NFL

NFL 2026 · Regular season Week 13

What does Bills vs Patriots change in the NFL playoff race?

Bills

Buffalo Bills

6-1

4:25 PM ET

Scheduled

Patriots

New England Patriots

5-3

Sun, Dec 6, 2026 · 4:25 PM ET (Dec 7, 06:25 KST)Gillette Stadium, Boston

What's at stake

Current standings (120 games played league-wide) plus this one result, recomputed for the 16 AFC teams. Arithmetic, not odds.

Bills win

  • BillsMagic 9→7Division magic 9→7
  • PatriotsAFC #7→#8 seedwild-card spot→outside the top 7Tragic 9→8
5 more teams

Patriots win

Tie

  • BillsMagic 9→8Division magic 9→8
  • PatriotsAFC #7→#8 seedwild-card spot→outside the top 7Tragic 9→-
5 more teams

Both teams going in

TeamSeedMagicTragicDivision magic
BillsAFC #1 seed · 6-119-9
PatriotsAFC #7 seed · 5-37-9-

Magic number = wins left to lock a top-7 seed (division magic: first place); tragic number = losses left until elimination. Ties count against the team in question (official tiebreakers such as head-to-head are not applied; equal records are ordered by BALLDONTLIE seed). How we calculate →

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Sun, Dec 6 game · Boston

Local date

See the ground on the Stadium Trip Map →

Team records

Season records as listed by BALLDONTLIE.

New to the NFL?

  • Seed — seven teams per conference (AFC, NFC) make the playoffs. The four division winners take seeds 1–4 whatever their records; the best three of the rest take seeds 5–7.
  • Wild card — seeds 5–7, earned on record without winning the division. Only the No. 1 seed skips the first round (the Wild Card round).
  • Tie — a regular-season game still level after a 10-minute overtime ends as a tie, counted as half a win in winning percentage.
How we calculate →
Bills playoff scenarios →Patriots playoff scenarios → NFL schedule & results Playoff seeds Magic numbersNFL standings & scenarios →

Game data: BALLDONTLIE. Magic numbers, tragic numbers and seeds are computed by this site.