Jaguars’ loss seals playoff bids for Bills, Steelers

MIAMI — The Buffalo Bills and Pittsburgh Steelers clinched the remaining spots in the AFC playoffs after the Jacksonville Jaguars‘ 28-20 loss to the Tennessee Titans on Sunday.

The loss eliminated the Jaguars and gave the Houston Texans the AFC South title for the first time since 2019. Houston will be the No. 4 seed in the AFC.

The AFC East title remains on the line for the Bills in Sunday night’s game against the Miami Dolphins, but both teams have already punched their tickets to the postseason.

The Bills can be either the No. 2 or the No. 7 seed. The Steelers can be either the No. 6 or No. 7 seed depending on the outcome of Sunday night’s game.

A win over the Dolphins would mean that the Bills would host the Steelers in the wild-card round. A Dolphins win would mean that the Bills and Dolphins meet again in Miami in the wild-card round, while the Steelers would travel to Kansas City to play the Chiefs.

The Steelers are in the postseason for the first time since 2021 with a 10-7 record following a 17-10 win Saturday over the Baltimore Ravens, Pittsburgh’s third straight win. After Week 15, the Steelers had just a 4% chance to make the playoffs, according to ESPN Analytics, following three straight losses.

The postseason appearance comes as once-third-string quarterback Mason Rudolph won all three of his starts and despite a variety of injuries on defense. Pittsburgh has not won a playoff game since 2016.

“Let us be dangerous. We have a formula that’s working right now,” Steelers defensive tackle Cam Heyward said. “Hopefully, we can get some guys back in the fold and we’re not going to discount ourselves. We know we got work to do and looking forward to it.”

The Bills are in the playoffs for a fifth consecutive year and are looking to win a fourth straight division title after going 5-1 in the past six games, including four straight wins, after a 6-6 start to the season and a change in offensive coordinator after Week 10 from Ken Dorsey to Joe Brady. A fourth straight AFC East title would match Buffalo’s longest division title streak in franchise history (1963-66, 1988-91).

Buffalo is getting healthy at the right time, with starting defensive tackle DaQuan Jones returning last week. The Bills are one of just three teams to start all five offensive linemen in every game, along with the Bengals and Broncos.

ESPN’s Brooke Pryor contributed to this report.