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Following their 24-3 thumping of the Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday Night Football, the Cleveland Browns are 6-3 and currently the No. 5 seed in the AFC playoff picture. Wrap your minds around that one for a second.
As our own Matt Warren pointed out earlier this week, a Browns win last night was preferred simply for the fact that Buffalo, presuming they can keep themselves in the race, will have a shot at beating the Browns straight-up when Cleveland visits Ralph Wilson Stadium on November 30. In the short term, however, the win vaults the Browns ahead of the Bills in the standings.
Just so everyone's aware of the stakes for this weekend's Bills-Chiefs game, then: after last night's result, the No. 6 seed Chiefs will be on the road trying to beat the No. 7 seed Bills. Both teams are 5-3. Earlier this week, we laid out why the Bills need this win more than the Chiefs, and our friends at ArrowheadPride.com have written and discussed a similar (and incorrect) ditty. Here are the standings in the AFC heading into Sunday's matchup.
| # | Team | W | L | T | % | DIV | AFC |
| 1 | New England Patriots | 7 | 2 | 0 | .778 | 2-1 | 5-2 |
| 2 | Denver Broncos | 6 | 2 | 0 | .750 | 2-0 | 4-1 |
| 3 | Pittsburgh Steelers | 6 | 3 | 0 | .667 | 2-2 | 5-2 |
| 4 | Indianapolis Colts | 6 | 3 | 0 | .667 | 3-0 | 5-2 |
| 5 | Cleveland Browns | 6 | 3 | 0 | .667 | 2-2 | 4-3 |
| 6 | Kansas City Chiefs | 5 | 3 | 0 | .625 | 1-1 | 4-2 |
| 7 | Buffalo Bills | 5 | 3 | 0 | .625 | 2-1 | 2-3 |
| 8 | Miami Dolphins | 5 | 3 | 0 | .625 | 1-1 | 4-2 |
| 9 | Cincinnati Bengals | 5 | 3 | 1 | .611 | 2-1 | 4-3 |
| 10 | San Diego Chargers | 5 | 4 | 0 | .556 | 1-2 | 4-3 |
| 11 | Baltimore Ravens | 5 | 4 | 0 | .556 | 2-3 | 2-4 |
| 12 | Houston Texans | 4 | 5 | 0 | .444 | 1-1 | 3-2 |