The Patriots clinched a playoff berth for the 11th consecutive year by virtue of their win over the Bengals Sunday in Cincinnati.

It goes without saying that is one of the most impressive feats in the sport.

It also elicits a collective yawn from the many NFL fans who have Tom Brady and Bill Belichick fatigue. Whether the good people of New England want to acknowledge it or not, most of America wants someone else other than the Patriots to win the Super Bowl — or be in the Super Bowl at all.

With this, we present to those outside of Patriots Nation your potential new heroes: The Buffalo Bills.

With their gritty Sunday night road win over the Steelers, the Bills clinched a playoff berth.

More interesting yet: The Bills’ win sets them up for a fascinating Week 16 showdown with the Patriots on Saturday at Gillette Stadium with the AFC East title in the balance.

The Patriots, who defeated the Bills in Buffalo earlier this season, are 11-3. The Bills are 10-4. A Buffalo win would tie the Bills and Patriots atop the AFC East, which New England has won the past 10 years and 15 of the past 16.

The Bills need help if they’re going to unseat the Patriots atop the division they’ve owned for the balance of the past two decades. Even if they beat the Patriots on Saturday, the Bills can claim the AFC East only if they defeat the Jets in the Dec. 28 regular-season finale in Buffalo and the Patriots lose to the Dolphins on the same day.

If the Bills and Patriots finish the season tied, New England would win the division based on the third tiebreaker, which is record against common opponents.

But still, Saturday’s game between the two is probably the most compelling matchup of the week based on how far the Bills have come and how vulnerable the Patriots have looked this season.

Saturday’s game will be the latest in any season since 2008 that the AFC East lead will be contested head-to-head, and the latest Buffalo has been involved since 1998 when it was 9-5 and hosted the 10-4 Jets in Week 16.

Sunday was the earliest the Bills have clinched a playoff berth since 1991. This is their first 10-win season since 1999. The last playoff game they won was in 1995, which was 11 head coaches ago.

So, the Bills are indeed one of the best stories in the league this season, and their coach, Sean McDermott is a front-runner for Coach of the Year.

“Coming to Buffalo three years, two-and-a-half years ago, whatever it’s been a lot of people said, ‘Why are you going there? You’re not going to be able to get it turned around,’” McDermott told reporters, according to the Buffalo News. “But we got it turned around … with a lot of work yet to do. We haven’t arrived. We’ve got a lot of work to do. It’s been a long time since this organization has been in a position like this, this late in the season, and we don’t take it lightly.”

No one, least of all New England, is taking Buffalo lightly anymore.