Six of the seven groups in the AFC playoff image are set together with the Buffalo Bills clinching a wild card spot, however the order of these groups remains to be very a lot in doubt. With groups resting their starters in the AFC, there will certainly be some Week 18 shenanigans.
If the Bills lose, they’re assured to complete in seventh and play at the quantity two group in the convention. As issues stand, that may very well be the Denver Broncos, New England Patriots, or Jacksonville Jaguars relying on the end result of their video games in Week 18.
Advertisement
If the Bills win, there are a couple of completely different choices relying on the outcomes of the Los Angeles Chargers and Houston Texans video games. Both the Chargers and the Texans have mentioned they’re resting key starters in Week 18, so in the event that they each lose and the Bills win, Buffalo is the 5 seed and would journey to the winner of Sunday evening’s AFC North showdown between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens.
If one in every of the Texans or Chargers wins and one loses, a Bills win makes them the six seed and they’d journey to the third-place group — both the Patriots or Jaguars.
Tl;dr Buffalo might end fifth, sixth, or seventh and so they might find yourself taking part in the Broncos, Patriots, Jaguars, Steelers or Ravens in the Wild Card spherical.
The Texans and Jaguars play in the early window Sunday and the Chargers and Broncos play one another in the late afternoon window. New England additionally performs in the late afternoon window. The ultimate game of the common season is the Ravens vs Steelers on Sunday evening.
Advertisement
AFC East standings
The New England Patriots have already clinched the AFC East title. All 4 slots are locked in with solely ultimate report to replace. The greatest query as we speak is what’s going to occur after the game in Miami with their head coach Mike McDaniel. The Dolphins have already fired their normal supervisor.
1. New England Patriots (13-3)
2. Buffalo Bills (11-5)
3. Miami Dolphins (7-9)
4. New York Jets (3-13)
Updated AFC playoff image
The Broncos maintain the report in frequent video games tiebreaker over New England, so if Denver wins in opposition to the Chargers in Week 18, they are going to clinch the one seed.
The Texans win the three-way tiebreaker at 11-5 because of wins over each the Chargers and Bills. Then Los Angeles wins the tiebreaker with the Bills because of report vs frequent opponents. The solely means for the Bills to maneuver up can be if both Houston or Los Angeles loses as they will’t win a tiebreaker vs both group.
Advertisement
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)