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The Buffalo Bills (13-3) and the Kansas City Chiefs (14-2) won their respective matchups in the Divisional Round of the NFL Playoffs and earned the opportunity to face each other in the AFC Championship game on January 24th. Both teams are hot, playing some of their best football of the year when it counts the most, but only one can emerge victoriously.
We'll take a deep dive into some news regarding each of the teams set to play in this momentous matchup, and then end with a prediction of this weekend's outcome.
Buffalo Bills at Kansas City Chiefs Team News
Buffalo Bills team news
The Buffalo Bills enter the matchup propelled by the momentum that comes with hosting not one, but two home playoff games, and winning both handily. The Bills are energized by the knowledge that a victory in Kansas City Chiefs means the franchise would return to the Super Bowl for the first time in 27 years. With such motivation, it's hard to envision Buffalo coming out and doing anything less than giving the Chiefs their best shot.
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Buffalo Bills will lean on young quarterback Josh Allen to guide them to victory, and the talented signal caller seems to be up to the task. Allen returned the Bills to the playoffs for the first time in nearly two decades in 2017, and then topped it off by returning to the playoffs and leading the team to two consecutive 10+ win seasons.
His best football of that entire span may have come in the final weeks of the 2020 regular season and the first two weeks of the AFC playoffs, with Buffalo Bills scoring 186 points over the course of those five games. Allen threw 12 touchdowns and one interception in the last five weeks, adding three more touchdowns on the ground.
The Buffalo Bills had a clean week injury-wise, with all the players who were limited participants in Thursday's practice returning to full activities for practice on Friday. DT Vernon Butler and WR Gabriel Davis are both listed as questionable for Sunday's game. Butler's absence could be troublesome for a Bills defense that surrendered 245 rushing yards to this Kansas City Chiefs offense in week 5.
Kansas City Chiefs team news
Kansas City Chiefs began the playoffs with a bye week before taking down the Cleveland Browns in a Divisional Round matchup at Arrowhead Stadium last weekend. Though the Chiefs ultimately won the game, superstar QB Patrick Mahomes was concussed and had to return to the locker room, leaving Chiefs players and fans alike unable to celebrate their victory in any significant manner.
Mahomes is the highest paid quarterback in League history for a reason, and is the undisputed leader of a star-studded Chiefs squad and is perhaps the most electrifying individual player in the NFL today. Mahomes' status was in doubt all week as he went through the NFL's concussion protocol, but announced on Friday that he would be starting the game for Kansas City.
Chad Henne played respectably in Mahomes' absence against Cleveland, but having Mahomes in the lineup ensures that Kansas City Chiefs' offense will be fully equipped and prepared to light up the scoreboard.
Elsewhere on Kansas City Chiefs' injury report, LB Willie Gay Jr. was ruled out with an ankle injury, and five others have been designated as questionable, including cornerbacks Rashad Fenton and Bashaud Breeland. If Breeland and Fenton both end up being unable to go on Sunday, the Kansas City Chiefs face an issue with defensive back depth, and can expect Josh Allen to exceed the 35 passing attempts he had last weekend.
Buffalo Bills vs Kansas City Chiefs prediction
The Buffalo Bills and the Kansas City Chiefs seemed to be on a collision course for the entire season, with both teams outperforming their AFC counterparts. Kansas City Chiefs was able to knock Buffalo Bills off 26-17 in week 5 of the regular season, but both teams have come a long way since then, so a similar result is not guaranteed.
Prediction: Mahomes shows no lingering signs of the concussion he suffered last week and has a typical game, leading the Kansas City Chiefs to a victory over Buffalo in a game that features offensive highlights from both squads. Allen will put up another admirable performance, but the depth that Kansas City enjoys will be too much for the Buffalo Bills to keep up with.
The Kansas City Chiefs will return to their week 5 gameplan of pounding the ball on the ground, but offensive genuises Andy Reid and Eric Bieniemy will unveil a few new additions to their scheme and trick the Bills into biting on play-action in early downs before looking to throw deep.
Buffalo Bills will be able to keep pace for a time, but Kansas City Chiefs will begin grinding the clock in the 4th quarter, leaving Josh Allen no time to mount a comeback, as Mahomes wins another battle between young superstars.
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