Which NFL contenders most need a trade before the deadline?
Detroit and Buffalo need help most. ESPN's Bill Barnwell says the Lions are "incredibly desperate for cornerback help," but their worst spot is over the middle, where half the throws move the chains (31st).
Detroit and Buffalo pair top-6 offenses with bottom-10 defenses
On Oct. 22, ESPN's Bill Barnwell wrote that "the Lions are incredibly desperate for cornerback help" and pitched a trade for the Chargers' Donte Jackson. Gennaro Filice at NFL.com wants Detroit to "aggressively pursue a proven asset on the island," and Josh Edwards at CBS Sports also named cornerback. The deadline is 4 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Nov. 10.
The Lions do need help: no team with a winning record has a worse defense (26th), and Buffalo is next (23rd). But Detroit's worst spot is short over the middle, where linebackers and the slot corner cover, more than out wide on the island.
The Lions' biggest leak is over the middle
Where the ball goes matters a lot against Detroit. On throws to the left, the Lions are 4th-best at stopping short of the sticks. Over the middle they're 31st: 51% of the 49 throws there picked up a first down or a touchdown, against 41% league-wide.
Half the throws over the middle beat Detroit
- Short throws over the middle are completed 82% of the time against Detroit (34 throws), the NFL's highest rate.
- The right side is 27th, mostly on 17 deep throws, and that's the one spot a corner trade would help.
- Since Brian Branch returned in Week 7, 13 of 14 short throws over the middle have been caught.
Teams are picking on Jack Campbell and the slot
Filice wrote that D.J. Reed "has yet to validate" his contract, but PFF's charting has Reed as Detroit's best cover man. Quarterbacks are picking on linebacker Jack Campbell and slot corner Roger McCreary instead, and veteran linebacker Devin White went down with a broken forearm in Week 5.
29 of 34caught vs Jack Campbell
345yards vs Roger McCreary, team high
8th of 79D.J. Reed, PFF coverage grade- Quarterbacks have a 143.0 passer rating throwing at Campbell, 2nd-worst of 55 linebackers with 150 or more coverage snaps (PFF).
- Barnwell's pick, Donte Jackson, is an outside corner, like Riq Woolen, Edwards's other name. Neither would replace McCreary, who plays mostly in the slot.
Second-and-long is where Detroit gets hurt
Second-and-long should be the defense's down. Against Detroit, more of those plays work for the offense than against any other team (54% of 67 plays). The quick throw over the middle is the easy answer: 7 of 8 worked.
Detroit is last in the NFL on second-and-long
- The trouble carries into third-and-long, where Detroit ranks 28th.
- Runs work on that down too (8 of 15), so the best fit is a cover linebacker who can also tackle.
- Detroit should shop for a nickel or a linebacker who can cover a tight end. A boundary corner only fixes the deep right side.
Buffalo needs a slot corner, and Cincinnati really does need a corner
Edwards named safety for the Bills, but Jared Dubin at CBS Sports picked the slot: "the slot is the most obvious place for an upgrade." Our numbers lean his way. The Bills get hurt on short throws, while deep balls, the safeties' job, are completed just 37% of the time (NFL 42%).
InactiveDee Alford, Week 8 (ankle)- Alford was inactive Sunday (ankle). Before that, Dubin's PFF numbers had him allowing 12 of 17 for 197 yards in the slot.
- Linebacker Terrel Bernard has allowed 27 catches on 35 targets, so a cover linebacker would help Buffalo too.
Buffalo should look for a slot corner who can also play outside, like Dubin's pick, the Chargers' Tarheeb Still. Cincinnati really does need a corner: quarterbacks complete 77% of short throws to the outside against the Bengals (30th). Linebacker Demetrius Knight Jr. has also allowed 28 catches on 32 targets.
Kansas City (22nd on defense) has no single weak coverage area, so the deep receiver Filice, Edwards and Dubin all named makes sense. Chicago already moved, sending two first-round picks to Tennessee for Jeffery Simmons.
Watch the Lions and Bills injury reports this week, and see our NFL predictions, last week's records check and why the Vikings' defense wins on third down.
Questions people ask
When is the 2026 NFL trade deadline?
Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2026, at 4 p.m. ET.
What do the Lions need at the trade deadline?
Help over the middle: a nickel corner or a coverage linebacker. Half the throws over the middle against Detroit move the chains, 31st in the NFL, while top corner D.J. Reed grades 8th of 79 in PFF coverage.
What do the Bills need at the trade deadline?
Probably a slot corner. Buffalo's coverage ranks 31st by PFF, short throws hurt it more than deep balls, and slot starter Dee Alford struggled before an ankle injury kept him out in Week 8.
Which NFL contenders have the worst defenses?
Among the 14 teams with winning records after Week 8, Detroit ranks lowest on defense (26th), then Buffalo (23rd), Kansas City (22nd) and Cincinnati (20th). All four have top-6 offenses.
How we did this
Snapp's NFL play-by-play warehouse and PFF charting, games through Monday, Nov. 2, 2026. Team ranks use expected points added per play, adjusted for opponents, with garbage time (win probability outside 10% to 90%) removed. Deep throws travel 15 or more yards in the air (sacks and scrambles excluded). "Moved the chains" means a completion that gained the yards to go or scored; a play "worked" when it added expected points. Long means 7 or more yards to go. Player coverage numbers are PFF's through Week 8.