Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - Since Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes have quarterbacked their respective teams, Sunday will mark the eighth meeting between the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs. It's the most frequent matchup for non-divisional rivals since Tom Brady's New England Patriots and Peyton Manning's Indianapolis Colts in the early 2000s.
Throughout the last five years, these two teams are only separated by seven points in head-to-head matchups. In 424 minutes of football, the score is 190-183 in favor of the Chiefs.
The Chiefs have four wins, while the Bills have three.
When these wins have come, though, it has been the entire story of this rivalry. The Bills are 3-4 against the Chiefs, but everyone knows, they're really 0-3.
The unique circumstances that have led us to the Bills winning three-consecutive regular season meetings against the Chiefs, but failing in three-consecutive playoff meetings, inevitably means there is nothing left for the Bills to prove against the Chiefs in the regular season.
And yet, here comes a regular season matchup between the two teams.
So, what do we do with it?
The answer: Enjoy the damn game, and find meaning in it wherever you can find it.
First and foremost, it would be fun as hell to smash the Chiefs in Orchard Park, something Bills fans have yet to experience.
Remember how fun it was last year to watch Mahomes cry like a baby for three days after losing to the Bills?
Remember the jumping up and down you did in the moment Allen threw a game-winning touchdown pass to beat the Chiefs two years ago? Or when Taron Johnson picked off Mahomes to seal it?
If we get moments like that on Sunday, it's going to be a big fun party at Highmark Stadium. Root for the party.
And just because this game Sunday means almost nothing to the story of these two teams, doesn't mean it doesn't have influence on a potential later playoff meeting.
The Bills still do have a chance at the 1-seed. In fact, this game means everything to their 1-seed chase.
According to the New York Times' playoff simulator, the Bills have a 26% chance at the No. 1 seed with a win over the Chiefs, and a 1% chance with a loss.
Even if you just want something extra to care about in the final month-and-a-half of the regular season with the 1-seed, a win over Kansas City is necessary to that.
The No. 1 seed is worth pursuing and caring about. It could mean an infinitely easier path to the Super Bowl. Sure, you still need a bit of luck with matchups, but you're more likely to get lucky.
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Two years ago, the Philadelphia Eagles only had to beat Daniel Jones and the New York Giants to get to the NFC Championship Game.
If the Bills were to get the No. 1 seed, your path to the Super Bowl could be something like the Houston Texans and Kansas City at home. Fall to the 2- or 3-seed and maybe you're playing the Pittsburgh Steelers, then Baltimore Ravens, and then Kansas City on the road.
That's potentially a huge difference.
The other meaning behind a Bills win over the Chiefs on Sunday? Eliminating any chance of an undefeated season.
If you think Chiefs talk is insufferable now, imagine what it could be like in the next seven weeks if they're chasing the first 20-0 season in NFL history.
Stopping the Chiefs' chase of history, before it really becomes a thing, would be nice.
Two things can be true: There absolutely is less juice to this Bills-Chiefs game then any of the seven that came before it, but you should enjoy this game and care about the result, especially if the Bills find a way to win it.
