Rainy Day

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- When the completed their first comeback this season from a double-digit deficit , running back was thinking about Indianapolis. The were the opponent that, in the playoffs last season, exposed the ' inability to close out a game, roaring back to and eliminate the from the postseason. "This felt like a playoff game," Charles said, referring to Sunday's triumph. Josh Phegley Jersey "Last year against the , we didn't finish. This could have been a big blowout; they came out really fast. I'm happy we got that playoff feeling when playing against a team that has the same record as you."What has changed for the since that playoff collapse? "A lot of injuries, a lot of people that went down, I think we've been through that," Charles said. "We know if somebody goes down, somebody has to step up. We have to finish. "You can come out fast on us," Charles added. "We've got great team chemistry. We've got a lot of leaders on offense. Some of the people have been in this position before. I used to be in the situation when I was younger, we could never come back. Now, it feels so good."The , who were helped by the ' fatal failure to score a touchdown on four of five trips into the red zone, still do not po se s the ability to pile up points quickly, the way the , and do. This is in part because they're the only team in the NFL that has yet to throw a touchdown pa s to a wide receiver this season. Quarterback still does not throw downfield -- he entered the game with his pa ses averaging just 5.5 yards in the air, the lowest mark in the league -- although the ' fearsome defensive front can take some credit for rushing him all day.That said, on a relatively balmy afternoon in Buffalo, the did show what called "grit" in the second half, withstanding a le s than perfect performance. In the locker room afterward, the feeling among the was that they had cleared a hurdle, not just in an opponent, but in a mindset. Charles personified that. He started slowly -- at one point in the first half, the running game had negative yardage -- and suffered a stinger. But on the sideline, Reid said he could hear Charles encouraging the offensive line to keep working.After looking largely overwhelmed by the ' defensive front, the turned it to their advantage . With the defense crashing down and anticipating a short inside run, Smith pitched the ball to Charles on the left side. He ran 39 yards untouched, pulling the to within three points. The Buffalo crowd went quiet. The have the longest playoff-le s streak in the league at 14 seasons, and fans weren't so much stunned by the ' comeback as they were resigned to its dreaded familiarity. The stakes of this game felt strangely like those of a postseason matchup, strangely because it is still so early in November, and because the field is so crowded that nearly every AFC game right now will seemingly have playoff implications. The and , who both started the day 5-3, are two of 11 AFC teams clogging the standings above .500, that has grown more complicated each week. Kansas City lauded the ' front four as one of the top two it has faced this season. That defensive front will be responsible for keeping Buffalo in the playoff race when the go to Miami, who lost to the and also to injury. The AFC North is the first division in which every team is at least two games above .500 at any point in the season since 1935. With the unexpectedly leading the group after dominating the , the , , and a few others are realistically fighting for just one wild-card spot, presuming the other will go to a team out of the North. The have now piled up victories against three potential foes for that berth: , . This is important fodder for them because their will count against them if tiebreakers are needed to determine playoff eligibility. As the improved their position Sunday, they may have accomplished something nearly as critical: proving to themselves that their playoff outcome might be different this time. "You're not going to play games where you're always going to have succe s and things are always going well," Smith said. "I thought our guys handled it well. We came in at halftime and there wasn't any panic. We all knew we were one play away from changing the game. "Sometimes they're like that. I think these wins are different, for sure. It's a different kind of confidence you get when you win games like this."Follow Judy Battista on Twitter . Brett Anderson Jersey