Phin Phanatic
FanSided

For once Miami Dolphins fans, you can root for AFC East rival Bills

By Brian Miller

BUFFALO, NY - DECEMBER 30: Kyle Williams #95 of the Buffalo Bills carries the football after catching a short pass in the fourth quarter during NFL game action as Mike Hull #45 of the Miami Dolphins chases him down at New Era Field on December 30, 2018 in Buffalo, New York. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images)
BUFFALO, NY - DECEMBER 30: Kyle Williams #95 of the Buffalo Bills carries the football after catching a short pass in the fourth quarter during NFL game action as Mike Hull #45 of the Miami Dolphins chases him down at New Era Field on December 30, 2018 in Buffalo, New York. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

You won’t have to wait for Sunday Miami Dolphins fans, there is a bigger game in the AFC East that plays on Saturday and you can root for the Bills.

Miami Dolphins fans won’t get to sit at the edge of their seats waiting to see if the Bengals can win another game but they will be able to sit back on a rare occasion and root for a division rival. On Saturday, the Bills will play the Patriots in Foxboro and let’s face it, nothing is better than watching the Patriots lose.

This time, however, it could decide the AFC East winner.

Buffalo enters the game at 10-4 while the Patriots are 11-3. The last time the two teams faced off, the Patriots walked away with a win after successfully managing to knock Josh Allen out of the game with a concussion. The Patriots offense put up a pathetic 16 points. The Bills defense has gotten better while the Patriots offense, not so much.

If the Bills win they will be tied with the Patriots for the division lead. The first tie-breaker is head-to-head and they will have split this season. The 2nd is division record and both teams will be at 4-1 if the Bills win.

After that, it comes down to the winning percentage of common games. In this case, the common games would be the NFC East opponents as well as the AFC North games. Then conference games. The Patriots and Bills both are 7-3 in conference games this year but a loss by the Patriots would put them at 7-4 and the Bills at 8-3.

In common games, the Patriots are holding the cards. Buffalo has lost to both the Browns and Eagles who the Patriots beat. The Patriots lost to K.C. and Houston while the Bills have not played them.

If the Bills win, it could very well come down to week 17 where the Dolphins could hand the Bills a division title and knock the Patriots out of the 2nd seed of the playoffs.

Typically, very few instances occur where it is o.k. to root for a hated rival, but this week, the other hated rival is hated a lot more.

Home/Dolphins News