The Buffalo Bills were on a seven-game winning streak and were hot on the heels of the Kansas City Chiefs for the No. 1 seed in the AFC.

Playoff life comes at you fast.

Buffalo’s defense was badly damaged in a 44-42 road loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday.

The Bills (10-3) still hold on to second place in the AFC through a tiebreaker with the Pittsburgh Steelers (10-3). The Chiefs are 12-1 after third kicker Matthew Wright hit a game-winning field goal as time expired to defeat the Los Angeles Chargers. Every other AFC team has at least five losses.

The head-to-head is the first tiebreaker, but the Bills won’t play the Steelers in the regular season. The second tiebreaker is a conference record and Buffalo and Pittsburgh are each 7-2 in the AFC.

Next on the list are records in shared games, at least four.

The Bills and Steelers both play Baltimore, Indianapolis, Kansas City and the New York Jets. Buffalo plays New York twice and Pittsburgh plays Baltimore twice. So far, the Bills are 3-1 against common opponents and the Steelers are 2-1. The Bills still have a home game remaining against the Jets and the Steelers will play at the Ravens and host the Chiefs.

The fourth tiebreaker is strength of victory, which is currently in the Bills’ favor. Buffalo’s winning opponents have a 59-71 record and an overall winning percentage of .454, compared to a .400 winning percentage and a 52-78 record for Pittsburgh.

NFL playoff tiebreaker rules

Here are the tiebreak procedures when two teams from different divisions finish with the same win-loss record.

1. Head-to-head if necessary.

2. Best win-loss-draw percentage in games played as part of the conference.

3. Best win-loss-draw percentage in common games, at least four.

4. Winning strength in all games.

5. Strength of game plan in all games.

6. Best combined ranking among conference teams in points scored and points allowed in all games.

7. Best combined ranking of all teams in terms of points scored and points allowed in all games.

8. Best net points in conference games.

9. Best net points in all games.

10. Best net touchdowns in all games.

11. Coin toss.

This article originally appeared on the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: NFL playoffs: Bills lose ground to Chiefs, fall into tie with Steelers