The Buffalo Bills fell flat on their faces on Thursday night against the New York Jets. Fortunately for them, the rest of the AFC has a hard time capitalizing and Buffalo was able to hold on to their playoff position with key losses around the conference.
The New England Patriots were on a bye in Week 9 while the Miami Dolphins lost on Sunday night to the Oakland Raiders. The AFC East has the Patriots, followed closely by the Bills, followed by the Dolphins, followed by the Jets.
The only team to pass Buffalo this weekend was the Jacksonville Jaguars, who tie Buffalo with their 23-7 win over Cincinnati and passed the Bills thanks to a superior AFC record.
Around the AFC, no teams have distinguished themselves as being great. Every team has at least two losses and a pair of division leaders have three, just like Buffalo. The Bills are still in very good position to secure a playoff spot down the line as Aaron Schatz of Football Outsiders pointed out Thursday night.
Bills will still be 5-3 and get Indy and Miami twice in three of their final four games of the year. Still strong playoff odds.
— Aaron Schatz (@FO_ASchatz) November 3, 2017
Here are the updated playoff standings. Only the tiebreakers that are currently being used are listed.
AFC Playoff Standings
1. Pittsburgh Steelers (6-2, 4-1 AFC)
2. New England Patriots (6-2, 3-1 AFC)
3. Kansas City Chiefs (6-3)
4. Tennessee Titans (5-3, head-to-head win over JAX)
5. Jacksonville Jaguars (5-3, head-to-head loss to TEN, 4-2 AFC)
6. Buffalo Bills (5-3, 3-2 AFC)
7. Miami Dolphins (4-4)
8. Baltimore Ravens (4-5, 4-3 AFC)
9. Oakland Raiders (4-5, 4-4 AFC, head-to-head win over NYJ)
10. New York Jets (4-5, 4-4 AFC, head-to-head loss to OAK)
11t. Houston Texans (3-5, 3-4 AFC)
11t. Cincinnati Bengals (3-5, 3-4 AFC)
13. Los Angeles Chargers (3-5, head-to-head win over DEN, 2-4 AFC)
14. Denver Broncos (3-5, head-to-head loss to LAC, 2-3 AFC)
15. Indianapolis Colts (3-6)
16. Cleveland Browns (0-8)