The Bills Are In First Place In The Afc Following Their Monday Night Win

The Buffalo Bills beat the Minnesota Vikings on Monday night to hold onto their spot atop the AFC. It wasn’t easy, but the Bills put enough points on the board to get it done.

In the AFC East, the New England Patriots also lost as did the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins. The Bills are up two games in the win column and three games in the loss column. A dominating lead in the division right now with plenty of games left.

The AFC divisional leaders aw the Jacksonville Jaguars win on Thursday nigh tand the Denver Broncos win on Sunday with the Pittsburgh Steelers on a bye. The seven AFC playoff teams seem pretty darn set.

AFC playoff standings after Bills’ MNF win

1. Buffalo Bills (7-1)

2. Denver Broncos (7-2)

3. Jacksonville Jaguars (6-2, 5-2 AFC)

4. Pittsburgh Steelers (6-2, win over CIN, 3-2 AFC)

5. Kansas City Chiefs (6-2, 6-1 AFC)

6. Cincinnati Bengals (6-2, loss to PIT, 4-2 AFC)

7. New England Patriots (5-4, 5-1 AFC)

8. Cleveland Browns (5-4, 3-3 AFC)

9. Las Vegas Raiders (4-5, 3-3 AFC)

10. Baltimore Ravens (4-5, 2-4 AFC)

11. Houston Texans (3-5)

12. New York Jets (2-7, 2-4 AFC)

13. Indianapolis Colts (2-7, 1-5 AFC)

14. Miami Dolphins (1-7, 1-4 AFC)

15. Tennessee Titans (1-7, 1-5 AFC)

16. Los Angeles Chargers (0-8)

Explaining the 6-2 logjam in the AFC playoff standings

The Pittsburgh Steelers and Cincinnati Bengals are both 6-2, so they first have to settle the AFC North leader. Pittsburgh’s win over the Bengals slots the Steelers into the division lead. 

Among the division leaders, the Jaguars and Steelers haven’t played each other so the Jags’ 5-2 AFC record slots them third in front of the Steelers. 

In the Wild card, the Chiefs and Bengals are tied. The Chiefs have the best AFC record at 6-1, so they fill in at fifth. The Bengals are sixth.