Kansas City, Mo. (WGR 550/WBEN) - The Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs meet, once again, for early matchup for AFC supremacy. The winner of the game will stand alone atop the conference standings.
Here are my three keys for the Bills to come out on top, plus notes and stats:
1.) Matching up with Travis Kelce
You’re never really going to be able to stop the Chiefs tight end, but you have to find ways to match up with him and limit his production, especially in the red zone.
The Bills have tried to do that several different ways under head coach Sean McDermott and defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier, including just playing zone coverage across the board and having linebacker Matt Milano or safety Jordan Poyer predominantly cover him.
Poyer missed last week’s game, but is expected to play Sunday. Milano is having a Pro Bowl-type of start to his season.
The Bills just faced the Baltimore Ravens two weeks ago and elected to have nickel cornerback Taron Johnson often take on tight end Mark Andrews, who was limited to just two catches all day. Maybe that’s the course of action the Bills take against Kelce, as well.
Whatever it is, keeping him from having a big day will go along way towards getting a victory.
2.) Attack Chiefs' thinner secondary
The Chiefs will be without starting cornerback Rashad Fenton. They’ll also be missing backup safety Bryan Cook, making them even thinner on the back-end.
We all remember what Bills wide receiver Gabe Davis was able to do last year in Kansas City in the playoffs. That was partly because the Chiefs elected to take away wide receiver Stefon Diggs. They may not be able to do that this time around, given their injuries and depth situation, which should open the door for Bills quarterback Josh Allen to find the matchup he likes best against that group.
Even if Kansas City does scheme to take away Diggs, or even Davis, Allen and the offense need to test their secondary down the field to try and connect on those big plays again.
3.) Don’t let Chris Jones wreck it
It seems like every week the Bills are facing a premier defensive tackle. Aaron Donald, Jeffery Simmons, Cam Heyward, and now Jones.
Jones is a monster in the middle of the Chiefs defense, and can disrupt both the passing game and running game. He’s a penetrator from the interior on passing downs, but often needs to be double-teamed on run plays.
Bills offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey and offensive line coach Aaron Kromer are going to be tasked with a game plan to make sure he doesn’t wreck what the offense wants to do. Then the entire offensive line is going to have to see it through.
NOTES AND STATS:
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