Bills visit Kansas City in search of revenge
Buffalo looks like a scary team, despite the surprising loss to Steelers, but now they will face a high-profile team.
In January, the Buffalo Bills traveled to Kansas City with the goal of punching their first Super Bowl ticket since 1993 and proving they were a match for Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs. They came away empty-handed.
The 38-24 loss in the American Conference finals is a bitter taste that lingers in the mouths of Josh Allen and the Bills, especially since for much of the game Buffalo looked like a team that was still far, far away from competing with a full-weight of the Chiefs’ pedigree.
Things have changed.
“We certainly hated the way last year ended. Anyone with a competitive nature would hate it,” receiver Stefon Diggs agreed. “What we’re going to do in the next game is go out and execute and play better than we played the last time we faced them.”
If the Bills (3-1) maintain the pace they’ve shown through the first four weeks of the season, there’s no reason to be wary of Diggs’ words heading into Sunday night’s visit to the Chiefs (2-2).
After the inexplicable loss to Pittsburgh to start the campaign, Buffalo has three wins in a row in which they have outscored the opposition by a combined 118-21. In fact, the Bills come in as the NFL’s top defense after becoming only the third team in history to earn two shutouts in the first four games of the season.
Their offense isn’t too shabby either. In their three wins, they are averaging 39.3 points per game and have found themselves with a ground attack that averages 145 yards per game, fifth in the league, a year after ranking 17th in that department.
If Buffalo’s numbers seem overrated, it’s because they possibly are. After all, they’ve faced four teams with combined 5-11 records and three quarterbacks who didn’t start for their teams – Jacoby Brissett, Taylor Heinecke and Davis Mills. Against Kansas City they will have their true test.
Despite suffering two losses in the first month of the season, the first in the month of September for Mahomes in his career, the Chiefs look as dangerous as ever. They have scored at least 33 points in three of their four games, Mahomes – with a 40-10 record as a starter – leads the league with 14 touchdown passes and receiver Tyreek Hill is second in the NFL in yards (453) and touchdown receptions (4).
“Our goal is to contain them,” reported Bills defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier. “I don’t know if anyone can really stop them.”
It’s the ninth time in the past 10 seasons that teams that starred in the AFC finals have met the following season. In the previous eight games, the winner of the second showdown went to the Super Bowl five times and was crowned four times. The stakes are high.
