Bills' Problems Becoming More and More Glaring as Playoffs Near

The Buffalo Bills are 6-2 and remain one of the top teams in the AFC, but they opted to stand pat at the trade deadline in spite of having some very obvious holes (cough ... wide receiver) that needed to be repaired.

The Bills have chosen to roll with what they have, trusting Khalil Shakir and Keon Coleman as their top two receivers while also Joshua Palmer will provide a boost when he returns from injury. They also seem to be banking on Gabe Davis — who is currently on the practice squad — giving them something down the stretch.

But Buffalo does not realize the trouble in which it may have gotten itself, especially with running back James Cook now nursing ankle and foot injuries that have limited him in practice throughout the week and could affect him against the Miami Dolphins this Sunday.

Sure, it's just the Dolphins, but the Bills' margin for error is incredibly slim because of their dearth of weapons. Cook has been Buffalo's saving grace this season, having racked up 867 yards and seven touchdowns on the ground on 5.7 yards per carry. If he isn't 100 percent, there is no question that the offense could stall, even versus Miami.

Not only that, but it's Week 10. We are now past the halfway point of the regular season. The playoffs are right around the corner. What if Cook isn't entirely healthy for the postseason? Then what? Such is the risk the Bills run with being so thin at the skill positions.

On top of that, Buffalo is no longer the dominant team in the AFC East. It's the New England Patriots who currently sit in first place at 7-2, and they don't appear to be going anywhere. Not with how well Drake Maye has been playing.

For as good as Josh Allen is, he has to play almost perfect football for the Bills to win the division and then make a Super Bowl run. It will be an excruciatingly difficult task with his current setup, and the front office doesn't seem to think it's a big deal.

Jakobi Meyers and Rashid Shaheed were both available at the deadline. Each were traded for a pair of Day 3 picks. For a team like Buffalo that is desperate for a Super Bowl title, why not go all in and make one of those two moves? It's genuinely puzzling.

Now, with Cook hobbled, that glaring mistake stands out even more for a Bills team that has made six straight trips to the playoffs and won five consecutive AFC East crowns without a single Super Bowl appearance to show for it.

Yes, Buffalo beat the Kansas City Chiefs in the regular season again. Whoopty doo. The Bills have won their last five regular-season meetings with the Chiefs, but have gone 0-4 against them in the postseason during that span.

Why? Because Kansas City is built for January and February. Buffalo never truly has been, and at least the Bills had Stefon Diggs in those first three playoff defeats against the Chiefs. Now, they don't even have that.

Buffalo is putting far too much pressure on Allen and Cook to constantly deliver play after play, and it doesn't usually work that way come playoff time.