Bills seek to exorcise their demons against Chiefs

A few inches at the line of scrimmage last December turned into a 1,500-kilometer journey for the Kansas City Chiefs into a hostile environment in what will be Patrick Mahomes’ first road game in the postseason.

All because Kadarius Toney was offside on a play that denied Kansas City (12-6) a miraculous go-ahead touchdown against the Buffalo Bills (12-6) with 1:25 left in what was ultimately a victory. . . . of bills 20-17.

Buffalo, which came into that game with a 6-6 record and with its season in doubt, found in those inches a lifeline that changed its season. And also their postseason.

Now, for the first time in three matchups against Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs in the playoffs, they will have home-field advantage on Sunday, where quarterback Josh Allen is 15-2 since 2020 in December and January, including the postseason.

If the Chiefs seek to become just the second team in history to reach the conference finals in six consecutive years (Patriots 8 from 2011 to 2018), they will have to find their best version. Doing it in front of 70,000 spectators hungry for a first trip to the conference finals since 1993 is particularly difficult.

Kansas City has no choice but to use the second-best defense, a good resource considering that Kansas City has won 45 consecutive games allowing 17 points or fewer, including playoffs. That and a Mahomes who last week led the offense to produce more than 400 yards for the first time in 10 games.

The problem is limiting the Bills to 17 points. Buffalo is averaging 25.6 points during its current six-win streak and finished the season as the league’s sixth-most prolific offense. This is largely due to Josh Allen who totaled 44 touchdowns (29 through the air and 15 on the ground) and in six starts against the Chiefs he has accumulated 17 scores, 15 of them through the air.

Despite this, Josh Allen has not been able to avoid elimination at the hands of the Chiefs in two of the last three seasons, including a classic duel in the divisional round of the 2021 campaign in which Kansas City won 42-36 in overtime after Mahomes. . . He led a 44-yard drive in 13 seconds to tie the score on the final play of regulation.

Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs are used to drama, cold and winning in the postseason. But they are no longer an attack capable of organizing 13-second offensives, quite the opposite. During the current campaign they only exceeded 30 points on three occasions, all against rivals with a losing record. And there is no worse place to look for your best version.

Toney’s punishment that afternoon of December 10 cost the Chiefs a victory, thousands of dollars in fines and leaving the relative comforts of Arrowhead Stadium to play the season in the most inhospitable environment.

For the Bills, revenge is within reach.