The Buffalo Bills have patiently been waiting four years to get revenge against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Kansas City will host Buffalo in the AFC Championship Game on Sunday night in a rematch of a 2021 meeting that the Chiefs won 38-24 to reach the Super Bowl.
It was a different time back then. Only 17,000 fans were allowed into Arrowhead Stadium because of pandemic-related health and safety measures, and most of that limited crowd was naturally pro-Kansas City.
Bills coach Sean McDermott believes Buffalo will have more support this time around.
“It’s huge,” McDermott said of having Bills fans in enemy territory. “We’ve gone on the road, we’ve played at home — our fans travel everywhere and anywhere that we play. So, we’ve got the best fans in the NFL. I think that the connection with our fan base, as I’ve said multiple times over, is unique in the NFL.”
Still, it’s going to take a lot more than having some rowdy fans in the building to beat the Chiefs, who have won eight straight playoff games. Only the New England Patriots (10 wins in a row from 2001-05) and the Green Bay Packers (nine in a row from 1961-68) have been able to string more victories together in the postseason.
A win on Sunday would send Kansas City to the Super Bowl for the third consecutive year, and considering the Chiefs have won the past two, quarterback Patrick Mahomes is aware of the target that he and his teammates have on their backs.
“You have to combat,” Mahomes said. “You have to look at your weaknesses and try to make those strengths, and then your strengths, make them even better, because you know that (the Bills are) gonna go out there and try to take away those things.
“It’s a great football team. Like I said, great players, well-coached and we know it’s gonna take our best in order to find a way to get a win.”
Kansas City and Buffalo have faced off six times since colliding in the 2021 AFC Championship Game, with two of those meetings in the postseason. The Chiefs won both of the divisional-round matchups, most recently taking out the Bills with a 27-24 victory in last season’s playoffs.
However, when the teams last met, Buffalo topped Kansas City 30-21 in Week 11 of this season.
McDermott doesn’t necessarily think the win will help the Bills come Sunday, though.
“That game stands alone, as this game will,” he said. “As you saw with our experience last week (against the Baltimore Ravens), these games are individual of each other.”
Buffalo edged the Ravens 27-25 to set up the date with Kansas City, which got past the Houston Texans 23-14.
Bills safety Taylor Rapp sustained a hip injury against Baltimore and wouldn’t have practiced on Wednesday anyway, but Buffalo only held a walkthrough. Rapp is also dealing with a back issue. Offensive tackle Dion Dawkins (illness) would have also been held out of practice, while linebacker Matt Milano (biceps/hamstring) was listed as limited.
Everyone on the Chiefs had the green light at their practice on Wednesday, including Mahomes, who popped up on the injury report because of his ankle. He suffered a high-ankle sprain in Week 15 but didn’t miss any time and was a full participant in Wednesday’s practice.