Bills sneak by Chargers to keep complete control of playoff hopes

At this point it is very simple for the Buffalo Bills. As long as they keep winning, they will make the playoffs and have an opportunity to actually win the AFC East. 

They accomplished the first part of that on Saturday night by sneaking by the Los Angeles Chargers, 24-22, to secure a massive win in the AFC playoff race. 

It certainly wasn't easy. The Bills allowed an eight-point lead to slip away in the fourth quarter and found themselves trailing with less than five minutes to play in regulation. 

But thanks to some big stops by their defense to limit the Chargers to field goals instead of touchdowns, they were able to give quarterback Josh Allen an opportunity to engineer a game-winning drive.

That is exactly what he did, leading them down inside the Chargers 10-yard line to set up Tyler Bass for a game-winning field goal with under 30 seconds to play. 

As sloppy as the win might have been, the Bills are not in any position to apologize for how they win. Style points do not matter, and the Bills accomplished their objective. Win. 

That win, combined with the Cincinnati Bengals loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers earlier in the day on Saturday, keeps the Bills in complete control of their playoff destiny. 

As long as they win their next two games — against New England at home and at Miami in Week 18 — they will make the playoffs. 

They also have a very real shot to win the AFC East.

If Miami loses one of its next two games (against Dallas and Baltimore — so it is entirely possible) and the Bills beat New England next week it would set up a winner-take-all Week 18 game in Miami for the division. 

The winner of that game would not only win the division, but also get an extremely important home game to open the playoffs. That is a big change from where the Bills were three weeks ago when they were 7-6 and looking to be a long shot to even make the playoffs at all.