Bills Face a Tall Order to Reach Playoffs

The Times’ ratings scale for this week’s games:

**** -- Don’t miss a down.

*** -- Could be good.

** -- Who let the dogs out?

* -- Stupor Bowl.

The Buffalo Bills are one victory -- and a little luck -- away from a spot in the NFL history book.

They’re looking to become the second team to make the playoffs after losing their first four games. The easiest way Buffalo can clinch a postseason berth is with a victory over Pittsburgh and a loss by either the New York Jets or Denver.

Knocking off the Steelers (14-1) is a tall order, of course. Pittsburgh has won 13 consecutive games, and one more victory would tie the Steelers with the 1972 Miami Dolphins for the longest winning streak to end the regular season. But the Steelers already have a lock on the AFC’s No. 1 seeding and have said quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, nursing sore ribs, would sit out.

Still, Coach Bill Cowher insists that his players aren’t on cruise control. His team has a chance to record the first 15-victory season in franchise history.

“We are playing too well to not go up there and win that football game,” Cowher told reporters this week. “It’s not so much the record as it is that we keep playing well.”

Then again, the season hangs in the balance for the Bills. They have won six in a row, their longest winning streak since 1990, and they’ve kept their once-bleak hopes alive.

So the Bills (9-6) will either come through at Ralph Wilson Stadium ... or, well, they don’t call that place “the Ralph” for nothing.

In other games, all Sunday:

*Miami (4-11) at Baltimore (8-7), 10 a.m. -- The Ravens need lots of help to make their slim playoff hopes become a reality. Not only do they have to win, they need losses by Buffalo and Denver, and a loss or tie by Jacksonville. The Ravens are 5-2 at home, dropping those two games by a total of four points.

***New Orleans (7-8) at Carolina (7-8), 10 a.m. -- The winner of this game could make the playoffs, and momentum is on the side of the Panthers. Carolina has beaten the Saints four consecutive times, and in the last two had no turnovers and forced six. In his last eight games, Carolina’s Jake Delhomme has thrown 18 touchdown passes and four interceptions.

***Green Bay (9-6) at Chicago (5-10), 10 a.m. -- The Packers have a chance to avenge their 21-10 loss in September to the Bears. Brett Favre has thrown a touchdown pass in each of his 25 games against Chicago, the longest touchdown-pass streak against any team in NFL history. The Bears have gone 1-5 over the last six games, averaging only 10.3 points.

**Cleveland (3-12) at Houston (7-8), 10 a.m. -- The Browns have lost nine in a row, tying the longest losing streak in franchise history. They’ll be going up against a Houston defense that has not given up a touchdown in the last 11 quarters. The Texans are 7-1 this season when they have given up 21 or fewer points.

**San Francisco (2-13) at New England (13-2), 10 a.m. -- The Patriots have very little to gain by winning this, except preserving their 18-game home winning streak. Regardless, it won’t take much of an effort to beat the 49ers, 0-3 against the AFC this season and likely to be swept by the conference for the first time since 1979.

**Cincinnati (7-8) at Philadelphia (13-2), 10 a.m. -- If Philadelphia wins, it will go unbeaten at home for the second time since 1953. Most likely, Coach Andy Reid will be protecting his players the way he did Monday night at St. Louis. Cincinnati’s Rudi Johnson needs 81 yards rushing to break Corey Dillon’s single-season team record of 1,435.

***New York Jets (10-5) at St. Louis (7-8), 10 a.m. -- The easiest way the Jets can make the playoffs is by winning this game. Then again, not much has come easy for the Jets in recent weeks. They gagged last Sunday against New England. The Rams can clinch the NFC West with a victory and a Seattle loss.

*Detroit (6-9) at Tennessee (4-11), 10 a.m. -- The road team has won the last three meetings. The Lions are 5-2 this season against teams that currently have losing records, and 1-7 against teams with winning records.

***Minnesota (8-7) at Washington (5-10), 10 a.m. -- The Vikings can clinch a playoff berth by beating the Redskins. But winning in Washington, against a stout Redskin defense, is no easy task for a Minnesota team that has lost 19 of its last 20 regular-season games played outdoors.

*Tampa Bay (5-10) at Arizona (5-10), 1 p.m. -- Even though Brian Griese has made a better-than-expected showing this season, the Buccaneers have lost three in a row and will finish last in the division for the first time since 1995. The Cardinals have not given up a touchdown pass in the last two games.

***Atlanta (11-4) at Seattle (8-7), 1 p.m. -- The Seahawks can clinch the NFC West crown with a victory and are playing a franchise they have beaten in six of their eight all-time meetings. The Falcons, meanwhile, just want to stay fit heading into the playoffs.

***Indianapolis (12-3) at Denver (9-6), 1:15 p.m. -- Denver can clinch a playoff berth by winning. Doing that will require the Broncos to handle Peyton Manning a little better than they did in last season’s AFC wild-card game. Then, Manning threw five touchdown passes on his way to a “perfect” 158.3 rating. Of course, that was in the RCA Dome.

**Jacksonville (8-7) at Oakland (5-10), 1:15 p.m. -- Not only does Jacksonville need to win to keep its slim playoff hopes alive, it needs losses by Denver and Buffalo. The Jaguars had only 126 total yards last Sunday in a loss to Houston, the fewest in franchise history.

**Kansas City (7-8) at San Diego (11-4), 1:15 p.m. -- The Chargers are trying to sweep the season series with the Chiefs for the first time since 1996. Kansas City has won four consecutive games and has topped 30 points in each of the last five games.

**Dallas (6-9) at New York Giants (5-10), 5:30 p.m. -- Bill Parcells returns to Giants Stadium, sans all the drama. The Cowboys have committed at least two turnovers in each of their last nine games. That’s bad.