Both the AFC Championship Game between the Bills and Chiefs and the NFC Championship Game between the Bucs and Packers are rematches from the regular season, so with a path to victory already shown for the Bucs and Chiefs, there are a few questions to answer ahead of Sunday's matchups.
The first meeting between the Packers and Bucs took place in Tampa Bay on October 18th and was won 38-10 by the Bucs. The very next night was the matchup between Kansas City and Buffalo in Buffalo, and the Chiefs won 26-17.
So how have all four teams changed since those Week 6 meetings? And what do the losing teams need to do differently to win this time?
Before we dive into the tough aspects to address, the obvious is the availability of Patrick Mahomes. Certainly for the Chiefs the biggest question to answer is will Mahomes play, and for the purpose of this discussion let's assume that he does.
The first question has to do with the Bills offense, one that has been considered among the most explosive offenses in the NFL this season. Over the last nine games the Bills have average 35 points per game, the most in the NFL over that span, but they've mustered just two offensive touchdowns in the past six quarters. One of the biggest issues has been the season-ending injury for RB Zack Moss and if the Bills can find any semblance of a run game outside of Josh Allen scrambles.
The second question to look for on Sunday also has to do with rushing offenses, and if the Packers can find one after the rough stat-line that Aaron Jones had in the regular season loss to Tampa Bay. The Buccaneers have the best run defense in the NFL allowing just 80.6 yards per game and in the loss Jones had just 15 yards on 10 carries.
The final question is who will defend the top WR's for the home teams. Tyreek Hill of the Chiefs and Davante Adams of the Packers have game-breaking ability and can kill an opponent with big plays, so how will the Bills and Bucs try to slow them down? The Bills will likely use Safety Tyrann Mathieu to help over-the-top coverage on Hill, while the Bucs may look to use a pass rush to make Rodgers uncomfortable in hopes that limits Adams.
If the Bills and Packers hope to win this time around, they can do so by addressing the issues that cost them the meetings in Week 6.