The Buffalo Bills received some help in the AFC playoff picture on Sunday following their Thursday Night Football win. The rest of the AFC stayed muddled beyond the top seeds, but the Bills were still able to hold onto their playoff position heading into Week 11.
In the early games, Cleveland was pasted by Pittsburgh, moving the Steelers to 6-4 and a half-game ahead of Buffalo. They're on a bye this coming weekend. In the later games, Minnesota managed to beat Oakland, who were one of four teams with four losses heading into Sunday. They now drop into and a tie for eighth place in the AFC. Miami is among the group at 4-5, though Buffalo holds the head-to-head tiebreaker over them should it come to it. Kansas City also moved back into the conversation with a big win over Denver. New England kept their commanding lead in the AFC East with a last-second victory over the Giants.
(For a refresher on tiebreakers, head to NFL.com - but we'll also do our best to explain them here, too. We won't go all the way down to the fifth and sixth tiebreakers and just call it a tie, at least for now.)
Standings
1. New England Patriots (9-0, 6-0 AFC)
2. Cincinnati Bengals (8-0*, 7-0 AFC)
3. Denver Broncos (7-2)
4. Indianapolis Colts (4-5, 3-0 in AFC South)
5. Pittsburgh Steelers (6-4, 3-4 in AFC)
6. Buffalo Bills (5-4, head-to-head win over NYJ)
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7. New York Jets (5-4, 4-3 in AFC)
8. Kansas City Chiefs (4-5, 3-2 AFC)
9. Oakland Raiders (4-5, 4-4 AFC)
10. Miami Dolphins (4-5, 2-5 AFC)
11. Houston Texans (3-5*, 2-1 in AFC South, 2-3 AFC, head-to-head loss to MIA)
12. Jacksonville Jaguars (3-6, 3-4 AFC)
13. Baltimore Ravens (2-7, head-to-head victory over SD, 2-5 AFC)
14. San Diego Chargers (2-7, head-to-head loss to BAL, 1-4 AFC)
15. Tennessee Titans (2-7, 0-5 AFC)
16. Cleveland Browns (2-8)
* Houston and Cincinnati play on Monday Night Football. A Houston win moves them into the logjam at eighth place with a 4-5 record, but they will stay at the No. 11 seed with a loss. Cincinnati would move back into first with a win on Monday thanks to a better AFC record.