Bills Have ‘A Lot of Respect’ for KC Chiefs Ahead of Divisional Round Outing

Chiefs-Bills is back on the docket, and the hosts are well aware of the challenge Kansas City will bring this weekend.

The Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills have collided in some epic duels in recent years. In both the regular season and the playoffs, the Patrick Mahomes-Josh Allen headline has captured the attention of the football world each and every time. This weekend, another chapter in the ongoing story will be written.

With Andy Reid's Kansas City team dispatching the Miami Dolphins on Saturday and Sean McDermott's Buffalo squad sending the Pittsburgh Steelers home on Monday, the Divisional Round of the AFC is set. The Chiefs and Bills are squaring off on Sunday, capping off the weekend slate with a bang. It's the second meeting since December.

Speaking to reporter Tracy Wolfson on the CBS broadcast after the Wild Card win, Allen tipped his cap to the Chiefs and spoke about what Sunday demands of his team.

"It's going to take a team effort," Allen said. "They're playing really good football right now. We know the type of team that they are [and] obviously the type of quarterback that they have in Pat over there, so we're going to need everybody in Bills Mafia to be here and support us. I'm just thanking God that we get another chance to play another game." 

It's easy to forget that just after the Thanksgiving holiday, these same Bills were 6-6 and looking destined for anything but the postseason. Since their bye week, however, Buffalo has rattled off six wins in a row. Several marquee victories over teams like the Chiefs, Dallas Cowboys and Miami Dolphins fill up that stretch of play. In fact, their Week 18 triumph over Miami clinched Buffalo the two-seed in the conference.

That, in turn, gives the Bills their second home playoff game in a row. For the first time ever, Mahomes will travel on the road to play an AFC opponent in the playoffs. McDermott recognizes the advantage this gives his team but as a member of the Reid coaching tree, he's well aware of the challenge ahead of him.

"Yeah, it's nice that we don't have to travel," McDermott said. "I think that's big, and then to play in front of our fans again. We have a lot of respect for Andy Reid and their program. We've had our battles over the years and this will be another one, I'm sure. You watch what they did the other night — they were dominant. We've got to get our rest and try to get ourselves healthier if we can, then get ourselves ready to go again."

Speaking of Chiefs connections, Bills center Mitch Morse played in Kansas City for the entirety of his rookie contract. Now nine years into his career (four with the Chiefs, five with the Bills), he's experienced this matchup plenty of times. Like McDermott and Allen, he salutes the other side for doing their part to make it happen again. 

"To be honest, these past five or six weeks, we were just trying to stack wins to even have this opportunity," Morse said. "We seem to tend to run into each other in the postseason. That's just a credit to that franchise for putting together some really good football. They play hard and they play well when they need to the most in the postseason. It'll be a great challenge at home." 

Since the beginning of the 2020 campaign, these two teams have met six times. The series is split, although the Chiefs have won both playoff battles. The most recent one in January of 2022 was a 42-36 overtime thriller. While neither team appears to be quite as dangerous as back then, fireworks are still expected to ensue on Sunday night. Bills running back James Cook summed it up perfectly. 

"Two good teams ready to come and play, you know? Cook said. "May the best team win."

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