The Buffalo Bills are back to playing white-hot football following their 40-0 victory over the Houston Texans last Sunday at Highmark Stadium.
At 3-1, the Bills will next head to Kansas City to face the 2-2 Chiefs on "Sunday Night Football" in, what will be, the third matchup between these two teams in a year's span.
In their past two matchups, the Chiefs have gotten the upper-hand. The first came in Week 7 of the 2020 season in Orchard Park, where the Bills were defeated, 26-17 on a late Monday afternoon. The other loss was the most notable, coming in the AFC Championship Game at Arrowhead Stadium, where the Bills came just short of a trip to Super Bowl LV with a 38-24 defeat.
Bills head coach Sean McDermott joined the “Extra Point Show" as part of his regular Friday appearance on WGR. He knows that while many want the Bills to avenge their loss last year in the AFC Championship Game, the team has to focus on the Chiefs, first and foremost.
"I think it goes back to respecting each week, respecting every opponent each week and just trying to grow as a football team," McDermott said with Sal Capaccio and "Sneaky Joe" DiBiase. "We certainly acknowledge where we were last year with this team and at the end of the season how it ended our year. That's the human part of it. The other side is we have to focus on one week at a time and get ourselves ready to go this week."
Just like last year's regular season matchup, injuries for the Bills have become the major story leading up to the contest. Linebacker Matt Milano missed last year's Week 7 affair with a pectoral injury, and is possibly in danger of missing this Sunday's game after suffering a hamstring injury against Houston.
However, McDermott did give some promising news for the Buffalo linebacker ahead of Sunday's contest.
“As of today, everyone should be in the upper-echelon of the injury designation,” he said.
After not practicing either Wednesday or Thursday for the Bills, Milano did return to the practice in a limited capacity on Friday. He has officially been listed as "questionable" for the game, as has defensive end A.J. Epenesa and running back/special teamer Taiwan Jones.
When asked what the alternatives would be if Milano cannot play on Sunday, McDermott leaned on fellow linebacker, A.J. Klein, who finished the Texans game in Milano’s place.
“He’d be very valuable. He did a very good job finishing out the game against Houston,” the fifth-year head coach said.
One of the few negatives from last week's blowout victory over Houston was the three fumbles by the Bills. While none of those led to turnovers, the potential inclement weather in Kansas City this week has forced Buffalo to zero in on this issue once again.
“With the increased chances of rain, we’ll continue to work on it and talk about it,” McDermott said.
Kickoff between the Bills and Chiefs this Sunday night is set for 8:20 p.m. ET with John Murphy, Eric Wood and Sal Capaccio on the call along the Bills Radio Network.
You can listen to McDermott’s entire interview during the “Extra Point Show” below:
