How Titans’ Win Vs. 49ers Impacts Patriots’ AFC Playoff Outlook

The Tennessee Titans wrested away temporary control of the No. 2 seed in the AFC playoff standings on Thursday night, and their stay in that spot could last a while longer if the New England Patriots don’t take care of business this weekend.

The Titans’ 20-17 win over the San Francisco 49ers on “Thursday Night Football” bumped them a half-game ahead of the Patriots. Whether Tennessee remains in that position, of course, depends on how New England fares against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday.

A Patriots victory over the Bills would improve their record to 10-5 and move them back into the No. 2 spot, thanks to their holding the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Titans. It also would put the Bills in a tough spot, playoff-wise, heading into a Week 17 matchup with the occasionally pesky Atlanta Falcons.

In fact, the Pats can actually clinch the division if they beat the Bills and the Miami Dolphins lose to the New Orleans Saints.

Conversely, a Patriots loss would give the Titans sole possession of the second seed (for now) and really shake up the standings, as New England would lose tiebreakers to both the Bills and Indianapolis Colts. Things get really complicated from there, depending on what happens with the Los Angeles Chargers, Cincinnati Bengals and Baltimore Ravens. (The Bengals and Ravens play each other Sunday.)

Here are New England’s playoff-clinching scenarios:

Clinch division title with:

-Patriots win AND Dolphins loss or tie

Clinch playoff berth with any of the following:

-Patriots win AND Raiders loss or tie AND Chargers loss
-Patriots win AND Colts loss or tie AND Bengals loss
-Patriots win AND Colts loss or tie AND Ravens loss AND Steelers loss or tie
-Patriots win AND Colts loss or tie AND Chargers loss
-Patriots win AND Ravens loss AND Browns loss or tie AND Steelers loss or tie

Got all that?

This is all a long way of saying there’s kind of a lot riding on this week’s matchup for the Patriots — in case you didn’t already know that.