Bills' path to the playoffs after devastating Eagles loss
There's plenty to chew on after the Buffalo Bills' awful loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. From poor officiating, to poor coaching, to poor weather – everything and anything associated with Sunday's game comes with some kind of negative connotation. Outside of Josh Allen's performance, of course.Unfortunately, there was more bad news to take in on […]
There's plenty to chew on after the Buffalo Bills' awful loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. From poor officiating, to poor coaching, to poor weather – everything and anything associated with Sunday's game comes with some kind of negative connotation.
Outside of Josh Allen's performance, of course.
Unfortunately, there was more bad news to take in on Monday when the Bills dropped from eighth to 10th in the AFC playoff race.
Right now, the Bills are 6-6 and they have the Denver Broncos and Houston Texans ahead of them for the seventh seed, which is the final playoff seed. Things get even tougher when realizing the Broncos have the sixth-easiest remaining strength of schedule, while the Texans have the 11th-easiest.
The Bills, on the other hand, have the 10th-hardest strength of schedule, headlined by the Kansas City Chiefs and Dallas Cowboys over the next three weeks. They also have to travel South to take on the Miami Dolphins in Week 18.
The only reprieve the Bills will receive is the fact the Broncos and Texans will face off in Week 13, so there's one guaranteed loss coming. However, the Broncos beat the Bills back in Week 10, so the Broncos will hold the tiebreaker over the Bills, even if they lose. If the Texans lose and fall to 6-6, they'll hold the tiebreaker over the Bills thanks to the conference record tiebreaker, where the Texans would be 3-4 against AFC opponents compared to Buffalo's 3-5 record. So, it's only a slight reprieve, at best.
In other words: The Bills are stuck when it comes to playoff seeding in Week 13 and then they have to take on the Chiefs and Cowboys in Weeks 14 and 15.
Right now, the Bills have just a 15% chance of making the playoffs after holding a 61% chance just five weeks ago. If there was ever a time to circle the wagons – it's now.
Because if they don't, the 2023 season will be a lost cause.
