Well that wasn’t much fun. The Buffalo Bills dropped a divisional game at home. Josh Allen looked less than superhuman. Stefon Diggs did a little gloating as a member of the New England Patriots. Sunday night wasn’t pleasant. But Monday made things a little better because the Kansas City Chiefs lost, which made the pettiness in Bills Mafia happy.
Overall, while we want the Bills to win all the games all the time, it wasn’t as terrible a week as Sunday night made us feel was true. The Colts moved back
up to the top, but all of the other usual top contenders lost alongside Buffalo. The Bills are still at the top of the AFC East and are still in control of their postseason destiny.
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 (4-1)
- New England Patriots (3-2)
- Miami Dolphins (1-4)
- New York Jets (0-5)
AFC Playoff Picture heading into Week 6
- Indianapolis Colts (4-1)
- Buffalo Bills (4-1)
- Pittsburgh Steelers (3-1)
- Los Angeles Chargers (3-2)
- Jacksonville Jaguars (4-1)
- Denver Broncos (3-2)
- New England Patriots (3-2)
- Cincinnati Bengals (2-3)
- Houston Texans (2-3)
- Kansas City Chiefs (2-3)
- Las Vegas Raiders (1-4)
- Baltimore Ravens (1-4)
- Miami Dolphins (1-4)
- Cleveland Browns (1-4)
- Tennessee Titans (1-4)
- New York Jets (0-5)
With Buffalo playing Monday night in Atlanta, it’s going to be a long weekend. Here’s a look at who to root for in Week 6 while we wait.
_____________________________________________________________________________
AFC East Week 6 Bills rooting interests
Buffalo Bills (4-1) over Atlanta Falcons (2-2), Monday, 7:15 p.m. EDT (ESPN)
The Bills need to get back in the win column, and they really could use a dominant performance by the offense in doing so. That tie at the top of the Playoff Picture means Buffalo needs to start scoring more points so they hold all the tiebreakers eventually. Hopefully, we see Josh Allen, James Cook, and company put on a show Monday night. So, obviously, Go Bills!
Los Angeles Chargers (3-2) over Miami Dolphins (1-4), Sunday 1 p.m. EDT (CBS)
While the Chargers are just one game behind the Bills, and just two weeks ago were ahead of them in the AFC Playoff Picture, this one is about squashing any hope the Dolphins are still clinging to of taking the AFC East crown away from Buffalo. Additionally, a Los Angeles win keeps them ahead of Kansas City regardless of what the Chiefs do later in the day, and it’s always worth rooting for anyone that will keep the perennial conference champions far down the list of playoff spot contenders.
Denver Broncos (3-2) over New York Jets (0-5), Sunday 9:30 a.m. EDT (NFL Network)
A Denver win in London will serve two purposes for the Bills. It will drop the Jets even further from competing for an AFC East title (even on paper) and it will keep the Broncos ahead of the Chiefs in the AFC West. While Denver could prove to be as formidable an opponent as Kansas City in the end, not having to focus on the history of playoff Patrick Mahomes would be nice come January.
New Orleans Saints (1-4) over New England Patriots (3-2), Sunday 1 p.m. EDT (CBS)
After upsetting the Bills last week, the Patriots need to come back down to Earth. Nothing would do that better than a loss to a 1-4 football team. Too many Bills fans went into panic mode after Sunday night, but Drake Maye is not Tom Brady. The Patriots are not fast-tracked to another dynasty. However, it would still be good to put some more space between New England and Buffalo, and a loss Sunday afternoon would do just that.
Week 6 games that impact the Bills
Los Angeles Rams (3-2) over the Baltimore Ravens (1-4), Sunday 1 p.m. EDT (FOX)
At the moment, it doesn’t look like the Ravens are going to challenge the Bills for a playoff spot this year. But Lamar Jackson won’t sit out the entire season. He’ll be back, and when he is the Ravens are a very good football team. If they end up on a collision course for a postseason meeting in Buffalo, it will be a revenge game for Jackson and Derrick Henry. Handing out as many “Ls” in the loss column as possible while Baltimore isn’t at full strength would go a long way toward keeping that from happening.
