NFL Playoffs Divisional Round: Can the Bills beat Chiefs in Buffalo?
Chiefs-Bills. This is becoming an NFL Playoff rivalry. This time the Chiefs are on the road, but the Bills enter this game with issues on defense.
ORCHARD PARK – Nearly five feet of snow has fallen on Highmark Stadium in the last week-plus, but you would hardly know it upon entering the home of the Buffalo Bills Sunday afternoon.
Thanks to another heroic performance by the citizens of western New York who put in long, tough hours to shovel out the venue Friday and Saturday, it is ready for the AFC divisional playoff game against the Kansas City Chiefs.
This is the matchup Bills fans have been salivating for – Andy Reid, Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce (and yes, his girlfriend who you may have heard of, Taylor Swift) in Orchard Park, with a sellout crowd able to attend.
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After five straight trips to Kansas City (two in the playoffs), the Bills finally get the Chiefs at home with a trip to the AFC Championship game at Baltimore on the line. It is a game in which Sean McDermott, Josh Allen and the rest of the Bills know they cannot fall flat in because with the changing nature of the NFL, these opportunities are never a given.
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Chiefs drive starts with =13:32 in the second quarter
Isiah Pacheco carried the ball for nine yards on the first play of the drive and then followed that with a carry for 10 yards.
Another strong drive has Bills in the lead
And so it continues. Josh Allen and the Bills put together another strong drive mixing run and pass and finding positive gains on almost every play, and this time it ended with a touchdown as Allen scored on a five-yard keeper around left end.
The key so far for the Bills has been their ability to run the ball. They already have 94 yards rushing including 38 by James Cook who was big on that drive.
The Bills take over possession with 4:35 left in the first quarter.
A six-yard run by James Cook opened the drive. A pass to Khalil Shakir then picked up a first down. Ty Johnson then gained another first down reception and then carried the ball for nine yards. He picked up another first down with a short run on the next play.
James Cook replaced Johnson at running back and carried for six yards to move the ball closer to the Chiefs’ 32. His next run picked up the first down. Josh Allen closed out the first quarter with an eight-yard run.
Chiefs have a quick answer
Patrick Mahomes wasted no time answering the Bills’ opening drive with one of his own and the game is tied at 3-3 after Harrison Butker’s 47-yard field goal.
Right away, the Bills made a mistake when Greg Rousseau had Mahomes in his hands for a sack but couldn’t finish, and that led to a 26-yard pass to Rashee Rice. And then Mahomes hit Travis Kelce for 14 yards on the next play and the Chiefs were rolling.
However, the Bills defense rose up and stopped the drive right there with Dane Jackson breaking up a third-down pass.
After some early problems on their first possession of the night, the Bills marched 60 yards in 14 plays to Tyler Bass’ 27-yard field goal.
After a Stefon Diggs fumble, a penalty on Dalton Kincaid, and an incomplete pass, the Bills faced third-and-17, but Josh Allen scrambled out of the pocket, then lateraled to Ty Johnson for a gain of 16 yards. Allen then converted the fourth-and-1 and from there, Allen completed a couple of key passes, none bigger than a 15-yarder to Dalton Kincaid on a third-and-5.
The pop icon walked into Highmark Stadium and will watch the Bills take on the Kansas City Chiefs in the Divisional Round on Sunday.
Swift exited a white Chevrolet Suburban with California license plates about 5 p.m. Dozens of fans gathered in the snow to catch a glimpse of the star. She was joined by Patrick Mahomes’ wife, Brittany Mahomes.
The second-year linebacker has been the Bills’ best defensive player this season as he led the team in tackles with 143 during the regular season, and he also has a team-high seven total takeaways counting the postseason. However, he suffered an ankle sprain against the Steelers, did not practice all week, and was one of the Bills’ inactives which were just announced.
Fortunately for the Bills, Tyrel Dodson will return to the lineup after missing the Pittsburgh game, and he will most likely play Bernard’s signal-calling MLB spot. Either rookie Dorian Williams or veteran A.J. Klein will start at outside linebacker.
The Bills will also be without wide receiver Gabe Davis, cornerback Christian Benford, linebacker Baylon Spector and safety Taylor Rapp who were all ruled out Friday. The other inactives are defensive tackle Poona Ford and offensive lineman Alec Anderson.
For the Chiefs, wide receiver Kadarius Toney, defensive tackle Derrick Nnadi, and offensive lineman Wanya Morris are the three biggest names on their inactive list.
The Bills go into this game with a problematic injury situation, but the punter’s availability – which was up in the air as late as Saturday – helps ease the situation.
Martin suffered a hamstring injury last week against Pittsburgh, so the Bills signed former punter Matt Haack to their practice squad in case Martin couldn’t play. But Martin informed McDermott that he was good to go and that helped the Bills with their roster decisions.
You only get two practice squad elevations per game, and the Bills were fortunate they didn’t have to use one on Haack because that would have meant only one of wide receiver Andy Isabella and linebacker AJ Klein would have been available for the game.
