, and one unusual idea to reinforce the Buffalo pass rush was floated on Tuesday by a local TV sports anchor.
Bills in Good Position, but Must Improve
While the Bills may not have delivered a knockout blow to the team that has won three of the last six Super Bowls and played in five, they’ve definitely got the Chiefs staggering.
At the same time, the Bills are not without their own concerns. Despite heading into the season with he weight of “Super Bowl or Bust” pressure on their shoulders, the Bills right after the halfway mark in the season do not even occupy first place in what was supposed to be a notably weak AFC East division.
That distinction belongs to the suddenly resurgent New England Patriots, who after defeating the Atlanta Falcons Sunday are riding a six-game winning streak and hold first place – and the No. 2 seed in the AFC — with a 7-2 record — including a defeat of the Bills.
The Bills, were the season to end after nine games, would go into the playoffs as the fifth seed.
Injuries Rock Buffalo Defense
What can the Bills do to get better, fast? While their defense has been very good if not great, ranking seventh in the league with 167 points allowed, and eighth in sacks with 25, things look likely to get worse after two major injuries to the defensive unit in the lats two weeks.
In Week 8, in a blowout win over the Carolina Panthers, the Bills lost defensive tackle Ed Oliver to a biceps tear that will keep him out for the regular season at least.
Then on Sunday, their celebration was dampened by the news that defensive end Michael Hoecht will miss the rest of the season with an Achilles tear.
So what now?
Bills Pushed to Trade for 18-Year Veteran
“Today would be a good day for the Bills to trade for Calais Campbell…” wrote WHAM-TV in Buffalo sports anchor Dan Fetes on Tuesday morning.
The Arizona Cardinals interior pass rusher Campbell is a likely future NFL Hall of Famer, remarkably playing his 18th season. His 269 games played rank him 29th all-time in the NFL. If he stays healthy for the remainder of the season, he moves into a tie with Clay Matthews at No. 25.
In Top 25 on All-Time Sack Leader List
Campbell also has recorded 115 1/2 sacks in his career, 24th in the NFL since the league started officially keeping count of sacks in 1982.
The 39-year-old who was taken by the Cardinals in the second round of the 2008 draft — but since played for the Jacksonville Jaguars, Baltimore Ravens, Falcons and Miami Dolphins before returning to Arizona this year — added two sacks of Dallas Cowboys QB Dak Prescott to his resumé in Monday night, despite coming off the bench to play only 57 percent of the Cardinals’ defensive snaps in that game.
Campbell was named to the Pro Bowl six times, and to the NFL All-Decade team for the 2010s.
On a one-year, $5.5 million contract and nearing the end of his career anyway, Campbell would certainly come cheap, requiring no more than a late-round pick to bring him to Buffalo, if the Cardinals are willing to let him go.
Bills Tabbed to Trade for Future Hall of Fame Interior Pass Rusher