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Bills Super Bowl quest moves on as Chiefs up next in AFC playoffs: What to know

sal maiorana, rochester democrat and chronicle
·6 min read

ORCHARD PARK - The last time the Kansas City Chiefs visited Highmark Stadium, the circumstances could not have been much weirder.

October 2020, and the world was certainly upside down as you might recall as the pandemic was altering every aspect of our lives, football included.

The week before, due to a COVID outbreak in the Tennessee Titans facility, the Bills’ game in Nashville had to be moved to a Tuesday night in mid-October. And the next domino to fall was the Bills’ scheduled game against the Kansas City Chiefs the following week, originally set to be played on Sunday but moved to Monday, Oct. 19.

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That was a concession by the NFL as it realized the Titans’ COVID outbreak wasn’t the Bills’ fault, and it was not fair to have them play twice in five days as a result so they pushed back their hosting of the Chiefs by one day.

It wasn’t the usual Monday night 8:15 time slot, either, because there was already a scheduled game - Cardinals at Cowboys - so the Bills and Chiefs kicked off at 5 p.m. in an empty stadium with only team personnel and media on hand to watch.

Taking the weirdness to another level, while Patrick Mahomes had a fine game - 21 of 26 for 221 yards and two TDs to Travis Kelce - it was the Chiefs’ running game that keyed their 26-17 victory as the Chiefs outcoached the Bills.

Buffalo refused to come out of its nickel defense, insisting its best strategy was to defend Mahomes and the passing game, so the Chiefs possessed the ball for more than 37 minutes by pounding the Bills on the ground and gained 245 yards, with Clyde Edwards-Helaire rumbling for a career-high 161.

Since then, the Bills have traveled to Kansas City five times, losing two playoff games, but winning three regular-season games. Finally, they get the Chiefs in their building with a trip to the AFC Championship Game on the line.

Here’s an early look ahead to the Bills vs Chiefs matchup:

Top players for Kansas City Chiefs on offense, defense

Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes dives into the end zone for an 8-yard touchdown against the Bills Micah Hyde. The Chiefs won 42-36 in overtime. This photo goes back to January during what may be one of the overall greatest football games I’ve seen. The Chiefs overtime win against the Bills in last season’s playoffs was simply fun to watch regardless of who you were rooting for. Most sports are photographed using longs lenses, so, on the rare occasion I can make a meaningful sports photo with a wide angle lens, I’m always excited.

● QB Patrick Mahomes: Bills fans can’t wait to get Mahomes in Buffalo. Well, let’s not forget the guy is still considered - at least nationally - the best QB in the NFL. Despite an obvious lack of weapons, he completed 67.2% of his passes for 4,183 yards in the regular season.

● RB Isiah Pacheco: He missed the first game against the Bills, and that was a very nice break for Buffalo. Pacheco is the angriest runners in the NFL, a whirlwind to tackle. Counting the postseason he has 1,035 yards rushing, 243 yards receiving and has 10 TDs.

● WR Rashee Rice: The Chiefs have struggled so much at WR, but Rice has exploded in the second half of the season and he now has 87 catches, 1,067 yards and seven TDs counting the postseason. He had seven catches for 70 yards and a TD in the first game.

● TE Travis Kelce: He is definitely not the same player, especially with drops as he has eight drops. However, he’s also still great as he has 100 catches for 1,055 yards and five TDs counting the postseason and he seems to revel in killing the Bills.

● DT Chris Jones: Elite as they come on the interior, but he can also go out to the edge. He tied for the team lead with 10.5 sacks and led the Chiefs with 78 QB pressures.

● DE George Karlaftis: Also had 10.5 sacks and was second with 68 pressures while also making 47 tackles and forcing one fumble.

● LB Nick Bolton: He missed half the season due to injuries, but when he plays, he’s all over the field. In the first game, he had eight tackles and three QB pressures.

● CB Trent McDuffie: Think Taron Johnson, meaning he’s one of the best nickel corners in the NFL. He’s Kansas City’s second-highest graded defensive player according to Pro Football Focus as he has five forced fumbles, 80 tackles and three sacks.

● CB L’Jarius Sneed: One of the best cover corners in the NFL. In the first game against the Bills, he allowed just one completion on seven targets and he was covering Stefon Diggs much of the time.

● K Harrison Butker: One of the best in the NFL. He's 33 of 35 on field goals, 38 of 38 on extra points. With Tyler Bass a bit of a question mark for the Bills, Butker could be a huge advantage for the Chiefs.

Who is favored to win Bills vs Chiefs?

The Bills have opened as a 2.5-point favorite for the game. The money line is Bills minus-145 (bet $145 to win $100) and Chiefs plus-125 (bet $100 to win $125). The over-under is 46.

When do the Buffalo Bills play next?

Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. Sunday at Highmark Stadium.

How to watch Buffalo Bills vs Kansas City Chiefs game on TV, streaming

▶ Cable/Network TV: CBS. The game will be available locally via the following stations: WROC (Channel 8, Rochester), WIVB (Buffalo area), WTVH (Syracuse area), WKTV (Utica area), WENY (Elmira area), WRGB (Albany area), and WBNG (Binghamton area).

▶ Online streaming services: You can watch games on NFL.com and the NFL mobile app, and you can subscribe to NFL+, the league’s own streaming service, though you can’t cast the games to your TV - you must watch on your phone or tablet.

▶ TV streaming: You can also stream games if you have subscriptions to Spectrum, DirecTV, fuboTV, Sling, Vidgo, Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV, and Paramount+.

On the radio: How to listen to the Bills vs Chiefs game

You can listen on SiriusXM satellite radio on Sirius channel 82 and XM channel 227 (Bills feed) and Sirius channel 139 and XM channel 382 (Chiefs feed), and on traditional radio, the Bills Radio Network has stations all across the state. Chris Brown has the play-by-play, Eric Wood is the analyst, and Sal Capaccio is the sideline reporter. The network includes:

  • Rochester (WCMF 96.5 and WROC 950 AM)

  • Buffalo (WGR550, 550 AM)

  • Syracuse (WTKW 99.5/WTKV 105.5)

  • Binghamton (WDRE 100.5FM)

  • Ithaca (WIII 99.9/100.3 FM)

  • Bath (WVIN 98.3 FM)

  • Newark (WACK 1420 AM)

  • Dansville (WDNY 93.9 FM)

  • Elmira (WNGZ 1490 AM)

  • Auburn (WAUB 98.1 FM/1590 AM)

  • Geneva (WGVA 95.9 FM, 1240 AM)

Sal Maiorana can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana. To subscribe to Sal's newsletter, Bills Blast, which comes out twice a week during the season, please follow this link: https://profile.democratandchronicle.com/newsletters/bills-blast

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Bills vs Chiefs is Buffalo's next game in AFC playoffs: What to know