If the playoffs began today, Buffalo would be watching from home.
1 seed - Cincinnati (6-2*)2 seed - Houston (6-3)
3 seed - New England (5-3)
4 seed - San Diego (4-4)
5 seed - Baltimore (6-2*: lose record vs. common opponents tiebreaker to CIN, 0-2 to 2-0)
6 seed - Pittsburgh (6-3)
7 (OUT) - New York (5-3: lose head-to-head tiebreaker to NE)
8 (OUT) - Buffalo (5-3: lose AFCE tiebreaker to NY/NE, 2-1 to 1-1; lose head-to-head tiebreaker to NY)9 (OUT) - Tennessee (4-4)10 (OUT) - Kansas City (4-4: lose strength of victory tiebreaker to SD; lose strength of victory tiebreaker to TEN)
11 (OUT) - Oakland (4-4: lose AFC West tiebreaker to SD, 1-2 to 2-1; lose head-to-head tiebreaker to KC)
Rest of AFC teams: Denver (3-5), Cleveland (3-5), Jacksonville (2-6), Miami (1-7), Indianapolis (0-9)
*BAL and CIN are both undefeated in the division, which is why the Bengals are the 1 seed this morning. To be clear, the Ravens have a 2-0 AFCN record while the Bengals are 1-0, so their percentage is equal, but the record isn't. The NFL uses the percentage.
While this might seem like a significant decline, a Buffalo win this weekend coupled with a Patriots victory over the Jets puts the Bills back on top of the AFC East and as high as the first overall seed in the AFC. The Bengals also start their very difficult second-half schedule this week by facing the Steelers, so one of those two teams will lose ahead of the Bills.
Pats JETS
1 seed - Cincinnati (6-2*)2 seed - Houston (6-3)
3 seed - New England (5-3)
4 seed - San Diego (4-4)
5 seed - Baltimore (6-2*: lose record vs. common opponents tiebreaker to CIN, 0-2 to 2-0)
6 seed - Pittsburgh (6-3)
7 (OUT) - New York (5-3: lose head-to-head tiebreaker to NE)
8 (OUT) - Buffalo (5-3: lose AFCE tiebreaker to NY/NE, 2-1 to 1-1; lose head-to-head tiebreaker to NY)9 (OUT) - Tennessee (4-4)10 (OUT) - Kansas City (4-4: lose strength of victory tiebreaker to SD; lose strength of victory tiebreaker to TEN)
11 (OUT) - Oakland (4-4: lose AFC West tiebreaker to SD, 1-2 to 2-1; lose head-to-head tiebreaker to KC)
Rest of AFC teams: Denver (3-5), Cleveland (3-5), Jacksonville (2-6), Miami (1-7), Indianapolis (0-9)
*BAL and CIN are both undefeated in the division, which is why the Bengals are the 1 seed this morning. To be clear, the Ravens have a 2-0 AFCN record while the Bengals are 1-0, so their percentage is equal, but the record isn't. The NFL uses the percentage.
While this might seem like a significant decline, a Buffalo win this weekend coupled with a Patriots victory over the Jets puts the Bills back on top of the AFC East and as high as the first overall seed in the AFC. The Bengals also start their very difficult second-half schedule this week by facing the Steelers, so one of those two teams will lose ahead of the Bills.
Pats JETS
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