The Buffalo Bills enter Week 15 with a chance to clinch a playoff spot in the AFC, and it couldn’t get any easier for Buffalo: win and you’re in.
Thanks to the Tennessee Titans’ win (8-5) and the Houston Texans’ loss (8-5) in Week 14, it has set up the AFC South death match Buffalo was hoping for. If the Titans win out, beating the Texans twice in the process, a ten-win Buffalo will pass a seven-loss Houston for the Wild Card spot. If the Texans beat the Titans in one of those games, the ten-win Bills are ahead of Tennessee.
Buffalo’s win would also come against the Pittsburgh Steelers, currently 8-5, and Buffalo would hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over them at a hypothetical 10-6.
The Oakland Raiders picked up their seventh loss on Sunday, joining most of the rest of the AFC.
Buffalo had already clinched spots ahead of the Denver Broncos, Los Angeles Chargers, New York Jets, Jacksonville Jaguars, Miami Dolphins, and Cincinnati Bengals before Week 14 finished.
Long story short, Buffalo needs to win one more game to clinch a playoff spot. It can be in Week 15 against the Steelers, Week 16 against the New England Patriots, or Week 17 against the New York Jets.
Full AFC Playoff Standings
1. Baltimore Ravens (11-2, head-to-head win over NE)
2. New England Patriots (10-3)
3. Kansas City Chiefs (9-4, 7-3 AFC)
4. Houston Texans (8-5, 7-3 AFC)
5 . Buffalo Bills (9-4, 6-3 AFC)
6 . Pittsburgh Steelers (8-5, 6-3 AFC)
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7 . Tennessee Titans (8-5, 6-4 AFC)
8. Cleveland Browns (6-7, 6-4 AFC)
9. Oakland Raiders (6-7, 4-5 AFC, head-to-head win over IND)
10. Indianapolis Colts (6-7, 5-6 AFC, head-to-head loss to OAK)
11. Denver Broncos (5-8, head-to-head wins over LAC, 4-5 AFC)
12. Los Angeles Chargers (5-8, head-to-head losses to DEN, 3-7 AFC)
13. New York Jets (5-8, 1-7 AFC)
14. Jacksonville Jaguars (4-9, 4-6 AFC)*
15. Miami Dolphins (3-10)*
16. Cincinnati Bengals (1-12)*
*The Jaguars, Dolphins, and Bengals have all been eliminated from postseason contention.