This weekend, 14 of the NFL’s 32 teams will be going through the motions as they plan how things will be better in 2022.

Of the other 18 franchises, 11 have locked playoff spots, six of them having clinched division titles.

Meanwhile, seven teams are frantically bidding for the three remaining postseason berths with chances ranging from “likely” to “longshot.”

For the Bills (10-6), come Sunday afternoon at Highmark Stadium on what’s predicted to offer a mix of rain and snow with gusty winds and wind chills in the lower 30s (4:25 CBS-TV, 95.7 FM, 100.1 FM, 550 AM) there’s plenty at stake when they host the Jets (4-12).

The AFC’s lone first-round playoff bye is out of reach for Buffalo, but of near-equal importance is the reward of a home game.

A Bills win would hand them a second consecutive AFC East title … so too would a New England (10-6) loss at Miami (7-8).

However, should the reverse happen, Buffalo would not only lose the division title but also the advantage of playing at home.

And there’s more, while the Bills can’t accomplish it, if the Patriots were to win the division, with some help (losses by each), they could pass Tennessee, Kansas City and Cincinnati and finish atop the conference earning that first-round bye.

Of this weekend’s 16 games, only three are totally meaningless, affecting neither playoff berths or seeding.

BUFFALO, when the betting lines opened, was a 17-point favorite over the Jets and the margin has only slipped to 16½ even though New York was within 20 seconds of upsetting defending Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay last Sunday in the Meadowlands.

And, as Bills coach Sean McDermott correctly pointed out, “They’re playing good football … the last three games they’ve led at halftime and took the defending world champs to the brink last week, so we’ve got to be ready to go.”

Then, too, Jets rookie quarterback, Zach Wilson, who missed some time due to injury, hasn’t throw an interception in his last four games.

“I think he’s playing at a high level,” McDermott maintained. “He can make every throw, he burns you down the field with the deep balls and he can beat you with his legs extending plays.

“He looks like he’s off to a great start … I know he had the injury early in the year, but he looks like he’s playing really good football (now).”

OF COURSE, a key reason for the one-sided spread is that the Jets don’t look good statistically. They’re last in the league in both points (30) and yards (396) given up per game, are 31st in takeaway/giveaway ratio (minus-13) and fourth from last in both rushing (136) and passing (260) yards surrendered per game.

By contrast, Buffalo is second in the NFL in fewest points allowed per game (17), third in points scored (29) and first in least total (287) and passing yards (173) given up.

However, the Jets have some positives on their resume, having beaten two division leaders (Tennessee in overtime; Cincinnati) in the Meadowlands and having lost five games by a touchdown-or-less including the four-pointer to the Buccaneers a week ago.

Also, it’s not without significance that after going 6-1 in one-score games last season, Buffalo is 1-5 in close results this year.

AND AT this point in the campaign, he’s not about to overlook any opponent … including the Jets.

“In my mind, you’re always trying to build and improve on where you were the week before,” McDermott said. “Every team is dangerous in the NFL given how this league is shaped and constructed. We saw that with Jacksonville, on paper with its record (1-6 to the Bills’ 5-2)… but at the end of the day they beat us (9-6). Records don’t matter, we’ve got to get ourselves ready to go.”

THEN, TOO, he’s relieved that after 2020’s glittering season — 13-3, winning the AFC East plus two home playoff victories before losing the conference championship game in Kansas City — his team didn’t revisit a pair of previous disappointments.

Favored to win the conference and make the Super Bowl this season, Buffalo staggered to a 7-6 start before winning its last three straight.

But McDermott was on the Eagles staff that went 13-3 in 2004, made the Super Bowl and lost to New England, then went 6-10 in ‘05. He was also defensive coordinator on the 2015 Panthers, who finished 15-1, were handled by Denver in the Super Bowl, and went 6-10 a year later.

“I’ve been extremely proud of how we’ve been able to navigate through (this season’s tough stretch),” McDermott admitted. “That, in itself, will carry good lessons for us moving forward. It’s the teams that can take the lessons they have learned earlier in the season and apply them later in the year, that are the ones that have a chance to play their best football down the stretch.

“I think that’s what we’ve been doing, but we’ve got to keep moving forward starting this week.”