Buffalo Bills Strengthen Playoff Bid With Win vs. Los Angeles Chargers, AFC East In Sight

The Buffalo Bills survived a scare against the Los Angeles Chargers to take another step towards clinching a playoff spot.

The Buffalo Bills made it  harder on themselves than they probably needed to, but they were able to overcome a 10-point deficit to beat the Los Angeles Chargers 24-22 on Saturday night.

In the process, the Bills avoided disaster and took a huge step toward completing their impressive turnaround. For the time being, Buffalo moves up to the No. 6 seed in the AFC thanks to a win and a loss by the Cincinnati Bengals earlier in the day.

With today's results, the Bills now have a 75 percent chance to make the postseason, per Next Gen Stats. However, where it gets really interesting is that Buffalo still has a 32 percent chance to win the AFC East.

Bills quarterback Josh Allen / © Mark Konezny, USA TODAY

Of course, the team to beat in the division is the 10-4 Miami Dolphins, who now sit a game and a half ahead of the 9-6 Bills. About a month ago, the division looked to be Miami's for the taking, but the story has changed now.

Now that the Bills have gotten the Chargers out of their way, their next game is a very winnable matchup against the New England Patriots on New Year's Eve (or at least it should be). On the other hand, the Dolphins have two brutal games coming up against the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday and the Baltimore Ravens the following week. In fact, Miami has the hardest remaining schedule in the league by opponent win percentage.

Bills Survive Upset Scare vs. Chargers, Keep Playoff Hopes Alive

That's all building up to the main event, as the Bills and Dolphins face off in Miami to close the regular season. If the two teams are within a game of each other, that game will decide the AFC East crown. Additionally, the loser could even be left out of the playoffs entirely depending on how the home stretch plays out. Needless to say, it'll be an exciting finish to the season.

The Bills won the first matchup 48-20 in Buffalo on Oct. 1, handing the Dolphins their first loss of the season. That said, the Dolphins almost certainly won't go down so easy this time, especially considering it's on their home turf.

As the Bills (and pretty much any team in the playoff race) will stress, though, it's important to take it one game at a time.