AFC Playoff Picture: Bills move into second place with Week 10 win

The Buffalo Bills needed some help to move up in the AFC Playoff Picture. They entered the weekend as the fourth seed in the conference, 1.5 games behind the top seed, and a game behind number two.

Eight teams in the conference entered the week with five wins; the Los Angeles Chargers, Las Vegas Raiders, Pittsburgh Steelers, New England Patriots, Kansas City Chiefs, Cleveland Browns, Cincinnati Bengals, and Denver Broncos join the Bills at five wins, but some of them have byes this week to give teams a chance to separate.

The entire picture changed in Week 10.

First, the Miami Dolphins knocked off the Baltimore Ravens on Thursday night, paving the way for the Bills to move up in the conference. Also on the losing end in Week 10 were the previously 5-4 Browns. The Jacksonville Jaguars lost on Sunday, as well. More big losses came in the late afternoon games, when the Chargers and Broncos lost to NFC opponents. The LA loss allowed the Bills to move past the Chargers.

The Steelers tied the Detroit Lions, leaving them behind in the conference.

In the winning column, the first-place Tennessee Titans found a way to win, edging the New Orleans Saints. They are going to be very hard to catch down the stretch even missing Derrick Henry and Julio Jones. They play such an easy schedule.

The Chiefs beat the Raiders thanks to a lot of luck and some bad plays from Vegas.

The Bills and Patriots both won, and New England stayed a half-game back of the Bills in the AFC East. They are nipping and the two teams play twice in December.

Here are the current AFC Playoff standings. Note: Rankings are listed in playoff order, so division leaders are listed 1-4 followed by the Wild Card teams.

AFC East

1. Buffalo Bills (6-3)
2. New England Patriots (6-4)
3. Miami Dolphins (3-7)
4. New York Jets (2-7)

AFC Playoffs

1. Tennessee Titans (7-2)
2. Buffalo Bills (6-3, 5-3 AFC)
3. Baltimore Ravens (6-3, 4-3 AFC)
4. Kansas City Chiefs (6-4)
5. Pittsburgh Steelers (5-3-1)
6. New England Patriots (6-4)
7. Los Angeles Chargers (5-4, win over LVR, SOV 22 wins)
8. Las Vegas Raiders (5-4, loss to LAC, 4-2 AFC)
9. Cincinnati Bengals (5-4, 3-2 AFC, SOV 17 wins)
10. Indianapolis Colts (5-5, 4-3 AFC)
11. Cleveland Browns (5-5, 3-4 AFC, win over DEN)
12. Denver Broncos (5-5, 2-4 AFC, loss to CLE)
13. Miami Dolphins (3-7)
14. New York Jets (2-7, SOV 13 wins)
15. Jacksonville Jaguars (2-7, SOV 9 wins)
16. Houston Texans (1-8)