The Indianapolis Colts' loss to the San Francisco 49ers Monday opened up the floodgates for AFC teams clinching playoff berths.
The Buffalo Bills, Los Angeles Chargers and Jacksonville Jaguars each earned postseason spots following their wins Sunday and the Colts' defeat a day later.
Five of the AFC's seven playoff spots have been filled with the newest trio joining the Denver Broncos and New England Patriots.
As perennial AFC heavyweights such as the Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals and Kansas City Chiefs have sputtered in 2025, the Bills' Super Bowl aspirations remain bright.
The Bills clinched their seventh straight postseason berth with their Sunday win over the Cleveland Browns, coupled with the Colts' loss to the 49ers.
Reigning MVP Josh Allen and Buffalo (11-4) have had a somewhat mercurial season, one in which they began 4-0 before scattering surprising losses to an upstart Patriots team in Week 5, the Atlanta Falcons and the Miami Dolphins.
They're rolling right along now, though, with four wins in a row, while Allen has re-entered his name into the MVP conversation.
The star quarterback has now advanced to the playoffs in every season other than his 2018 rookie campaign.
Buffalo closes out the regular season with games against the Philadelphia Eagles and New York Jets. After that, the Bills will resume their quest for the franchise's first Lombardi Trophy.
In each of the past five postseasons, Allen and the Bills have been eliminated by Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs (four times) or Joe Burrow and the Bengals. That won't be the case this season, as Allen and Buffalo will enter a fresh-faced AFC playoff field.
By way of the Chargers' win over the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday coupled with Indy's defeat, Los Angeles clinched a playoff berth.
In two seasons as the L.A. head coach, Jim Harbaugh has guided the Bolts to back-to-back postseason appearances. It's the first time the franchise has gone to the playoffs in consecutive years since a four-year run from 2006-09 for the San Diego Chargers. Marty Schottenheimer, Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer's late father, was the head coach in 2006 prior to Norv Turner helming the squad in the last three years of the run.
The Chargers (11-4) have won four straight and are playoff-bound, having overcome season-ending injuries to offensive tackles Rashawn Slater and Joe Alt, along with running back Najee Harris, while rookie back Omarion Hampton had a stint on injured reserve and quarterback Justin Herbert is playing through a broken left hand.
Herbert, who is 0-2 in the postseason, and the Chargers have remaining regular-season games against the Texans and Denver Broncos before beginning a quest for the club's first playoff win since the 2018 season.
Eleven months after his memorable, albeit cringey introduction to Dooohval, Liam Coen is taking the Jacksonville Jaguars to the postseason.
On the strength of the Jaguars' impressive win over the Broncos, and the aforementioned Colts misstep, Jacksonville is punching its first playoff ticket since 2022.
Trevor Lawrence is still at quarterback as he was in '22, though that Jags squad was helmed by Doug Pederson, who was, like Coen, in his first year with the team. However, Coen is the first rookie head coach for the franchise to take it to the postseason in club chronicle.
Jacksonville (11-4) did it by putting perhaps its biggest pelt on the wall so far this season, snapping the Broncos' 11-game winning streak.
As Jacksonville returns to the postseason, it remains in pole position to earn its first AFC South title since the aforementioned 2022 campaign.
Having reached 11 wins for the first time since 2007, the Jaguars can add to that tally and win the South with games remaining against the Colts and Tennessee Titans to wrap up the regular season.
