With Week 13 officially in the books, the Buffalo Bills now find themselves atop the AFC as the number one overall seed.
Beating the New England Patriots on Thursday Night Football gave the Bills a head start on their conference foes this past weekend. Then, seeing the Kansas City Chiefs and Miami Dolphins both lose in the same day gave Buffalo sole possession of that coveted top spot.
Now three games removed from a shocking, heartbreaking loss to Minnesota, the Bills have won three straight and bounced back in dominant fashion. There were certainly questions following their second loss in a row a few weeks ago, but all is well in Buffalo once again.
At 9-3, the Bills control their own destiny the rest of the way in terms of playoff seeding. Because the Chiefs (9-3) have a worse conference record (5-3) than Buffalo (6-2), it’s all on the Bills to hold it down on top — but it’s not going to be easy.
The home stretch is by no means easy for the Buffalo Bills as they look to control the AFC’s number one seed.
Some serious playoff shakeups in the AFC after 13 weeks. 👀 #NFL pic.twitter.com/zp81gXS6Gk
— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) December 6, 2022
This coming weekend, the Bills play host to a divisional rival in the New York Jets. It’s a rematch for revenge, after the Jets beat Buffalo back in Week 9. The Jets started the season 5-2, but proceeded to go 2-3 in their next five games, neither winning nor losing more than one game in a row.
Now at 7-5, the Jets are in the thick of the playoff race, and every game means that much more — especially within the division.
Following the Jets, Buffalo will host the Miami Dolphins on Saturday December 17, in another divisional clash. A couple of days ago, Tua Tagovailoa suffered what appears to be a minor injury and should be good to go this coming weekend. By the time these two teams face off, his ankle should be feeling even better, and the Bills will have to account for that high-powered passing attack featuring Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle.
A week later, the Bills will travel for what should be an easy victory over the Chicago Bears. But then, on January 2, they go on the road again, only to face the defending AFC Champions who just took down Patrick Mahomes and Kansas City.
Week 17 will be a pivotal game for the Bills, and if they can come away beating the Cincinnati Bengals, they will likely have the number one seed still in control.
It will all come down to being able to beat Bill Belichick in an all-important Week 18 rematch with the New England Patriots, who could also still be fighting for a playoff spot.
The end of the schedule isn’t easy for the Bills, who play four of five games against teams legitimately still in the playoff picture. But, after fighting through a Josh Allen injury scare and working their way back up to the number one seed, Buffalo is only looking better.
The Bills have gotten plenty of their defensive studs back, too, although still missing Von Miller. Overall, Buffalo should be locked and loaded going into these final five games, looking to keep control atop the AFC.