In what could be the game of the Divisional round, Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs will take on Josh Allen and the Bills for the second time this season in Kansas City.
The first matchup featured a significant lightning delay, but Buffalo still picked up a decisive 38-20 victory back in Week Five.
Both teams have evolved since then. But in that first meeting Allen passed for 315 yards and three touchdowns while also rushing 11 times for 59 yards with a TD.
That Buffalo offense runs through Allen, which is something Mahomes respects as he gears up to face Allen for the fourth time in the last two seasons.
“Yeah he’s a tremendous player,” Mahomes said in his Wednesday press conference. “I actually know him a little bit off the field as well, great dude. They put a lot on his shoulders, and he rises to the occasion. He’s able to run the ball, he can throw the ball, he has the arm strength to throw it anywhere on the football field and he makes great decisions. Like you said we’ll probably play them a lot of times, it’ll be great competition and it’s definitely a great challenge for us as a team to compete with them.”
Allen is coming off the best game of his career, completing 21-of-25 passes for 308 yards and five touchdowns plus another 66 yards on the ground in Buffalo’s 47-17 drubbing of New England last week. Kansas City’s defense should put up more resistance, but Mahomes will also have to be at his best for the Chiefs to reach a fourth consecutive AFC Championship Game.