Buffalo @ Jacksonville preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 27, 2016 ) Jacksonville 21, Buffalo 28

The Jacksonville Jaguars and Buffalo Bills have one thing in common entering Sunday's AFC wild-card matchup - they hardly were trendy choices to make it to the postseason. The Jaguars will make their first playoff appearance since 2007 when they host the Bills, who staged a late run to reach the postseason for the first time since 1999.

Jacksonville was no fluke in going from worst to first, not only winning the AFC South title but also contending for the top overall seed until a surprising loss at San Francisco in Week 16. "They're a challenge across the board - offense, defense, special teams," Bills coach Sean McDermott told reporters. "You look at where they're ranked and where we are, and ask, 'What favors us?' Not a whole lot." Buffalo's one-dimensional offense could be without star running back LeSean McCoy as it prepares to face a Jaguars defense that ranks among the league leaders in yards and points allowed, sacks and interceptions. "This is the start of a different type of season," Jacksonville coach Doug Marrone, who guided the Bills in 2013-14, told reporters. "This is 12 teams. ... Every one of those teams is dangerous, and it comes down to how you perform on that Sunday."

TV: 1:05 p.m. ET, CBS. LINE: Jaguars -9. O/U: 39.5

ABOUT THE BILLS (9-7): McCoy, fourth in the NFL with 1,138 yards rushing, sprained an ankle in last Sunday's regular-season finale and was limited to stretching during Thursday's practice. McCoy also had a team-best 59 receptions and his absence would place a huge burden on quarterback Tyrod Taylor, who is second on the team in rushing and presides over the NFL's 31st-ranked passing attack at 176.6 yards per game. If McCoy can't go, the other options are veteran Mike Tolbert or Marcus Murphy, who had one career rushing attempt prior to gaining 41 yards on seven carries last week. Linebacker Preston Brown made 144 tackles for a defense that ranked 29th against the run (124.6 yards).

ABOUT THE JAGUARS (10-6): Jacksonville's success is built on two familiar pillars - a running game led by rookie Leonard Fournette that paced the league at 141.6 yards per game and a ferocious defense that piled up 55 sacks and 21 interceptions while scoring an NFL-leading seven touchdowns. Blake Bortles completed a career-high 60.2 percent of his passes and had a career-low 13 interceptions - five in his last two games - but could get back leading receiver Marqise Lee (ankle). Fournette rushed for 1,040 yards and nine touchdowns despite missing three games. Pro Bowler Calais Campbell and Yannick Ngakoue lead the pass rush with 14.5 and 12 sacks, respectively.

EXTRA POINTS

1. Buffalo beat visiting Jacksonville 28-21 last season and lost to the Jaguars 34-31 in London in 2015.

2. The Jaguars are one of two teams (Pittsburgh) to feature at least four players with at least six sacks.

3. Bortles had at least two TD passes in two meetings with Buffalo, while Taylor had only four interceptions in 420 passing attempts.

PREDICTION: Jaguars 23, Bills 16