NFL Week 14 picks: Why we like Browns, Bengals and Eagles
Lorenzo Reyes is back with his best bets for Week 14 games. He explains why he likes Browns, Bengals and Eagles.
The Buffalo Bills entered the week with the third-best odds of any AFC team to make the playoffs, but they were also the team closest to getting bumped out of the playoff bubble.
As Week 14 began, Buffalo held the No. 7 seed in the conference. The Bills’ 8-4 record was tied with the two other teams holding wild-card spots in the AFC side of the bracket, but their weaker conference record (5-3) dropped them to the lowest spot on the wild-card totem pole.
Buffalo’s big fourth quarter to pull out a Week 14 win over the Cincinnati Bengals helped them out significantly. With the Bills’ 39-34 win, they moved to 9-4, above the Indianapolis Colts after their Week 14 loss and the Los Angeles Chargers ahead of Los Angeles’ “Monday Night Football” game.
Here’s a closer look at the Bills’ playoff odds, remaining schedule and AFC playoff picture with less than five weeks to go in the regular season:
Bills playoff chances
NFL Next Gen Stats gives the Bills an 96% chance to make the playoffs. Those odds rose from 88% with their win over the Bengals on Dec. 7.
If the season ended in Week 14, Buffalo would hold the No. 5 seed in the AFC side of the playoff bracket. The Bills’ win pushed them up over the two other teams vying for wild-card spots, but the Chargers could take back the No. 5 seed with a win on Dec. 8.
The Bills have now won two straight, matching their longest streak since winning four straight games to open the season. Buffalo is now 3-2 in its last five games. One of those losses was within the division (Dolphins) and the other was a non-division loss in the AFC (Texans).
Bills remaining schedule
The Bills don’t have many difficult tests ahead of them to close out the season. Buffalo has two division games left, with one against the AFC East-leading Patriots and one against the division bottom-feeding New York Jets. Their Week 14 game against the Bengals had implications for Cincinnati’s minuscule playoff hopes, but it was also just one of three games against sub-.500 teams the Bills have to close out the season.
Tankathon rates their remaining schedule as the 15th-hardest league-wide. Here’s who Buffalo still needs to play:
AFC East standings
With just under five weeks left, the Bills are second in the AFC East, trailing the Patriots by two games. Buffalo lost its first head-to-head matchup with the Pats at home in Week 5, but it can even that tiebreaker with a win in New England in Week 15.
Otherwise, the Bills would be in danger of not winning their division for the first time since 2019. New England is in position to win its 23rd division championship in franchise history.
New England Patriots (11-2, 3-0 AFC East)Buffalo Bills (9-4, 2-2)Miami Dolphins (6-7, 2-2)New York Jets (3-10, 0-4)
Denver Broncos (11-2; AFC West leaders)New England Patriots (11-2; AFC East leaders)Jacksonville Jaguars (9-4; AFC South leaders)Pittsburgh Steelers (7-6; AFC North leaders)Buffalo Bills (9-4, wild card No. 1)Los Angeles Chargers (8-4, wild card No. 2)Houston Texans (8-5, wild card No. 3)
In the hunt: Indianapolis Colts (8-5); Baltimore Ravens (6-7); Kansas City Chiefs (6-7); Miami Dolphins (6-7); Cincinnati Bengals (4-9);
Eliminated: New York Jets (3-10); Cleveland Browns