Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR 550) - The Buffalo Bills earned a crucial win on Sunday over the Kansas City Chiefs to keep their playoff hopes alive in the AFC.
With their postseason lives at stake, the Bills offense continued it's strong play against a tough Kansas City defense, while the Buffalo defense stood tall against Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and their high-flying offense, even creating two turnovers throughout the game.
Late in Sunday's game with the score tied at 17-17, the Bills got far enough into field goal range to allow kicker Tyler Bass to made a go-ahead 39-yard field goal with 1:54 remaining on the clock.
During the Chiefs' final offensive drive, wide receiver Kadarius Toney lined up offsides, drawing a flag from the officials. As the play unfolded, Mahomes completed a pass to tight end Travis Kelce, who then legally lateral a pass to Toney, who thought he had scored the go-ahead touchdown. However, the penalty negated the score, forcing the Chiefs to try again.
Three plays later, the Bills defense forced a turnover on downs, and the offense kneeled out the remainder of the clock to win.
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With the win, the Bills are now 7-6 and find themselves in a six-way tie for the final spot in the AFC Wild Card race. Buffalo is currently tied with the Indianapolis Colts, Pittsburgh Steelers, Houston Texans, Cincinnati Bengals, and Denver Broncos for a playoff spot in the conference.
According to the New York Times Playoff Machine, the Bills currently have a 49% chance at making the playoffs. However, if the Bills win out their remaining four games, they will make the playoffs, given the fact the Miami Dolphins lost to the Tennessee Titans on Monday night.
That means Buffalo still has a chance to win the AFC East. However, Miami needs to lose another game before Week 18 for this to become a realistic possibility.
Sunday's win over the Chiefs, as well as the other results around the league, have regenerated Howard Simon's believe in the Bills, and their ability to not just make the playoffs, but win out.
In fact, Howard is picking the Bills to win their remaining four games, beating the Dallas Cowboys, Los Angeles Chargers, New England Patriots and Dolphins in that order. While this wouldn't guarantee them winning the AFC East, it would still lock the Bills into the playoffs as a Wild Card team.
Be sure to follow along on X, formerly known as Twitter, for the latest picks from Howard by using the hashtag #HowardPicksTheBills. You can also track all of Howard's picks throughout the season with Brayton Wilson's picks tracker on X: @BraytonJWilson.
You can listen and watch the latest edition of "Howard Picks the Bills" available below: