It’s only Week 6 but there are a few premiere matchups on the NFL schedule this weekend. In the NFC we have the Eagles hosting the Cowboys on Sunday Night Football, and there’s a potential AFC Championship Game preview with the Chiefs hosting the Bills in Kansas City.
The Bills and Chiefs played one of the best football games of all time in the divisional round of last year’s playoffs with 17 points scored in the final 62 seconds of the fourth quarter. The Chiefs staged an improbable comeback in that one, but the Bills are favored in Kansas City this week.
Danny Parkins and Andrew Fillipponi of the Audacy Original Podcast “1st & Pod” talked about this week’s big matchup and debated if the Bills should be favored over the Chiefs.
“Bills - Chiefs. Game of the year. The rematch. Bills right now a 2.5-point favorite,” Parkins said (8:04 in player above). “Is the right team favored?”
“No. I don’t think it is,” Fillipponi replied. “Do you agree with me?”
“I disagree with you. I think that the eye test of the 53-man roster tells us that Buffalo’s better,” Parkins said. “We saw what happened in the regular season last year where Buffalo kicked the snot out of them. We know that this game means more to Buffalo for that reason. They need to believe that they can beat the Chiefs in January, and beating them in Arrowhead would, in theory, go a long way to solidifying that. So I think the game is inherently bigger for Buffalo. A day of shorter rest – Chiefs played on Monday night. And I trust the Bills' defense a smidge more than I trust the Chiefs' defense. I don’t think it should be the full three, but I think the line is right.”
The Bills went into Arrowhead Stadium a year ago this week and came away with a 38-20 victory. They took a 24-13 lead into halftime in that one and kept the Chiefs off the board in the third quarter.
The Chiefs were favored by 2.5 points in last year’s matchup and are now a three-point underdog at home. They won’t take that lightly.
“I do think that the Chiefs being an underdog here is a motivating factor for them now and I think that Reid and Mahomes will definitely carry that around,” Fillipponi said. “As far as who’s out to prove more, I would’ve originally said Buffalo but the fact that Kansas City is going to feel disrespected I think evens the scales there.”
A lot is being made of how the Bills dominated the Steelers last week to the tune of a 38-3 win. However, they struggled against the Ravens and Dolphins in the two previous weeks with a total of 42 points.
“I think too much is being made of the way the Bills played against the Steelers because, for me, even though Buffalo went to Baltimore and won the game, I think the way they played that game, if that was the last impression they had made, I think they would’ve left a bad taste in America’s mouth and they would’ve been an underdog in this game,” Fillipponi continued. “The idea that the Bills’ offense cannot be stopped is just not true because it pretty much happened in that Ravens game.”
The Bills trailed 20-10 at halftime in Baltimore before scoring 13 unanswered points in the second half with Tyler Bass kicking the game-winning field goal as time expired. Allen was limited to 19 of 36 for 213 yards with one touchdown and one interception, although he did rush for 70 yards and a score.
“The Ravens' defense is dead last against the pass, so yes (the Chiefs) can (stop the Bills’ offense). Stop is a relative term. Stop them enough for the Chiefs' offense to win the game? F–k yeah, they can. And the Bills' offense stops itself sometimes.”
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