Historic Bills Chiefs Rivalry Continues This Sunday
This Sunday, Jan. 26, the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs, led by quarterback Patrick Mahomes, will play in their seventh consecutive AFC Championship game. Their opponent will be a familiar foe – Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills. The Chiefs have matched up with the Bills in three of the last four postseasons, beating them each time. As a die-hard Bills fan, I thought I’d give a recap of the events of this rivalry and my reactions to them to show the importance of this weekend’s showdown for a spot in the Super Bowl.
The rivalry between these two teams and their star quarterbacks started in an unassuming place – an empty Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, New York, in Oct. 2020. In a game during the COVID-19 season, when no fans were allowed in the Bills stadium, the Chiefs beat the Bills 26-17. This was the last time the Chiefs beat the Bills in the regular season.
The two teams next matched up in the 2020-21 AFC Championship game hosted by Kansas City. The Chiefs dominated the Bills 38-24 in a game that didn’t feel that close. This was a disappointment. Yet, since the Bills already had a successful season by making their first AFC Championship game since the 1990s, it wasn’t that tough to deal with, as it seemed like the next step would be the Super Bowl.
The next year, the Bills dominated the Chiefs 38-20 in the regular season, but the playoffs were a different story. The two teams met in the divisional round in what is widely considered one of the greatest NFL games of all time. The two-star quarterbacks went back and forth, with a Bills touchdown with 13 seconds left, giving them a 36-33 lead and seemingly winning the game for Buffalo. However, Mahomes and the Chiefs were not done yet, but they managed to set up Harrison Butker for a game-tying field goal. The Chiefs then won the coin toss, got the ball to start overtime, and scored a game-winning touchdown to win 42-36. This was an absolutely devastating loss for all Bills fans, as the touchdown with 13 seconds left should’ve won them the game. They would’ve had a realistic path to win the Super Bowl if they had won this game.
The next year, the rivalry took a brief hiatus, as even though the Bills beat the Chiefs yet again in the playoffs, Buffalo fell to the Cincinnati Bengals in the Divisional round and thus didn’t match up with the Chiefs in the playoffs.
Last year, the Bills beat the Chiefs for the third straight time in the regular season, and they matched up again in the divisional round. This time, however, the Bills were the hosts, and they seemed destined to finally get past Mahomes and the Chiefs. Unfortunately, this was not the case. Tyler Bass missed a field goal in the final two minutes, which led to a 27-24 Chiefs victory en route to their third Super Bowl in five seasons. It was a devastating loss, and it seemed like the Bills would never get past the dominance of Mahomes and Kansas City.
This season, the Bills won their fourth straight regular-season matchup, and last week got past the Baltimore Ravens to set up another playoff matchup. The Bills are set up well to finally win, as they have their healthiest roster in years with very few injuries, and Josh Allen is playing the best football of his career. I am super excited to watch, and as always, GO BILLS!