Bills at Bengals Next: Chargers Beat Colts on Monday Night Football
Week 16 is officially over, as the Los Angeles Chargers clinched a berth in the AFC playoffs after taking down the Indianapolis Colts 20-3 at Lucas Oil Stadium on Monday night.
The NFL now shifts its focus to a Week 17 slate that features a flurry of season-defining matchups for numerous teams.
The Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals have already clinched playoff spots ahead of their bout in the final Monday night game of the regular season at Paycor Stadium on Jan. 2. But their meeting for the second-to-last week of the season is arguably the most enticing on the entire 2022 schedule, as it's a game that holds significant seeding and first-round bye implications for the final game of the week.
Buffalo is coming off a 35-13 division-clinching win over the Chicago Bears on Saturday, a victory that kept the Bills in the driver's seat for the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoffs.
But while the Bengals still await their divisional fate, they are arguably the hottest team in the league headed into the prime-time matchup. Cincinnati is on a seven-game winning streak following a 22-18 win over the New England Patriots on Christmas Eve.
With a win over the Bills, the Bengals, who are currently the conference's No. 3 seed, would leapfrog Buffalo in the standings with a real shot at securing the No. 1 seed in the AFC.
Cincinnati would then have key wins and a potential tiebreaker over the Bills and the current No. 1-seeded Kansas City Chiefs who, with a 12-3 record headed into the second-to-last week of the season, could still beat out Buffalo and the Bengals for a first-round bye by winning out in the final two games.
Of course, the Bengals would have to rely on the lowly Denver Broncos (4-11) to come away with a road upset over the Chiefs on Sunday or the nearly-eliminated Las Vegas Raiders to do the same in Week 18.
But before looking toward the help they need, the Bengals will be focusing on the task of toppling the Bills, and vice versa.
Kickoff is set for 8:30 p.m. ET on Monday night.
You can follow Zach Dimmitt on Twitter at @ZachDimmitt7
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