Don't look now, but it's another Patrick Mahomes-Josh Allen playoff battle. This time for a trip to the Super Bowl.
The Buffalo Bills beat the Baltimore Ravens 27-25 on Sunday night. The Chiefs and Bills will play each other in the postseason for the fourth time since 2020.
If there is a name that strikes fear into the hearts of Chiefs fans, it is probably Josh Allen. In their regular season meeting in Buffalo in November, Allen spoiled the Chiefs' hope of a perfect season by scoring on a 26-yard run on fourth-and-2 with just 2:17 left.
Allen completed almost 64% of his passes this season with 28 touchdowns and only six interceptions. But, as the Chiefs saw in Buffalo, Allen can win by running. He scrambles on 19% of his pass dropbacks — a problem for the Chiefs, who allowed the third most yards on quarterback scrambles this season.
The Bills run the ball a lot. Only four teams rushed the ball more this season. Running back James Cook rushed for 16 touchdowns this year, tied for first in the NFL. (One of those he tied was the Ravens' Derrick Henry.)
Buffalo has pluses and minuses on the defensive side. They’ve struggled on third-and-long, allowing opponents a first down 79% of the time. That is the 14th worst in the league. On the other hand, turnovers have been a bright spot. The Bills are third in takeaways per drive.
In the Allen-Mahomes era, the Bills have handled the Chiefs during the regular season, but the Chiefs have dominated in the playoffs. In the postseason, the Chiefs beat Buffalo in 2020, 2021 and 2023. (The 2021 Divisional game featured the 13-second drive at the end of the game to send it into overtime where the Chiefs won 42-36.)
The Chiefs are 1.5 point favorites. They look to be healthy going into Sunday’s game at Arrowhead, which kicks off at 5:30 and will be broadcast on CBS.
The team says a limited number of tickets are available and will go on sale Monday at 11 a.m.
The early weather forecast calls for cloudy skies with a high of 36.