Arizona Cardinals (2-3) over Indianapolis Colts (4-1), Sunday 1 p.m. EDT (FOX)
The Colts are at the top of the AFC’s leaderboard by way of the NFL’s tie-breaking procedures. Buffalo and Indianapolis won’t face each other this season. That means leaving things to be decided by the league’s 12-step process isn’t ideal. A couple of Colts losses, combined with some Bills wins, would put Buffalo back in control.
Cleveland Browns (1-4) over Pittsburgh Steelers (3-1), Sunday 1 p.m. (CBS)
The Steelers had a bye last week. That means Pittsburgh is just a half game behind the Bills in the current AFC Playoff Picture. While the Buffalo will travel to Pittsburgh in Week 13, adding some distance between the teams on the above list before heading south will be nice. The Bills play the Browns too, so this game won’t really do anything for their SOS score. If we’re hoping that Buffalo beats both Cleveland and Pittsburgh later this fall, which obviously we are, then picking the team with the better record for this week’s win is the right answer there — so, again… it’s here we go, Steelers.
Seattle Seahawks (3-2) over Jacksonville Jaguars (4-1), Sunday 1 p.m. EDT (FOX)
The Jaguars pulled off a late comeback and defeated the Chiefs on Monday night. While that knocks down the Bills’ SOS score, there weren’t any tears being shed in Buffalo. Now, however, the only thing keeping Jacksonville from being tied with the Bills is the Colts. If Indianapolis falls and Jacksonville doesn’t, they will swap spots and it will be the Jags that the Bills have to focus on. Easy solution: root for all the AFC playoff contenders to lose.
Detroit Lions (4-1) over Kansas City Chiefs (2-3), Sunday 8:20 p.m. EDT (NBC)
Keep Kansas City down, don’t give Patrick Mahomes a chance to do Patrick Mahomes things late in the season. That’s the hope here. The longer the Chiefs stay out of the top seven in the AFC, the better. Of course, the Chiefs will come to Buffalo in Week 9 and a Bills win will give them the ultimate tiebreaker. However, keeping Kansas City from a playoff spot at all would be ideal as we all know how January elimination games with the Chiefs have historically ended up.
The rest of the NFL Week 6 Bills rooting interests
Philadelphia Eagles (4-1) over New York Giants (1-4) – SOS
Carolina Panthers (2-3) over Dallas Cowboys (2-2-1) – SOS
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-1) over San Francisco 49ers (4-1) – SOS
Green Bay Packers (2-1-1) over Cincinnati Bengals (2-3) – NFC over AFC
Games that don’t affect the Bills
Tennessee Titans (1-4) at Las Vegas Raiders (1-4)
Chicago Bears (2-2) at Washington Commanders (3-2)
Teams on Bye
Houston Texans, Minnesota Vikings
_____________________________________________________________________________
Optimistic AFC standings after Week 6
So, if all the bounces go the Bills’ way and all the right teams win, this is what the standings in the AFC would look like on Tuesday morning:
- Buffalo Bills (5-1)
- Indianapolis Colts (4-2)
- Los Angeles Chargers (4-2)
- Pittsburgh Steelers (3-2)
- Jacksonville Jaguars (4-2)
- Denver Broncos (4-2)
- New England Patriots (3-3)
- Houston Texans (2-3)
- Cincinnati Bengals (2-4)
- Kansas City Chiefs (2-4)
- Cleveland Browns (2-4)
- Las Vegas Raiders (2-4)
- Baltimore Ravens (1-5)
- Miami Dolphins (1-5)
- Tennessee Titans (1-5)
- New York Jets (0-6)
_____________________________________________________________________________
Now we know who to root for, who to root against, and what games to have playing wherever you may be as we wait for Sunday night.
Go Bills!
