Orchard Park, N.Y. (WGR 550) - The Buffalo Bills play in Kansas City against the Chiefs this Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium. Again.
It will be the third-straight season Buffalo visits Kansas City for either a regular season or playoff game, and the fourth-straight time overall the Chiefs are the home team when they meet.
Six of the last seven games between the two have been at Arrowhead Stadium. Sunday will make it seven out of eight.
The last, and only time during that stretch the two teams played in Buffalo was in 2020, a year with no fans in attendance at Highmark Stadium.
Oh yeah, and they’ll play again next year, and again in Kansas City.
So what’s with the scheduling? Why do the Bills almost always seemingly play in Kansas City? When will the Chiefs finally make the return trip to Orchard Park?
Let me explain:
Predetermined rotation
The way the NFL scheduling formula works, the Bills play all four teams from one other AFC division every year. That division rotates each year. So they played every team from the AFC West in 2017, AFC South in 2018, and AFC North in 2019, then back to West in 2020, South in 2021, and North in 2022.
Within that rotation, they also rotate home and away every time they face each team. So in 2017, the Bills played the Chiefs in Kansas City. In 2020, it was in Buffalo, and in 2023, back in Kansas City.
So, essentially, they go back-and-forth between the two cities every three years. That’s why they played in Kansas City in 2017 and 2020, and will again in 2023.
Opponent by finish
In addition to playing each team from one specific division every three years, the scheduling formula also includes a game against the same-place finisher in the other two divisions.
So if the Bills finish in first place, they will play the two teams who also finished in first in the two remaining divisions they aren’t already scheduled against. The key here is that the location of that game stays the same for two straight seasons.
In both 2021 and 2022, each AFC East team played at the team in the AFC West that finished in the same spot as them the previous season. Buffalo finished in first place-place in the AFC East in 2020 and 2021. Kansas City finished in first in the AFC West in 2020 and 2021. So Bills at Chiefs in 2021 and 2022.
The next time this two-year rotation comes up it will be AFC West at AFC East same-place finishers, in 2024 and 2025.
Playoffs
Aside from the predetermined scheduling formula, the Bills and Chiefs have also met the last two seasons in the playoffs. Both meetings have been in Kansas City since the Chiefs were the higher AFC seed.
Big picture and future
Here’s how it’s looked so far and will look going forward:
2017 - Bills at Chiefs (divisional rotation)
2018 - Did not play
2019 - Did not play
2020 - Chiefs at Bills (divisional rotation)
2020 - Bills at Chiefs (playoffs, Chiefs higher seed)
2021 - Bills at Chiefs (same-place finishers)
2021- Bills at Chiefs (playoffs, Chiefs higher seed)
2022 - Bills at Chiefs (same-place finishers)
Future regular season meetings
* - only if teams finish in same position in each division
2023 - Bills at Chiefs (divisional rotation)
2024* - Chiefs at Bills (if same-place finishers)
2025* - Chiefs at Bills (if same-place finishers)
2026 - Chiefs at Bills (divisional rotation)
2027* - Bills at Chiefs (if same place finishers)
Of course, none of these future meetings includes possible playoff matchups, which could happen again this season.
Where will that game be played? Sunday’s contest may go a long way in determining that.
Follow me on Twitter: @SalSports
