Week 18 is here and it will mark the end of the journey for many teams as the regular season comes to a close. The good news is that the Buffalo Bills are heading to the playoffs, but we don’t know who they will play just yet.
When you look at the entire AFC playoff bracket, there are so many possibilities on who they could play next weekend. The only guarantee is that they won’t play the Los Angeles Chargers in the first round. Right now, the Bills are the 7-seed, but they can get as high as the 5-seed.
In order for them to get to the top wild card spot, Buffalo would need to win their game against the Jets. Then, both the Texans and Chargers would need to lose their respective games. Houston will host Indianapolis and the Chargers are on the road against the Broncos.
With the Broncos still competing for the top seed in the AFC and the Chargers not starting Justin Herbert, Denver should easily handle the Chargers. As for Houston, you would think that they would have an easy win on their hands against the Colts. But a recent update may easily change that outcome.
According to Jane Slater from NFL Network, the Texans will not have WR Nico Collins against the Colts. The Texans are saving Collins for the playoffs so they will be going with two rookies in Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel against Indy.
Texans might be gifting Bills the 5-seed in AFC playoff picture
While Collins is only one player, he is an impactful player with over 1,100 yards and 6 touchdowns. The Texans’ offense is not as dynamic as their defense so if the Colts can somehow pull an upset against Houston, that could very much put Buffalo in a prime spot to move up to the 5-seed.
Now granted, anything can happen today with these games. However, looking at the matchups, there is a world where the Bills could take the 5-seed and face the winner of the Ravens vs. Steelers Sunday Night Football matchup next weekend.