Buffalo Bills Week 5 Rooting Interests

It’s time to start thinking about the postseason.

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What is the story about?

Week 4 was a rough one, but when it was all over and all the flags were picked up and stands were emptied around the league, the Buffalo Bills were the last remaining undefeated team in the AFC. That means they jumped two spaces and are now sitting nicely in the AFC’s one-seed position. Of course, their 4-0 start, which matches the franchise’s 2020 season when they, ultimately, advanced to the AFC Championship Game, means they are also right where we have come accustomed to being this decade — on top

of the AFC East.

So, with all that in mind, here’s a look at what the standings look like before we begin a weekend full of big games.

AFC EAST

Buffalo Bills (4-0)
New England Patriots (2-2)
Miami Dolphins (1-3)
New York Jets (0-4)

AFC Playoff Picture heading into Week 5

Buffalo Bills (4-0)
Los Angeles Chargers (3-1)
Pittsburgh Steelers (3-1)
Indianapolis Colts (3-1)
Jacksonville Jaguars (3-1)
Cincinnati Bengals (2-2)
Kansas City Chiefs (2-2)
Denver Broncos (2-2)
New England Patriots (2-2)
Las Vegas Raiders (1-3)
Houston Texans (1-3)
Baltimore Ravens (1-3)
Miami Dolphins (1-3)
Cleveland Browns (1-3)
New York Jets (0-4)
Tennessee Titans (0-4)

Wins by the Chiefs, Patriots, and Texans helped them step up out of the conference basement while a win by the Steelers has them keeping pace with the Bills. But losses by the Chargers and the Colts dropped them out of the top-seeded positions. For now, the Bills control their own destiny, and, while the season is closing its first quarter and there’s still a lot of football to be played, it’s nice to watch the perennial contenders chasing them for a change.

With Buffalo not slated to play until Sunday night, there will be 12 Week 5 games played while Bills fans wait for their turn. So, here’s who Bills Mafia should be rooting for this week.

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AFC East Week 5 Bills rooting interests

Buffalo Bills (4-0) over New England Patriots (2-2), Sunday, 8:20 p.m. EDT (NBC)

This is a no-brainer, right? We always want the Bills to win. Not only do we want Buffalo to win, defeating a division rival is always the goal — especially when it’s one that kept your franchise down for over a decade. Plus, the Bills are on an eight-game home win streak. One more and they tie the 1990-91 season run. While a loss would still see the Bills at the top of their division, a three-game lead would look pretty nice as they wrap up their three-game homestand. So, obviously, Go Bills!

Carolina Panthers (1-3) over Miami Dolphins (1-3), Sunday 1 p.m. EDT (FOX)

The Bills will play both the Panthers in a few weeks and they’ve already played the Dolphins (once), so while their SOV score would improve with a Miami win and their SOS score won’t budge regardless, this is about the division not the conference. Keep widening the gap between Buffalo and the other three teams in the AFC East — that’s the goal for the next few weeks. We may find a time toward the end of the season where we would want to root for a division rival, but this is not that time.

Dallas Cowboys (1-2-1) over New York Jets (0-4), Sunday 1 p.m. EDT (FOX)

The Cowboys couldn’t pull off a win on Monday night, but they didn’t lose either. After a 40-40 tie with the Green Bay Packers, they should be ready for a much more definitive finish to this week’s game. Let’s just hope they are in it for a win. If the Jets keep losing, we will be able to root for them soon in an effort to improve the Bills’ SOV score, but for now, down with anyone in the AFC East.

Week 5 games that impact the Bills

Las Vegas Raiders (1-3) over Indianapolis Colts (3-1), Sunday 1 p.m. EDT (FOX)

Keeping the Colts behind the Bills would be great. Indianapolis has some of those obscure tie-breaker advantages at the moment — the ones that take into affect your margin of victory and all that. Plus, AFC West teams winning keeps pressure on the Chiefs and the Los Angeles Chargers — both of whom are looking to contend for that one-seed spot the Bills are currently holding onto.

Baltimore Ravens (1-3) over the Houston Texans (1-3), Sunday 1 p.m. EDT (CBS)

The Bills beat the Ravens back in Week 1 in what could arguably be called Baltimore’s best game of the year so far. They play the Texans in Week 12. So, no matter who wins this one, Buffalo’s SOS won’t change. But Buffalo already holds the tiebreaker over Baltimore, plus a Ravens win increases the Bills’ SOV. While we obviously hope for a win in Houston this season, nothing is a sure thing, so root for the birds this week.

Detroit Lions (3-1) over Cincinnati Bengals (2-2), Sunday 4:25 p.m. EDT (FOX)

Joe Burrow may be out of action until Christmas and Jake Browning may be struggling (he was sacked three times last week and has thrown five interceptions over the past three weeks), but it’s never a good idea to let the south Ohio team hang around too close to the top. We’ve seen this episode before: Burrow is out, the Bengals fall, winter comes, the Bengals become a contender. So, until they have a couple more losses and the Bills have a couple more wins, keep rooting for the other guys.

Washington Commanders (2-2) over Los Angeles Chargers (3-1), Sunday 4:25 p.m. (FOX)

The Chargers were the AFC’s top seed going into last week. Now they sit just one game behind Buffalo. While we are rooting for a Bills win this week (and every week), not letting Los Angeles hang around near the top too long would be ideal. The Chargers are more than welcome to steal the division from Kansas City, they just need to do so while staying anywhere below the conference’s top seed.

Kansas City Chiefs (2-2) over Jacksonville Jaguars (3-1), Monday 8:15 p.m. (ESPN)

It’s strange to be rooting for the Chiefs, ever, but especially this early in the season. But here we are with the Jaguars just a game behind the Bills in the AFC standings while Kansas City is two games back. A Chiefs win would mean that, with a Buffalo win both teams are back two, and, if the unmentionable happens and the Bills drop a home game, neither of these teams would be able to overtake them this week.

The rest of the NFL Week 5 Bills rooting interests

Cleveland Browns (1-3) over Minnesota Vikings (2-2) – SOS
New Orleans Saints (0-4) over New York Giants (1-3) – SOV
Philadelphia Eagles (4-0) over Denver Broncos (2-2) – SOS
Arizona Cardinals (2-2) over Tennessee Titans (0-4) – NFC over AFC
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-1) over Seattle Seahawks (3-1) – SOS

Games that don’t affect the Bills

San Francisco 49ers (3-1) at Los Angeles Rams (3-1)

Teams on Bye

Atlanta Falcons, Chicago Bears, Green Bay Packers, Pittsburgh Steelers

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