The Buffalo Bills were able to keep their playoff hopes alive with a 30-21 win over Houston on Sunday. Not only did the Bills stave off elimination with the victory over the Texans, but they also dropped Houston from sixth place in the AFC down to ninth. While the hopes of Bills fans might have been slim heading into last week’s game, Buffalo was able to move up to eighth place in the AFC with four games to go.
Buffalo Bills (6-6)
Remaining schedule: @Phi, @ Wsh, v. Dal, v. NYJ
Combined record of remaining opponents: 21-27
Houston took Buffalo down to the wire, but Tyrod Taylor’s 40-yard touchdown pass to Charles Clay with less than two minutes left gave the Bills the lead for good. Taylor accounted for four touchdowns on the day, and Buffalo is going to need a few more performances like the one they got from Taylor on Sunday if they plan on making the playoffs for the first time since 1999.
Now the Bills hit the road for two games against NFC East foes before returning to Buffalo for home games against Dallas and the New York Jets to close out the season. The Bills really have no room for error since there are three teams sitting at 7-5 ahead of them in the playoff race.
Luckily the Bills get to try their hand at adding to the mess of the NFC East over the next three games. While Philadelphia’s big win over New England on Sunday provides a little more intrigue to this Sunday’s contest, it is a game the Bills should win. Then again, if the Bills can’t win these next three games then they don’t really deserve to be in the playoffs.
Buffalo closes the season at home with the New York Jets and it certainly would mean a lot to Rex Ryan if he could earn a playoff spot by beating his old team. With how LeSean McCoy is coming on in the running game, along with Tyrod Taylor’s versatility, the Bills are in a good spot as long as they keep winning.
Kansas City Chiefs (7-5)
Remaining games: v. SD, @Bal, v. Cle, v. Oak
Remaining opponents combined record: 14-34
The Chiefs continued to roll along, notching a 34-20 win at Oakland on Sunday, which was their sixth straight win. Kansas City almost slipped up though, trailing 20-14 heading into the fourth quarter before scoring the last 20 points of the game.
Kansas City isn’t going to catch Denver for the AFC West crown, but it feels like the Chiefs are going to be one of the teams who will secure a Wild Card berth. The football the Chiefs are playing right now isn’t pretty, but they continue to find ways to win. With how easy Kansas City’s schedule is going forward it’s hard to see them slipping up and missing out on the playoffs.
New York Jets (7-5)
Remaining games: v. Ten, @Dal, v. NE, @Buf
Remaining opponents combined record: 23-25
The Jets survived a serious scare on Sunday when they rallied from 10 points down late in the fourth quarter to force overtime against the New York Giants. Ryan Fitzpatrick threw for 390 yards and his touchdown pass to Brandon Marshall with 27 seconds left tied the game. Randy Bullock hit a 31-yard field goal in overtime to earn the victory and help the Jets move into the final Wild Card spot in the AFC.
Looking at their remaining schedule, common sense would think the Jets could win the next two games. Since this is the NFL though, nothing is a given. I wouldn’t be shocked to see Tennessee give the Jets a game this week, and even with all their injuries, it is never easy to go down to Dallas and win.
New York closes out the season with games against New England and Buffalo. The tough closing games puts even more emphasis on the need for the Jets to win their next two contests. Buffalo has to hope the Jets drop a game somewhere before they meet in the regular season finale, since as of now Buffalo holds the tiebreaker due to the Bills winning in their previous meeting in November.
Pittsburgh Steelers (7-5)
Remaining games: @Cin, v. Den, @Bal, @Cle
Remaining opponents combined record: 26-22
Ben Roethlisberger continued his recent mastery of the Colts with 364 yards passing and four touchdown passes in Pittsburgh’s 45-10 win over Indianapolis on Sunday night. Roethlisberger showed no effects of the concussion he suffered against Seattle, and if the Steelers can get on a roll, they are a team nobody in the AFC will want to see in the playoffs.
What Pittsburgh has going against them is their tough schedule the next two weeks. This week the Steelers have to travel to Cincinnati, where the Bengals can clinch the AFC Central with a win over Pittsburgh. As if this week’s game wasn’t enough, next week Pittsburgh hosts Denver, who leads the AFC West.
If the Steelers can find their way to wins over the Bengals and Broncos, it’s hard to see Pittsburgh missing out on the playoffs, especially with how the Steelers close the regular season. Even though Pittsburgh has to hit the road the last two weeks, they do get to take on Baltimore and Cleveland, both of whom are terrible this year.
Indianapolis Colts (6-6)
Remaining games: @Jax, v. Hou, @Mia, v. Ten
Remaining opponents combined record: 18-30
Indianapolis got destroyed by Pittsburgh on Sunday night, but they had the luxury of already knowing Houston lost to Buffalo earlier in the day. The Colts still technically have the AFC South lead because of their win earlier in the year against the Texans.
There are still questions as to when Andrew Luck is going to return for the Colts, so until then it’s still hard to know what to expect out of Indianapolis going forward. This week the Colts travel to Jacksonville, who has been competitive this year with Blake Bortles making big strides in his second season.
The true big game for the Colts will come next week when they host Houston in Indianapolis. If the Colts can win for a second time this year against the Texans, it’s hard to see Indianapolis not earning the AFC South title, and the playoff spot which comes along with it.
Houston Texans (6-6)
Remaining games: v. NE, @Ind, @Ten, v. Jax
Remaining opponents combined record: 23-25
The Texans missed out on a big opportunity last week when they lost to Buffalo. Heading into the week, Houston was the sixth seed in the AFC. After the loss the Texans have dropped down to ninth. The loss to Buffalo snapped a four-game winning streak for Houston, and now the Texans will have to pretty much be perfect the rest of the way.
The bad news for Houston is they have to played New England on Sunday night. The good news for Houston is they might be catching the Patriots at the right time. New England has lost two in a row, and a win against the Patriots could set up a huge showdown with Indianapolis next week.
If Houston can somehow string together wins against New England and Indianapolis these next two weeks, the Texans might be thinking about securing the AFC South rather than a Wild Card spot. Houston closes out the season with games against Tennessee and Jacksonville, which are both winnable games.
As I said earlier, it’s hard to see Kansas City not being one of the two Wild Card teams out of the AFC. So only one spot is really left for five teams to fight over. Indianapolis and Houston likely both won’t make the playoffs, so whoever emerges from the AFC South will end up as the fourth seed in the AFC.
The final Wild Card spot is likely going to come down to Buffalo, Pittsburgh, and the Jets.
The Bills have to hope for some help from Pittsburgh’s opponents these next two weeks, and with how tough Cincinnati and Denver are, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Pittsburgh drop the next two games.
If the Wild Card race comes down to the Bills and the Jets, I like Buffalo’s chances. The Bills already hold the tiebreaker against the Jets, and Buffalo has a little bit easier schedule than New York going forward. Of course this hinges on Buffalo winning their final four games, which while it’ll be tough, it’s not impossible.
While we’ll likely end up getting burned in the end, there’s still hope. Even though expectations were high coming into the season, most years by this time the year is already over. Hopefully this year plays out a little different than some of the failed playoff runs of years past.
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