For the Bills to make the playoffs, fans should root for these teams in Week 16

ORCHARD PARK - Another week of scoreboard watching has arrived for Buffalo Bills fans because despite an impressive victory over the Dallas Cowboys last week, western New York’s favorite football team remains on the outside of the seven-team AFC playoff bracket with three weeks remaining.

Thanks to the Bills bungling the middle portion of their schedule by losing five of eight games after a promising 3-1 start, it has become a common refrain around the team that every game is a must-win affair, and that has not changed.

Do the Bills control their destiny?

Buffalo’s best chance to make the postseason would be to win its final three games because if that happens, according to the New York Times playoff machine there is approximately a 99% chance that they will qualify. And not only qualify, but do so as the AFC East champ which would mean at least one home playoff game in mid-January.

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However, there is still that 1% hanging out there. And if the Bills were to lose one of their last three, that 1% would rise significantly, so that means they would appreciate some help from other teams around the league.

Who should the Bills fans root for in Week 16?

For Week 16, which begins Thursday with a game that does not matter at all to Buffalo - an NFC matchup between the Saints and Rams - here’s a look at who Bills fans should be rooting for.

Saturday: Bengals at Steelers, 4:30 p.m.

Before the Bills take the field at Sofi Stadium to play the Chargers later that night, the Steelers can do them a nice favor by defeating Cincinnati. A Pittsburgh win would put both of those teams at 8-7, meaning a Bills victory over the Chargers would catapult them past both. Also, the Bengals have a head-to-head tiebreaker over Buffalo, so if they were to win, that remains problematic even if the Bills win their game as both teams would be 9-6. Go Steelers.

Sunday: Browns at Texans, 1 p.m.

At this point, the 9-5 Browns are in a strong position to earn the top wild-card position while the Texans are tied with the Bills at 8-6 and currently sit ahead of No. 9 Buffalo in the conference standings at No. 8. Thus, a Browns victory is needed in order to drop Houston down a notch. Go Browns.

Sunday: Colts at Falcons, 1 p.m.

Obviously, you’re always rooting for an NFC team to beat an AFC team. The Colts are 8-6 and clinging to the final wild-card spot. They are also in a three-way tie for first in the AFC South with the Texans and slumping Jaguars. The Bills would prefer that Jacksonville win the division and stay out of the wild-card mix because they lost to the Jaguars in London, another tiebreaker downer. Go Falcons.

Sunday: Jaguars at Buccaneers, 1 p.m.

Of course, another school of thought would be to keep rooting for the Jaguars to implode - they’ve lost three games in a row - and play themselves completely out of the postseason. However, their last two games are against the woeful Panthers and weak Titans, both of which they should win. So if it’s me, I’d say root for the Jaguars to finish 3-0 so they can win the division. Go Jaguars.

Sunday: Cowboys at Dolphins, 4:25 p.m.

This goes without saying, right? I firmly believe Buffalo’s best chance to make the playoffs is to win the division because their current 4-5 conference record, plus the head-to-head losses to the Bengals, Broncos and Jaguars, are both factors working against them. Go Cowboys.

Sunday: Patriots at Broncos, 8:15 p.m.

Rooting for the Patriots is sacrilegious, but in this case, a miracle victory in Denver would be helpful in burying the Broncos once and for all. Denver is 7-7 and still clinging to hope in the wild-card race, but a loss would pretty much kill the playoff chances of one of those teams Buffalo found a way to lose to. Go Patriots.

Sal Maiorana can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana and on Threads @salmaiorana1. To subscribe to Sal's newsletter, Bills Blast, which comes out twice a week during the season, please follow this link: https://profile.democratandchronicle.com/newsletters/bills-blast

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Bills rooting interest, Week 16: Fans should cheer for these teams