Bills Remain in Control of AFC East Race as Well as Playoff Fate

If they win out, they will win the division and be guaranteed at least one home playoff game.

Sunday's win over the Carolina Panthers kept the Buffalo Bills (8-6) in control of their playoff destiny, which had been regained when the AFC East-frontrunning New England Patriots (9-5) fell to the Indianapolis Colts (8-6) the day before.

In fact, if the Bills beat the Patriots in their rematch next week and then close their season with wins at home over Atlanta (6-8) and the New York Jets (3-11), they would capture the AFC East for a second straight season even if the Patriots rebound to win their final two and finish with the same record.

That's because the Bills would own the second tiebreaker, division record, after the first tiebreaker, head-to-head competition, wouldn't apply.

The last time the AFC East was won two years in a row by any team other than New England was 1991, when the Bills went 13-3 in the regular season en route to their second straight Super Bowl appearance.

Since 2001, the Patriots have won the division in all but three seasons: 2002, 2008 and last year.

As it stands following Sunday's games, the Bills have a 73% chance of making the playoffs, according to FiveThirtyEight. A win at New England next Sunday would improve that percentage to 97.

The Patriots, who won the first meeting with the Bills, 14-10, on Dec. 6, have opened as 1½-point favorites in the rematch.

"We've got to keep it about us," Bills coach Sean McDermott said after the win over Carolina. "[The Patriots] came in here and beat us [last time]. So obviously we have some adjusting to do and get to have a good week of preparation.

"... I just think we got to stay stay on task, keep our focus on and where it needs to be. And we've got a lot of things to correct from today's game. You guys saw that and I think that's the start, right? You've got to start somewhere, and that's where we get to start this week."

Nick Fierro is the publisher of Bills Central. Check out the latest Bills news at www.si.com/nfl/bills and follow Fierro on Twitter at @NickFierro. Email to Nicky300@aol.com.