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Buffalo Bills, Arizona storylines to watch for in Week 10.
It’s Wednesday so the Buffalo Bills are now turning their attention to their next opponent. After topping one opponent from across the country, the Bills will head west themselves to see the Arizona Cardinals.
Here are 10 storylines to follow as the Bills are set to face the Cards:
Buffalo Bills, Arizona Cardinals, won’t play in Mexico City in 2020.
The ongoing coronavirus pandemic has already altered the NFL’s offeseason. In at least one sense, it appears it will change their regular season, too.
It was previously reported that the NFL will release their 2020 regular season schedule this week. The hope is that fans will be in attendance when the season begins. But due to the pandemic, the NFL won’t be playing their usual international slate of games next year, per various reports on Monday.
The NFL typically plays a few games in London and then down in Mexico City. While the Bills don’t typically have a game scheduled for international play, they were a candidate to do so in 2020.
While we don’t know the team’s schedule, we know who the Bills will be playing next season. Among them, the Arizona Cardinals on the road. The Cards were a team that were slated to host an international game in Mexico next season, meaning the Bills had a 1/8 chance to be the team traveling south of the border. Instead, it sounds like they’ll just head southwest.
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Last season Phillips led the Bills with 9.5 sacks. He nabbed a three-year contract worth $30 million in total with the Cardinals.
In the craziness that is NFL free agency, the Bills had one of the wildest months in the league. In that fold included Buffalo losing defensive tackle Jordan Phillips to the Arizona Cardinals.
Phillips, 27, was claimed by the Bills mid-2018 season off waivers and in a short year and a half career with Buffalo, he became a fan favorite. Phillips was very welcoming towards Bills Mafia, and he got the love back for doing so.
Last season Phillips led the Bills with 9.5 sacks. He nabbed a three-year contract worth $30 million in total with the Cards.
Phillips, an outspoken guy during his time in Buffalo, said he wants to prove with the Cardinals he’s the real deal during his introductory press conference in Arizona.
But he wasn’t trying to be disrespectful to the Bills in stating that. In fact, he was very praiseful of his now former team, appreciating the chance the Bills gave him.
“Nothing really changed for me [in 2019],” he said. “I just had more of an opportunity. It was the first time in my career being on the third-down group. I had a lot of opportunities to get more sacks and be more productive. Buffalo did a real good job of utilizing my talents and they reaped the benefits of it last year.”
Phillips went on to say that four teams were interested in him in free agency. But even with those talks, Phillips still seemed to continually keep Buffalo in the back of his mind throughout the whole process.
“Arizona was somewhere if it didn’t work out with Buffalo that… Arizona would be a place to be. They’re a young, talented team, kind of how Buffalo was,” Phillips said.
From the sounds of it, Phillips will fall into the category of… maybe we’ll meet again? Who knows where the Bills, Cardinals and even Phillips will be in three years? But there’s some positive reflects and crazier things have happened.
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Defensive tackle Jordan Phillips picks Cardinals over Bills in free agency.
Jordan Phillips has decided to move on from the Bills, as he’s heading to the desert.
According to NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport, the Cardinals have signed Phillips to a three-year deal. Terms of the deal have yet to be disclosed.
Free agent #Bills DT Jordan Phillips is headed to the #AZCardinals , source said, on a 3-year deal.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 17, 2020
Phillips came to the Bills mid-season in 2018 via the waiver wire. He was a second-round pick of the Dolphins prior to that. Phillips ended up leading the Bills with 9.5 sacks last season.
With Phillips’ departure combined with Shaq Lawson’s reported move to the Dolphins on Monday, the Bills have lost their top-two sackers from last season.
According to various reports, the Texans sent Hopkins to the Cardinals along with a fourth-round pick for running back David Johnson and a second-round pick.
The Bills are slated to face wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins again in 2020, pending a change of plans in a developing trade. A shocking one.
According to Texans Wire, the Texans sent Hopkins to the Cardinals along with a fourth-round pick for running back David Johnson and a second-round pick.
Both players involved in the deal are former All-Pro selections, but many are looking at this one wondering what the Texans were thinking? While both have had career successes, Hopkins has remained incredibly healthy in his career, while Johnson has battled injury.
Those who follow the Bills might also be thinking of a fun matchup we’re going to get once again in 2020.
With Hopkins reportedly heading to Arizona, the Bills will travel to face them next season. That means Tre’Davious White vs. Hopkins is en route once again.
The two players have sparred against one another in a matchup between one of the league’s best receivers facing one of the best corners a few times in their careers. Unfortunately in their most recent meeting, Hopkins got the best of White, probably. Late in the game after being relatively quiet throughout it, he turned things around and ended up with six catches for 90 yards.
In the head-to-head prior to that, Hopkins was actually held pretty well by White. He had a touchdown with White in coverage early in that game, then White kept him quiet.
If the Hopkins to Cardinals trade does happen, that’ll be a fun matchup circle on the schedule. For what it’s worth, neither team has officially announced the deal yet and perhaps circumstances can change. If that’s the case, that’ll take place before Wednesday at 4 p.m. when the new NFL league year begins.
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The Buffalo Bills 2020 opponent, the Arizona Cardinals, will be the home team for a game in Mexico, according to reports.
The Buffalo Bills have played game all over the United States, Toronto and in London.
Mexico could be on deck.
According to reports, the Arizona Cardinals will be the home team for the game in Mexico next season. The Bills’ schedule is not locked yet for the 2020 season, but the opponents are and where.
Among them? The Bills at Cardinals.
If that report holds true, the Bills have a 1/8 chance of playing in Mexico next season. The news only reported that the Cardinals would potentially be the home team for said game in Mexico. There was no reports on any sort of opponent just yet.
The NFL played its first game in Mexico City in 2016 at the Estadio Azteca, the home of the soccer team Club America and the Mexican national team. Due to poor field conditions in 2018, the NFL cancelled their game there but it returned in 2019. The Chiefs beat the Chargers 24-17.
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