It might have been ugly – especially the four turnovers – but the Bills’ 41-17 loss to the Cardinals probably won’t be all that costly.
Quarterback Trent Edwards has the bye week to recover from the concussion he sustained on the game’s third play, meaning J.P. Losman’s re-emergence might not extend beyond Sunday.
It was also a loss to an NFC opponent, so it won’t hurt the Bills in most AFC playoff tiebreaker scenarios.
The Bills come back from the bye week and into a key stretch of games starting with an Oct. 19 home date with San Diego. After that the Bills visit Miami, host the Jets and visit New England.
The latter three games, all AFC East matchups, should set the division pecking order for the second half of the season.
-- Losman’s numbers weren’t awful, but the Bills offense is nowhere near as efficient when he plays.
Against Arizona the Bills sustained drives of more than 26 yards only three times, and one of those came late in the fourth quarter after the Cardinals had taken their huge lead.
Losman’s longest drive – 83 yards – wasn’t a sustained one. The possession lasted three plays and ended with Losman’s 87-yard touchdown pass to Lee Evans.
The inability to control the ball put tremendous pressure on the Bills’ defense and allowed Arizona to pile up a nearly 16-minute advantage in time of possession.
-- The Browns got a boost without playing Sunday when two AFC North rivals lost key games.
Baltimore’s 13-10 loss to Tennessee – aided by a questionable roughing the passer call against Terrell Suggs – and Cincinnati’s 31-22 loss in Dallas mean the Browns will come off the bye week only a game out of second place in the division.
The bad news, of course, is the Browns’ schedule over the next six weeks, starting with a Monday night game against the unbeaten Giants (4-0). The next five games are at Washington (4-1) and Jacksonville, at home against Baltimore (2-2) and Denver (4-1) and at Buffalo (4-1).
The Browns probably will be underdogs in each of those games, and they could conceivably play well and still emerge from that stretch with only one win.
-- The Titans are 5-0 heading into their bye week and should move to 6-0 with a win against the Chiefs in Week 8.
Right now the Titans look like the AFC’s best team, even with veteran Kerry Collins entrenched at quarterback on an offense whose best player is rookie running back Chris Johnson, the fifth back taken in this year’s draft.
Both the Browns (Dec. 7) and Steelers (Dec. 21) will host the Titans in the final month of the season in games that could have an enormous impact on the AFC playoff race.
-- John Dudley