Buffalo Bills and AFC Playoff Standings: Chasing the Chiefs

Next week? More clarity coming, as the first-place Bills travel to Foxboro for another primetime game next Thursday night.

Stop us if you've heard this before ... but the Buffalo Bills and the Kansas City Chiefs are positioned at the top of the AFC playoff race, maybe destined to joust until the end.

Stop of us you haven't heard this before ... but Bill Belichick's New England Patriots are presently on the outside looking in.

The Thursday Thanksgiving games played a major role in who's who entering the weekend. That morning's 28-25 win at Detroit allowed the Bills to stay a tick behind the Chiefs. Meanwhile, that night's 33-26 loss to the Minnesota Vikings caused the New England Patriots to fall down the conference standings, slipping from sixth place to eighth place in the wild card race.

Of course, only the top seven teams in the conference make the postseason. That means if the season ended today, the Bills would be No. 2 - but remember, no bye available for capturing that honor - and the Patriots would be on the outside looking in.

Here’s an updated look at those standings:

1. Kansas City Chiefs (8-2; AFC West leader)

2. Buffalo Bills (8-3; AFC East leader)

3. Tennessee Titans (7-3; AFC South leader)

4. Baltimore Ravens (7-3; AFC North leader)

5. Miami Dolphins (7-3; first wild card)

6. Cincinnati Bengals (6-4; second wild card)

7. New York Jets (6-4; third wild card)

8. New England Patriots (6-5)

9. Los Angeles Chargers (5-5)

10. Indianapolis Colts (4-6-1)

The Patriots will have to wait until this weekend to see what the Cincinnati Bengals (6-4) and New York Jets (6-4), do in their respective games. New England has the tiebreaker edge on New York due to a head-to-head sweep.

The Bengals are at the Titans at 1 p.m. on CBS Sunday, while the Jets host the Bears at the same time on FOX.

And then next week? More clarity coming, as the first-place Bills travel to Foxboro for another primetime game next Thursday night.

Bills Mafia! Get your Buffalo game tickets from SI Tickets ... here!

You're a member of Bills Mafia hungry for more Buffalo coverage? Read here.