The Broncos are 7-2 vs. AFC opponents and the Patriots are 6-2.

That’s the tie-breaker that dropped the Patriots out of the No. 1 seed position in the AFC playoff picture after Sunday’s game.

Still with four weeks to play, that race could go down to the wire.

But the Patriots can clinch some things with a win on Sunday. If they beat the Bills, they’d clinch:

A playoff spot

The AFC East title and with it at least a first-round home game

No worse than the No. 3 seed. Division winners get the top four seeds and the AFC North winner can’t win more than 11 games.

Where things stand in race for the AFC’s No. 1 seed:

AFC Top seed W L T Pct PF PA Denver 11 2 0 .846 308 235 New England 11 2 0 .846 351 241

With the Patriots idle, the Broncos (11-2) took care of business against the Raider

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