The Buffalo Bills have been clawing tooth and nail to get over their Super Bowl hump and hoist the famed organization’s first Lombardi Trophy. With Super Bowl VX on the horizon, the Bills opened up the season with the third best odds in the league to be the last team standing.
Their +700 landed above teams like the Kansas City Chiefs (+750) and the Detroit Lions (+1000).
So to say that the team is as far away as they’ve ever been to winning a Super Bowl feels like. abit of a stretch. Yet that is the opinion 11-year NFL veteran Chris Canty brought to ESPN’s flagship show, First Take.
“Scale of 1 to 10, I put it at a 1,” Canty said of the Bills chances to win it all this year.
When his cohost was visibly shocked by the statment, Canty pleaded “why would I put it any higher”. He then dawned the Bills the “landlords of the AFC East” but revisited the same old played out argument that the Bills haven’t done anything until they’ve beaten the Kansas City Chiefs.
“He (Allen) is physically the most talented quarterback in the NFL, alongside Lamar Jackson, but in order to get to the Super Bowl out of the AFC, you’re going to have to deal with Patrick Mahomes, who, as far as I’m concerned, has started every single year in the AFC Championship game.” said Canty.
“So, when we start talking about confidence level in Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills, getting over that hump, and getting to a Super Bowl, I don’t know how you can say it with your chest you believe this is going to be their year. While they own their division, the Kansas City Chiefs have shown they own the Buffalo Bills in the playoffs.”
Bills Secondary Better Equipped To Beat The Chiefs
Last year it was a Christian Benford injury that really exposed the Bills below average corner play. After Benford went down, Mahomes completed three passes for 36 yards and drew a pass interference on his replacement, Kaiir Elam.
CBS Sports’ Zachary Pereles points out that the decision to draft rookie Maxwell Hairston in the first round might have been as a direct counter to the speedy Chiefs wideouts.
“After blazing to a 4.28-second 40-yard dash, Hairston was expecting to step right into a starting spot,” Pereles writes detailing the rookie’s preseason injury. “Still, these Bills are playing for January and February, not September and October. If healthy, he brings a pure speed element no other Buffalo defensive back does, a key against speedsters Xavier Worthy and Marquise Brown and YAC star Rashee Rice.”
Keon Coleman Could Be The Spark That Starts The Fire
Pereles continued his argument for why the Bills are better equipped to handle the Chiefs this time around by nodding to the additions in the wide receiver room. Joshua Palmer and Elijah Moore are the new faces, however, he is more focused on last year’s rookie, Keon Coleman, making a second year jump.
“Coleman doesn’t have to be a star. But he does have to be better than he was in Year 1, someone who can truly add a big, physical, ball-winning aspect to this passing attack. If he can, Palmer slots into that third role role, with Shakir a busy, reliable slot target. James Cook and the tight ends can eat, too. With Allen under center and a plethora of backs and elusive receivers, this is already a well-versed offense. Coleman, who caught just one of four targets for 12 yards against the Chiefs, could be the factor that puts Buffalo over the top,” Pereles concludes.
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