The Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs have been the two best teams in the AFC over the last few years. A rivalry is burgeoning, but the Bills need to start winning some if it’s going to blossom into a real rivalry. The Bills have been eliminated from the playoffs by the Chiefs in three of the last four years. At this point, there is definitely some animosity there, and Travis Kelce loves it.
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The Chiefs legendary TE was discussing the upcoming AFC Championship Game between the Chiefs and Bills—the fourth time in five years they will meet in the playoffs—on his New Heights podcast with his brother, Jason. Travis sees it as a classic clash between two iconic QBs and two elite head coaches. However, he also believes that, despite featuring two of the best QBs of this generation, the game is going to be a “dog fight”.
“Two great coached teams, two superstars at quarterback, and playmakers all over the board. The biggest thing for me is going out there and playing my fu*king tail off for these guys next to me. We’re excited for that challenge. To go up against these Bills. We know they match up very good with us. It’s a very familiar matchup, we’ve seen these guys a lot… That being said, it’s gonna be a dog fight.”
Kelce will surely have his part to play in the matchup. While the 35-year-old has been coasting through most of the last two regular seasons, the Chiefs bring him out come January, and he’s as good as ever. Kelce had just one 100-yard game during the regular season, then exploded with seven receptions for 117 yards and a touchdown in the Divisional Round against the Texans.
Since the 2020 playoffs, Kelce has played in 14 postseason games. He’s recorded 5+ receptions and 70+ yards in each, with 14 touchdowns during that span.
In the 2020 playoffs, he took 13 receptions for 118 yards and a pair of scores against the Bills. The next year, he took eight catches for 96 yards and a TD against Buffalo in the Divisional round. Last year, he had five receptions for 75 yards and two more scores at Highmark Stadium in Western NY.
Travis will definitely be one of the most important weapons for the Chiefs as they attempt to keep Buffalo’s high-flying offense in check. That said, his brother, Jason, then explained why the Bills finally have a real chance to get the Chiefs monkey off their back.
“Obviously James Cook is such a huge, integral part of that Bills offense, gotta try and slow him down. But, easier said than done. Josh does such a great job. There’s something really hard about stopping a passing attack that doesn’t just zero in on specific playmakers. He spreads the ball around as good as anybody else. And then they’re well-coached on defense.”
The Bills were the only team to beat the Chiefs’ starters this year, beating the Chiefs 30-21 in Week 11. They were able to do that thanks in large part to a couple of turnovers from Patrick Mahomes. Allen also spread the ball around, hitting five different guys at least twice. They won with James Cook contributing just 20 yards too, which means they were able to win without playing their best game. That’s gotta be encouraging for them.
Pretty much everyone outside of Kansas City will be cheering for the Bills to finally slay the Patrick Mahomes-Travis Kelce-Andy Reid Chiefs dragon. The Bills come into the matchup, which will be played at Arrowhead on Sunday at 6:30PM, as +1.5 point underdogs.
