Fans don’t need advanced metrics and stats to know that the Week 9 showdown between the Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals is a big one for playoff implications.
But a few numbers to help sure don’t hurt, either.
Using the New York Times’ playoff machine, it appears that the winner of the game will have a roughly 80 percent chance to make the postseason, while the loser will have a 55 percent chance to make the final cut.
That’s a huge percentage chance at stake and speaks to just how close things are in the stacked AFC right now. The Bengals have yet to win a game in the conference over three attempts and are last in the AFC North, while the Bills are 2-3 in the AFC and second in the AFC East.
It’s always interesting to click around in the NYT’s playoff machine, but it’s especially notable heading into this weekend, clearly.
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