Bills Central

How Browns’ Thursday Night Football win over Steelers helps the Bills

The Buffalo Bills received a helping hand from their Lake Erie brethren on Thursday night.

Kyle Silagyi

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The Buffalo Bills received a helping hand from their Lake Erie brethren on Thursday night, as the Cleveland Browns’ Week 12 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers could help Buffalo ultimately secure a first-round postseason bye.

Pittsburgh, per WIVB’s Nick Veronica, entered the mid-week primetime bout in control of its own destiny for the AFC’s top postseason seed; at 8-2 on the season with a Christmas Day showdown with the top-seeded Kansas City Chiefs on their future slate, the Steelers could have secured the No. 1 seed in the conference by winning out. Their Thursday loss at the hands of the Browns means that Pittsburgh is no longer controlling its own fate, with the Bills now being the conference’s second-most well-positioned team to earn the No. 1 seed in the AFC and a first-round playoff bye.

The ball is still in the 9-1 Chiefs’ court, as they can clinch the top spot in the conference by winning their remaining games. That said, Buffalo holds the head-to-head tiebreaker over Kansas City thanks to its Week 11 win; if the Chiefs drop any remaining games and the Bills continue to win, they’ll usurp the back-to-back Super Bowl champions in the standings.

Cleveland’s win over Pittsburgh eliminates one of two outside teams that could have potentially played a role in Buffalo’s path to the No. 1 seed. If the Bills win out and Kansas City loses just once more, Buffalo will finish as the AFC’s top seed for the first time since 1993; winning out may be a challenging task, as the Bills’ remaining slate contains potentially challenging opponents such as the San Francisco 49ers and Detroit Lions.

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Kyle Silagyi
KYLE SILAGYI

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