The chances of a sixth-straight AFC East title are becoming slimmer by the week.
The Buffalo Bills chances to win the AFC East for a sixth straight year took a major hit on Sunday. After what can only be described as an embarrassing performance, the Bills fell 30-13 to the Miami Dolphins.
The loss drops the team to 6-3 on the season.
To make matters worse, however, the New England Patriots won 28-23 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. That win put the Patriots to 8-2 on the season and a full game up on Buffalo.
Looking at the current odds, a Bills win, paired with the Patriots’ win, could have put the team’s odds at 98% to make the playoffs, 23% for the number one seed, and 14% to win the AFC East and host a wildcard game. Unfortunately, every number dropped with Sunday’s result.
The Bills still have a 91% chance of making the playoffs thanks to a weaker-than-expected AFC. But winning the division and hosting a wildcard game fell to just 11% and the number one seed odds fell the most down to just 7%.
Now, the Bills have come back in the division from bigger deficits before. Back in 2023 the Bills were three games back of Miami with five to play, and somehow took the division. This just feels like a different scenario as injuries pile up—the team lost Dalton Kincard to a hamstring injury on Sunday—and what seems like a lack of trust from Josh Allen towards his receivers.
If the Bills do manage to pull it off, it’ll be nothing short of a miracle at this point. With each passing week, it’s looking like Week 18 against the New York Jets will be the final game played at the current Highmark Stadium.
But that’s still nine weeks from now. The team still has to prepare for a tougher schedule over the last 8 games with matchups against the Patriots, Steelers, Eagles, and Buccaneers.
That Tampa Bay game, by the way, is next Sunday.