Buffalo Rumblings
Six of the seven teams in the AFC playoff picture are set including the Buffalo Bills clinching a wild card spot, but the order of those teams is still very much in doubt. With teams resting their starters in the AFC, there will definitely be some Week 18 shenanigans.
If the Bills lose, they are guaranteed to finish in seventh and play at the number two team in the conference. As things stand, that could be the Denver Broncos, New England Patriots, or Jacksonville Jaguars depending on the outcome of their games in Week 18.
If the Bills win, there are a few different options depending on the outcomes of the Los Angeles Chargers and Houston Texans games. Both the Chargers and the Texans have said they are resting key starters in Week 18, so if they both lose and the Bills win, Buffalo is the five seed and would travel to the winner of Sunday night’s AFC North showdown between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens.
If one of the Texans or Chargers wins and one loses, a Bills win makes them the six seed and they would travel to the third-place team — either the Patriots or Jaguars.
Tl;dr Buffalo could finish fifth, sixth, or seventh and they could end up playing the Broncos, Patriots, Jaguars, Steelers or Ravens in the Wild Card round.
The Texans and Jaguars play in the early window Sunday and the Chargers and Broncos play each other in the late afternoon window. New England also plays in the late afternoon window. The final game of the regular season is the Ravens vs Steelers on Sunday night.
The New England Patriots have already clinched the AFC East title. All four slots are locked in with only final record to update. The biggest question today is what’s going to happen after the game in Miami with their head coach Mike McDaniel. The Dolphins have already fired their general manager.
1. New England Patriots (13-3)
2. Buffalo Bills (11-5)
3. Miami Dolphins (7-9)
4. New York Jets (3-13)
The Broncos hold the record in common games tiebreaker over New England, so if Denver wins against the Chargers in Week 18, they will clinch the one seed.
The Texans win the three-way tiebreaker at 11-5 thanks to wins over both the Chargers and Bills. Then Los Angeles wins the tiebreaker with the Bills thanks to record vs common opponents. The only way for the Bills to move up would be if either Houston or Los Angeles loses as they can’t win a tiebreaker vs either team.
1. Denver Broncos (13-3)
2. New England Patriots (13-3)
3. Jacksonville Jaguars (12-4)
4. Pittsburgh Steelers (9-7)
5. Houston Texans (11-5)
6. Los Angeles Chargers (11-5)
7. Buffalo Bills (11-5)
9. Baltimore Ravens (8-8)
