Despite their best efforts, Bills may actually break 17-year playoff drought

About the time Nathan Peterman was throwing his fourth pick of the first half against the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 11, not many people gave the Buffalo Bills much of a chance at making the playoffs.

By the time he threw the fifth, Bills fans were already looking toward next season.

However, a week later, Buffalo doesn't look too far off from ending a playoff drought that's plagued the team since 1999.

The Bills' 16-10 win over the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday breathed new life into a squad that now sits 6-5 without an overly intimidating schedule remaining.

In a wide-open AFC playoff race that currently has the Bills sitting in a tie for sixth, a 9-7 record would likely earn Buffalo a wild-card spot and 10-6 record would essentially guarantee a postseason berth.

Despite the New England Patriots being the class of the AFC for a little over a decade, the Bills have managed to split their season series with their divisional foe two of the last three years. Next week, the Patriots likely won't have their foot off the gas, but by Week 16, their motivation may dip if they've already locked up the division or even a wild-card bye. Obviously, the Bills would need to take at least one win off the Patriots to achieve a 10-6 mark, but even if they can't, a 9-7 record should certainly be attainable.

With Tyrod Taylor at the helm, the Bills' best bet is to let their quarterback take care of the football against the Colts and Dolphins - two teams that have had issues with getting out of their own way. If the Bills can get pressure on Jacoby Brissett and Jay Cutler (or Matt Moore), they will be able to get both sacks and turnovers on a regular basis.

Taylor has thrown just three interceptions all season after tossing a total of six in each of his previous two seasons. He may not throw for 400 yards per game or orchestrate the most exciting offense, but one thing the Bills can count on with Taylor is that he won't lose the game for them.

The Bills still have a leg up on their competition for the wild-card spot. The other teams in contention are the Jacksonville Jaguars (7-4) and Tennessee Titans (7-4), who are battling each other for the AFC South, the Baltimore Ravens (5-5), the Cincinnati Bengals (5-6), and the Los Angeles Chargers (5-6) and Chiefs (6-5), who are both in contention for the AFC West.

The Chiefs are trending down with losses in four of their last five contests, while the Chargers are looking to storm back from their 0-4 start with dominant wins in the last two weeks. The two AFC West contenders face off in Week 15. The Bills own the tiebreaker over the Chiefs, but not over the Chargers.

The Jaguars and Titans will also have a meeting in Week 17 that could determine their division race, though it's questionable how much longer Tennessee can keep up their trend of winning games by less than a touchdown. Five of the Titans' seven wins this season have come by five points or less.

The Ravens and Bengals have essentially already lost the AFC North to the Steelers, so it's wild card or nothing for them. The Bengals face only one team with a losing record the rest of the season while the Ravens get to take on the Texans, Browns, and Colts before Cincinnati in Week 17.

None of the fellow wild-card contenders can really claim to have produced much more consistency than what the Bills have done under Taylor, perhaps aside from the Jaguars, who may not be battling for the same spot as Buffalo.

It seemed like the Bills had given up on the season when they opted to give Peterman a chance to start while still in a playoff position. Buffalo certainly isn't going to morph into a Super Bowl contender in the remaining five games, but given what they've already been through this season, Bills fans would gladly take a postseason berth for the first time in a while.

(Photos courtesy: Getty Images)