FOXBORO, Mass. — There was a chance the Buffalo Bills could have nothing to play for when they hosted the New England Patriots in Week 18.
Not anymore.
With the NFL canceling the Bills’ Week 17 game against the Cincinnati Bengals and introducing the possibility of a neutral-site AFC Championship Game, Buffalo now cannot earn the AFC’s No. 1 seed without a win Sunday, regardless of how the Kansas City Chiefs fare on Saturday.
Under the newly announced playoff structure — put in place to account for the game that was called off following Damar Hamlin’s cardiac arrest — the only way the Bills could possibly finish atop the conference is if they beat the Patriots and the Chiefs lose to the Las Vegas Raiders. That’s also the only avenue for Buffalo to host a potential Bills-Chiefs AFC title game.
Any other Week 18 outcome would give Kansas City the No. 1 seed a first-round bye. If the Chiefs and Bills both win or both lose and then both go on to make the AFC Championship, that game would be held at an as-of-yet-undetermined neutral site.
Had the standard format remained intact, the Bills would have been able to clinch the No. 1 seed with a Chiefs loss on Saturday, which would’ve increased the odds of them resting starters against New England. Instead, the Patriots are guaranteed to see Josh Allen, Stefon Diggs and the rest of the Bills’ big guns in a game they badly need to win.
A victory would get New England into the playoffs as the AFC’s No. 7 seed, setting up a wild-card matchup against either Buffalo or Cincinnati. The Patriots also can clinch with a loss coupled with losses by Miami, Pittsburgh and Tennessee. That combination also would earn them the seventh seed, with the potential to play in Buffalo, Cincinnati or Kansas City on wild-card weekend.
The Patriots have beaten the Bills just once in the post-Tom Brady era, losing their last three meetings by 12, 30 and 14 points.
