The Buffalo Bills have to be perfect — and they’ll need some help from the Miami Dolphins — if the Bills are going to move past the New England Patriots to win the AFC East in 2019.
If Buffalo is to win the division, the Bills need to win out, including a Week 16 win over the Patriots. Meanwhile, the Bills will also need the Patriots to lose out, with losses to the Bills and the Dolphins at Gillette Stadium in the next two weeks. That’s because the Patriots and Bills would go to a tie-breaker, and New England has the common-foe tiebreaker with wins over the Eagles and the Browns. It’s not the most likely of situations for the Bills. The Patriots have a comfortable lead in the AFC East.
Here are the current standings after Week 15.
1. Baltimore (12-2)*
2. New England (11-3)*
3. Kansas City (10-4)*
4. Houston (9-5)
5. Bills (10-4)*
6. Pittsburgh (8-6)
7. Tennessee (8-6)
8. Indianapolis (6-7)
* = clinched a playoff berth
And here’s a look at how the Bills can take the AFC East, as explained by NBC Sports’ Peter King.
“The 10-4 Bills play the 11-3 Patriots next Saturday afternoon in Foxboro, but the Bills have to go 2-0 down the stretch and New England 0-2 for Buffalo to win the AFC East for the first time since 1995. (New England has the common-foe tiebreaker by virtue of beating Philly and Cleveland, while Buffalo lost to both.) If the Bills, who clinched a playoff spot Sunday night, make the playoffs as the fifth seed, it’s possible they could have to beat Deshaun Watson, Lamar Jackson and Patrick Mahomes—all on the road—to get to the Super Bowl. Yikes. For a team that hasn’t won a playoff game in this century, that’s a big task.”
Of course, the Patriots’ No. 2 seed is in greater jeopardy than their divisional title. The Chiefs, who finish their season @ Bears and vs. the Chargers, could move past the Patriots, if both teams had the same record. The Chiefs would need a Patriots’ loss (perhaps against Buffalo) and a two KC wins to move past the Patriots. Kansas City has a head-to-head win over the Patriots, so the Chiefs win a tiebreaker.
In order for the Patriots to get the No. 1 seed, they would need to win both games while Baltimore lost both of their final games (a very unlikely scenario as they are @ Cleveland and vs. the Steelers).
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