Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN/WGR Sports Radio 550) - It will be an agonizing 24 hours for "Bills Mafia", beginning at 8 p.m. EST on Saturday. That's when the Cincinnati Bengals will kick off against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Cincinnati is back in the playoff hunt after starting the season 4-8. Quarterback Joe Burrow has put up MVP-like numbers, while leading the Bengals back to an 8-8 record over the last month.
The Bengals face the toughest road to the postseason of all the Bills' potential opponents, needing a win in Pittsburgh and losses by the Denver Broncos and Miami Dolphins.
Perhaps the scariest part of a potential matchup with the Bengals is the result of the Bills' last couple games against them. The Bengals ended the Bills' season in the AFC Divisional Round two seasons ago with a 27-10 blowout in Orchard Park. They then met again the next season in Cincinnati, with the Bengals winning that game, 24-18.
The Bengals' defense remains their biggest question mark, though, as they're near the bottom of the league, having allowed 417 points this season. Their offense has been forced to pick up the slack and keep the team afloat in the AFC.
The 8-8 Dolphins have a slightly simpler path to the postseason. They need a win over the lowly New York Jets in New Jersey, along with a Broncos loss to the Kansas City Chiefs to clinch a third matchup with the Bills this season.
Miami's outlook is muddied, though, by a lingering hip injury to quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. If he can't go on Sunday, it will be backup Tyler Huntley getting another start for the Dolphins.
The Bills beat the Dolphins twice this season, but play-by-play man Chris Brown says they're still dangerous.
"I will say their defense has been playing exceptional football here down the stretch. They're pretty much top-10 across the board," said Brown with Susan Rose on WBEN. "They're a much different team than the Bills saw back in Week 9."
The 9-7 Broncos have the most straight-forward path to the playoffs and a matchup with the Bills: Win and they're in.
Denver has the benefit of playing at home, and going up against a number of Chiefs backups. There's also the extra motivation of ending a playoff drought that goes back to 2015, the year Denver won Super Bowl 50.
The Broncos looks like the most favorable matchup on paper, given they have a rookie quarterback and a lack of household names on defense. However, Bo Nix has played well in his first year in the league, and that no-name defense has been one of the best in the NFL.
"The Denver defense is no joke," Brown said. "They're No. 1 in the league in sacks with 58 this season with a game to play, so there are some strengths that Denver brings to the table."
The Broncos are also led by former Super Bowl-winning head coach Sean Payton.
Both the Broncos and Dolphins play at 4:25 p.m. EST on Sunday.