Now, Isabella is up to give the Bills five receivers with Gabe Davis out, and Klein can play for Terrel Bernard who is expected to be inactive with an ankle injury.
Sal Maiorana: Chiefs 24, Bills 23
The Bills’ injury situation has me spooked, plain and simple. If Buffalo was healthier on defense, I would have been all over a Bills victory, playing at home. But the absences of Bernard, Christian Benford and Taylor Rapp, and Rasul Douglas and Dodson perhaps hindered by their injuries, is problematic against future Hall of Fame players like Mahomes and Kelce and a Hall of Fame coach in Andy Reid.
Yes, the Chiefs’ offense hasn’t been all that scary, but let’s not forget, these are still the Chiefs, this is the postseason, and they are still the proud defending champions. And while I fully expect Allen to play well, this Chiefs’ defense is great at every level. With their CBs, Sneed and McDuffie, they can shut down any WR, and they pair that with a dynamic pass rush led by Chris Jones and George Karlaftis.
In the end, I think it’s going to be tight throughout, a turnover or a late field goal might decide it – and in that scenario, I trust KC’s Harrison Butker over Buffalo’s Tyler Bass – and the Chiefs will do what they always seem to do in the postseason and find a way, even though they’re on the road for the first time in the Mahomes era.
● Date: Sunday, Jan. 21
● Time: 6:30 p.m.
● Place: Highmark Stadium
● Betting line (as of Thursday morning): Bills -3
● Over-under: 45.5
● Money line: Bills minus-145 (bet $145 to win $100) and Chiefs plus-125 (bet $100 to win $125).
Who is announcing the Bills vs. Chiefs game
● Play-by-play: Jim Nantz
● Analyst: Tony Romo
● Sideline reporter: Tracy Wolfson
● Cable/Network TV: CBS. The game will be available locally via the following stations: WROC (Channel 8, Rochester), WIVB (Buffalo area), WTVH (Syracuse area), WKTV (Utica area), WENY (Elmira area), WRGB (Albany area), and WBNG (Binghamton area).
● Online streaming services: You can watch games on NFL.com and the NFL mobile app, and you can subscribe to NFL+, the league’s own streaming service, though you can’t cast the games to your TV – you must watch on your phone or tablet.
● TV streaming: You can also stream games if you have subscriptions to Spectrum, DirecTV, fuboTV, Sling, Vidgo, Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV, and Paramount+.
On the radio: How to listen to the Bills vs Chiefs game
You can listen on SiriusXM satellite radio on Sirius channel 81 and XM channel 227 (Bills feed) and Sirius channel 82 and XM channel 225 (Chiefs feed), and on traditional radio, the Bills Radio Network has stations all across the state. Chris Brown has the play-by-play, Eric Wood is the analyst, and Sal Capaccio is the sideline reporter. The network includes:
- Rochester (WCMF 96.5 and WROC 950 AM)
- Buffalo (WGR550, 550 AM)
- Syracuse (WTKW 99.5/WTKV 105.5)
- Binghamton (WDRE 100.5FM)
- Ithaca (WIII 99.9/100.3 FM)
- Bath (WVIN 98.3 FM)
- Newark (WACK 1420 AM)
- Dansville (WDNY 93.9 FM)
- Elmira (WNGZ 1490 AM)
- Auburn (WAUB 98.1 FM/1590 AM)
- Geneva (WGVA 95.9 FM, 1240 AM)
Buffalo Bills 2023 schedule
- Mon. Sept . 11, Jets 22, Bills 16 (OT)
- Sun., Sept. 17, Bills 38, Raiders 10
- Sun. Sept. 24, Bills 37, Commanders 3
- Sun. Oct. 1, Bills 48, Dolphins 20
- Sun. Oct. 8, Jaguars 25, Bills 20
- Sun. Oct. 15, Bills 14, Giants 9
- Sun. Oct. 22, Patriots 29, Bills 25
- Thur. Oct. 26, Bills 24, Buccaneers 18
- Sun. Nov. 5, Bengals 24, Bills 18
- Mon. Nov. 13, Broncos 24, Bills 22
- Sun. Nov. 19, Bills 32, Jets 6
- Sun. Nov. 26, Eagles 37, Bills 34 (OT)
- Sun. Dec. 3, Bye week
- Sun. Dec. 10, Bills 20, Chiefs 17
- Sun. Dec. 17, Bills 31, Cowboys 10
- Sat. Dec. 23, Bills 24, Chargers 22
- Sun. Dec. 31, Bills 27, Patriots 21
- Sun. Jan. 7, Bills 21, Dolphins 14
- Mon. Jan. 15, Bills 31, Steelers 17
- Sun. Jan. 21, vs Chiefs, 6:30 p.m.
Sal Maiorana can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana. To subscribe to Sal’s newsletter, Bills Blast, which comes out twice a week during the season, please follow this link:
