A look at the remaining schedules in the AFC East

Tonight, the New England Patriots (6-6) will face off against the Arizona Cardinals on Monday Night Football. Aside from that, the other teams in the AFC East were all in action yesterday.

The Buffalo Bills (10-3) earned a hard-fought victory against the New York Jets (7-6), while the Miami Dolphins (8-5) suffered a hard loss for the second week in a row, falling to the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday Night Football.

After tonight’s contest, each team will only have four games remaining in the regular season, with playoff football getting closer and closer. Let’s take a look at the remaining schedules for each team.

Buffalo Bills (10-3)

• Week 15: vs. Miami Dolphins (8-5)
• Week 16: at Chicago Bears (3-10)
• Week 17: at Cincinnati Bengals (9-4)
• Week 18: vs. New England Patriots (6-6)

Each of these games are important for the Bills, as they are fighting for not only the division title, but for the top seed in the AFC playoff picture. If Buffalo is able to defeat Miami on Saturday, it would almost lock up the division, being up three games with only three to play. From there, they should not overlook the Bears before playing the Bengals in a game that may determine the top seed in the conference. Ideally, the game against the Patriots would be one where starters could get some extra rest, but that possibility seems very remote.

Miami Dolphins (8-5)

• Week 15: at Buffalo Bills (10-3)
• Week 16: vs. Green Bay Packers (5-8)
• Week 17: at New England Patriots (6-6)
• Week 18: vs. New York Jets (7-6)

Miami will finish their three-game road trip in Buffalo this weekend, and are hoping to come away with one victory from it. The team is coming off of back-to-back losses, and can see their grasp of a possible division title slipping through the cracks. Now, they have to focus on keeping their lead in the Wild Card race. It is pretty certain that either the Bengals or the Baltimore Ravens will get one of the three wild card spots. That means the Dolphins, Patriots, and Jets will be fighting for those final two spots, making the last two games very important for this team.

New York Jets (7-6)

• Week 15: vs. Detroit Lions (6-7)
• Week 16: vs. Jacksonville Jaguars (5-8)
• Week 17: at Seattle Seahawks (7-6)
• Week 18: at Miami Dolphins (8-5)

There is plenty of uncertainty facing the Jets after their loss to Buffalo. Their defense is still one of the best in the league, but defensive tackle Quinnen Williams left the game with a calf injury, which would be a huge blow up front. Meanwhile, on the other side of the football, quarterback Mike White took several huge hits throughout the game that landed him in the hospital post-game out of an abundance of caution. With White’s status potentially in doubt, the team may be forced into starting backup Joe Flacco — or going back to Zach Wilson.

New England Patriots (6-6)

• Week 14: at Arizona Cardinals (4-8)
• Week 15: at Las Vegas Raiders (5-8)
• Week 16: vs. Cincinnati Bengals (9-4)
• Week 17: vs. Miami Dolphins (8-5)
• Week 18: at Buffalo Bills (10-3)

The Patriots do not have an easy finish to their schedule, as they are fighting to sneak into the postseason after a rough start to their season. Tonight, they face the duo of Kyler Murray and DeAndre Hopkins, before taking on Derek Carr and Davante Adams next week. From there, it’s no easier for the secondary facing the likes of JaMarr Chase, Tyreek Hill, and Stefon Diggs. If New England wants to make a run at the postseason, then their ninth-ranked pass defense will have to be even better.