An unstoppable force meets an immovable object. The Buffalo Bills have beaten the Kansas City Chiefs four straight times in the regular season. In the playoffs, though, the Chiefs have prevailed on three consecutive occasions. Josh Allen is hoping to alter that history in Sunday’s AFC Championship game.
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As First Take debated the pending matchup between Allen and Patrick Mahomes, Cam Newton confidently stated Allen “will be the better quarterback” in Sunday’s game because “he has to” in order to secure the win. Conversely, Newton thinks Mahomes “has to play his game, but not to the capacity that Josh Allen does” to achieve victory.
Ryan Clark disagreed. In his mind, Mahomes’ track record justifies a need for him to rise to the occasion.
“If I’m Roger Goodell, I’m gonna start writing the Kansas City Chiefs’ schedule… as a 19-game schedule, because all the dude knows is how to show up on championship weekend… only Joe Burrow and Tom Brady have found a way to go into Arrowhead and beat this man… the [QB] who needs to do more is Patrick Mahomes. The [QB] that needs to be better is Patrick Mahomes.”
Like every other team in the AFC, the Bills have consistently hit the wall that is the Chiefs in the playoffs. The Kansas City Chiefs have become a significant obstacle for the Buffalo Bills, as they have never managed to defeat them in the playoffs since Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes took over as their quarterbacks.
Despite positioning themselves as a leading contender in the AFC, the Bills have seen their postseason aspirations thwarted by the Chiefs in three of the last four seasons. Allen is 4-1 against Mahomes in the regular season, but Mahomes is 3-0 in the playoffs.
Clark believes Allen “has to play within himself… [and] continue to be efficient” for Buffalo to come out on top. That left Stephen A. Smith as the tiebreaking vote in the discussion.
Smith ultimately sided with Newton. To him, Josh Allen must be prolific and post a high point total because history indicates Mahomes and Co. will eliminate the Bills again if he doesn’t.
“You gotta go in there with an attitude, ‘I’m tired of this brother finding a way to beat me’… ‘I gotta drop 35 [points]… I’ve got to score [35] points, cause [otherwise] this man will find a way to beat me.”
Clark vehemently shook his head in disagreement as Smith spoke. He believes this mentality is the exact opposite of what has enabled Buffalo to get this far.
“If Josh Allen walks into this stadium… and he says, ‘it’s me against him’, they lose… you had an opportunity, close to the goal line, with a guy who’s impossible to stop in short yardage in the red zone… and you said ‘we’re gonna kick a field goal because we’re gonna make the Baltimore Ravens beat us. We will not beat ourselves. We will not put ourselves in a bad position.'”
However, Clark didn’t dismiss the potential of Allen needing to put the Bills on his back late in the game.
“The entire team says, ‘our team will win by being smart, efficient and protecting the ball, and the other team will lose it.’ That’s the same way you have to go into this game until Josh Allen needs to [possibly take over].”
FanDuel Sportsbook lists Kansas City as a 1.5-point favorite over Buffalo for Sunday’s contest. The AFC Championship kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. E.T. on CBS.
