Bills Get Major Help Around NFL During Bye Week as Chiefs, Patriots Lose

The Buffalo Bills couldn't improve their record during their Week 7 bye, but the rest of the NFL gave them plenty of reasons to feel good about where they stand heading into the second half of the season.

Buffalo entered the bye week at 5-1 after consecutive narrow victories over the Los Angeles Rams and Las Vegas Raiders. The Bills were already in first place in the AFC East, but a pair of significant losses around the league helped strengthen their position in the division and the AFC playoff race.

The biggest results came from the Chicago Bears and Seattle Seahawks, who each handed a contender a loss that benefited Buffalo.

The Bills received their first bit of help Thursday night when the Bears defeated the New England Patriots 30-24.

New England entered the matchup at 4-2, looking to keep pace with Buffalo in the AFC East. Instead, the Patriots fell 4-3, giving the Bills a 1 1/2-game lead in the division without taking the field.

The loss was particularly helpful, considering New England defeated Buffalo in Week 4. That result gave the Patriots the head-to-head tiebreaker, so the Bills need to build as much separation as possible before their next meeting in December.

The Patriots' loss doesn't erase that tiebreaker advantage, but it does give Buffalo some breathing room heading into Week 8.

With the Bills facing a difficult matchup against the Baltimore Ravens next Sunday, having an extra game of separation over their division rival is a welcome development.

Buffalo received another significant boost Sunday night when the Seattle Seahawks dominated the Kansas City Chiefs in a 20-3 victory.

Kansas City entered the weekend at 5-0 and cruising as the early Number 1 seed. The loss dropped the Chiefs to 5-1, leaving them tied with Buffalo for the best overall record in the conference.

The Bills remain behind Kansas City in the AFC standings because the Chiefs hold the conference-record tiebreaker. Kansas City is 5-0 against AFC opponents, while Buffalo is 3-1.

Still, the result puts the Bills in an excellent position to compete for the conference's top seed as the season progresses. Finishing with the AFC's best record would give Buffalo home-field advantage throughout the conference playoffs, along with a first-round bye.

The Chiefs will have an opportunity to respond next week against the Denver Broncos, who enter Week 8 with a 5-2 record and are hot on the Chiefs' tail. That matchup could create another opening for Buffalo to gain ground.

The results around the NFL made Buffalo one of the biggest winners of the week despite not playing. The Bills maintained their 5-1 record, extended their advantage over New England, and moved into a tie with Kansas City for the AFC's best record.

However, Buffalo cannot afford to rely on other teams to keep doing it favors.

The Bills return from their bye on Sunday when they host the Baltimore Ravens at Highmark Stadium. Baltimore enters the matchup at 4-3 after losing to Cincinnati on Sunday. However, there's a chance that Lamar Jackson returns to the lineup after missing three games, making the test much more difficult for Buffalo than if he doesn't play.

And for a defense that has struggled all season long, they are going to have their hands full.

Still, the extra rest should give the Bills an opportunity to get healthier and address some of their issues before the stretch run truly begins.

For now, Buffalo can be happy with how the bye week unfolded. The Bills didn't add a win to their record, but losses by the Patriots and Chiefs helped improve their position in the AFC race.