MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. - The Tennessee Titans, playing Sunday afternoon for nothing but pride and to put impressive tape out into the world for 2024, provided the Buffalo Bills with a playoff safety net by defeating the Jacksonville Jaguars 28-20 in Nashville.

That somewhat surprising result at Nissan Stadium in Nashville means that when the Bills kick off later Sunday night at Hard Rock Stadium against the Miami Dolphins, they will already have at least a wild-card playoff berth in their collective hip pocket, their fifth consecutive postseason appearance and sixth in Sean McDermott’s seven seasons as head coach.

Who will the Bills play in the playoffs?

Of course, the Bills certainly don’t want to lose to Miami because that would mean they’d have to settle for the No. 7 seed and an immediate return back to Miami next weekend for a wild-card game. The big prize is beating the Dolphins and securing the AFC East division title and the No. 2 seed in the AFC.

Accomplishing that would mean at least two home playoff games, the first of which would be against the Pittsburgh Steelers who found their way into the postseason once Jacksonville lost to Tennessee.

The Titans certainly didn’t make it easy for Bills fans across three tense hours. They jumped out to a 21-13 halftime lead and then struck immediately in the third quarter when Derrick Henry - perhaps playing his last game for the Titans - broke a 69-yard run to the Jaguars 4. That set up Ryan Tannehill’s TD pass to DeAndre Hopkins.

But the Jaguars pulled within 28-20 when Travis Lawrence threw a TD pass to Evan Engram on the first play of the fourth quarter, and after an Andre Cisco interception, they drove to a fourth-and-goal at the 1. However, Lawrence was stopped as he tried to extend the ball over the goal line on a keeper with 7:10 left to play.

After the Titans chewed off nearly five minutes, Jacksonville had one last chance, starting at their own 25 with 2:18 to go and no timeouts. But Lawrence couldn’t even pick up a first down and the Titans ran out the clock.

Sal Maiorana can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana. To subscribe to Sal's newsletter, Bills Blast, which comes out twice a week during the season, please follow this link: https://profile.democratandchronicle.com/newsletters/bills-blast

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Bills are in the playoffs after Jaguars loss: Here's who they may play