Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - Coming out of the bye riding an ugly two-game losing skid, the Buffalo Bills responded in a big way this past Sunday, earning a 40-9 win over the Carolina Panthers in Charlotte, N.C.
The Bills managed to get a complete effort from all three phases of the game, limiting the Panthers to just 244 total yards of offense, while exploding for 410 yards of offense, including 245 yards on the ground.
Of those 245 rushing yards on Sunday, 216 came from James Cook alone, putting up the most productive day for a Bills running back since Hall-of-Famer O.J. Simpson in 1976. He also added two touchdown runs, including a massive 64-yard run in the second quarter to begin the blowout victory.
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With the win, the Bills rebounded and improved to 5-2 in the AFC standings. More importantly, Buffalo is able to stick close to the New England Patriots, who sit atop the AFC East standings at 6-2 through the first eight weeks.
Now comes the biggest challenge for the Bills since, arguably, the opening night of the season when Buffalo welcomes back the Kansas City Chiefs to Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park.
As the Bills have slightly stumbled in recent weeks, the Chiefs are beginning to find their stride in the AFC West once again. Despite sitting third in the division behind the Denver Broncos and Los Angeles Chargers, Kansas City is on a tear with three-straight wins after starting the year 0-2, and then 2-3.
Sunday is set to be the 10th time in six seasons the Bills and Chiefs have sqaured off, with Buffalo dominating the regular season matchups and Kansas City being undefeated in postseason play. The Bills have beaten the Chiefs in four-straight regular season matchups.
Can the Bills make it five-straight regular season wins over Kansas City come Sunday in Orchard Park? Howard Simon does not believe so.
In the latest edition of "Howard Picks the Bills", Howard continues to see the Chiefs riding their recent hot stretch of football and beating Buffalo at Highmark Stadium. Despite that, it does not deter Howard from picking the Bills to then go on a stretch of five-straight wins to continue to make waves in the AFC.
Where Howard sees the Bills' hopes of a sixth-straight AFC East title waning for good this season is a Week 15 matchup with the Patriots in Foxboro. With a Bills loss, despite Buffalo being 10-4 in this hypothetical scenario, two losses to their division rival may not be enough to help them earn the No. 1 spot.
Following the loss to New England, Howard has Buffalo flip-flopping results with the Cleveland Browns, Philadelphia Eagles and New York Jets, resulting in a 12-5 finish and a likely playoff spot as a Wild Card team.
Be sure to follow along on X, formerly known as Twitter, for the latest picks from Howard by using the hashtag #HowardPicksTheBills. You can also track all of Howard's picks throughout the season with Brayton Wilson's picks tracker on X: @BraytonJWilson.
You can listen to, as well as watch the latest edition of "Howard Picks the Bills" below: