The No. 1 seed is officially out of reach for the Buffalo Bills, and, quite frankly, I’m not sure how the Kansas City Chiefs pulled it off. I can’t decide if this year’s iteration is the worst great team or the best bad team I’ve ever seen. What’s undeniable is the fact that the chiefs have mastered the art of winning. 

For the Bills, there’s still plenty in front of them, and this weekend’s game against the New York Jets is easily the most important game of the year. 

This weekend’s game is for the No. 2 seed in the AFC. If the Bills win, they lock it up, no matter what happens in Week 18. Would a first round bye in the playoffs and home field advantage throughout have been incredible? Absolutely. But the No. 2 seed is nothing to scoff at. It would give Buffalo a home game on Wild Card Weekend, and with a win, they’d be set up for a home game in the Divisional Round. 

Even more important, locking it up this weekend would mean the Bills can rest players in Week 18, essentially getting a late bye week before the playoffs begin. We know multiple players are playing through injuries at this point in the season, including Josh Allen playing with a broken left hand. Week 18 not mattering would give Buffalo the opportunity the ability to heal up.

Allen has an 8-4 record all time against the New York Jets, who have long been eliminated from this year’s playoffs. No team can be taken lightly, but it sounds like Buffalo has the motivation and the hunger in place to lock things up this weekend. Let’s see Allen and the Bills come out with intensity and hunger to secure the No. 2 seed.