‘Lot of Respect For Josh Allen and the Entire Buffalo Bills’: Patrick Mahomes Gets Real About AFC Championship Battle at Arrowhead

“The Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs are duking it out in the playoffs.” This sentence has become a tale as old as time. Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes battle one another in the postseason for the fourth time in five seasons on Sunday. And this time, a berth in the Super Bowl is on the line.

Mahomes spoke with 96.5 The Fan about matching up with Allen and the Bills again on Tuesday. On The Drive, he said Buffalo and Kansas City have a lot in common beyond their talented quarterbacks.

“We’re very similar, maybe not in scheme and schematics… but as far as a lot of guys that have had a lot of success in the NFL… a lot of great football players. And it’s not about just one guy. Obviously they have Josh… [but] it goes throughout the entire team, and you can see that when you watch the film… I’ve got a lot of respect for Josh and the entire Buffalo Bills organization.”

The Bills and Chiefs have split their last 10 contests. Each team has scored 251 points across those affairs. Buffalo’s victories, including a 30-21 triumph in Week 11 this year, have come exclusively in the regular season. Meanwhile, Kansas City has won all three postseason meetings between Mahomes and Allen. Buffalo’s signal-caller is hoping to change that tune in a raucous road environment.

Patrick Mahomes “wants to be at Arrowhead” for AFC Championships

The Chiefs’ run to Super Bowl LVIII provided their most treacherous path to a championship in the Patrick Mahomes Era. Kansas City had to defeat the Bills and Baltimore Ravens on the road before facing the San Francisco 49ers. They got the job done, but the ordeal isn’t something Mahomes wants to go through again.

“You wanna be at Arrowhead playing these games… the fans are such a huge part of [our success]… it’s gonna be a battle and we’re excited for the opportunity.”

Carrington Harrison, host of The Drive, said this Sunday’s contest is “in the conversation” for “biggest game in the history” of Arrowhead Stadium. Mahomes didn’t explicitly concur, but didn’t disagree either.

“Any AFC Championship game is gonna be the biggest one… if we keep hosting AFC Championship games, we’ll just keep saying it’s the biggest one that next year… we’ll just continue that tradition.”

FanDuel Sportsbook has Kansas City as a 1.5-point favorite over Buffalo in the AFC Championship. The Bills were also 1.5-point underdogs in the divisional round against the Baltimore Ravens, who they beat 27-25 last Sunday. If they can prevail against the Chiefs with the same differential, they’ll play in the Super Bowl for the first time since 1994.