The Buffalo Bills could be celebrating a division title and the AFC’s No. 2 seed on Sunday Night Football in Week 18.
Or, they could see their season come to an end.
Buffalo enters the final week of the NFL regular season with a wild range of potential outcomes in regard to the postseason.
Beat the Miami Dolphins on the road, and the Bills will be AFC East champions for a fourth straight year and earn the conference’s No. 2 seed. But lose, and they could miss out on the playoffs completely.
Should the Pittsburgh Steelers and Jacksonville Jaguars emerge victorious in Week 18, combined with the Houston Texans and Indianapolis Colts not playing to a tie, Buffalo will find itself in a win-or-go-home spot. The likelihood of that scenario playing out isn’t exactly far-fetched, either.
The playoff-hopeful Steelers visit the NFL-best Ravens on Saturday, but Baltimore won’t have anything to play for in the AFC North showdown. The Ravens have already locked up the division title along with the top overall seed, so it wouldn’t be surprising if John Harbaugh rested MVP favorite Lamar Jackson and other key players.
The Jaguars, meanwhile, have a division title to play for in Tennessee. Jacksonville just needs to beat the 5-11 Titans to finish atop the AFC South.
If the Bills don’t win on SNF, their other paths to playoffs are: a tie versus Miami, a Steelers loss or tie, a Jaguars loss or tie, or a Texans-Colts tie. If they make the playoffs but not as division champs, the Bills will be either the No. 6 or No. 7 seed.
Buffalo boat raced Miami in the two teams’ first meeting back in Week 4, with quarterback Josh Allen’s five total touchdowns powering a 48-20 victory.
Here is how the NFL tiebreaking procedures work.