The Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills have become annual rituals, and the games define a generation of NFL football.
Each era has its own rivalry.
In the 1970s, it was the Oakland Raiders and Pittsburgh Steelers. The 1990s had the Dallas Cowboys and the San Francisco 49ers. The 2000s saw Peyton Manning and Tom Brady turn games between the Indianapolis Colts and New England Patriots into a must-watch TV.
The current generation found its rival on January 23, 2022.
That night, the Kansas City Chiefs and the Buffalo Bills played what was arguably the greatest football game of all time. It would boil over forever and be known as 13 seconds, but the other 64 minutes and two seconds played that evening meant everything just as much.
In order for real competition to emerge, both teams must be able to beat the other. There must also be an iconic moment, an indelible image, a marquee match that captures the imagination.
Buffalo and Kansas City checked all the boxes in one encounter, preparing the next decade.
This Sunday, Bills and Chiefs will meet for the fifth time with Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes. Mahomes has won three of his first four tilts, including post-season affairs. However, Allen has proven himself a worthy enemy, as evidenced by his 300-yard games last year, including stomping 38-20 in Kansas City in Week 5 at Arrowhead.
But while this week’s meeting will be full of overreaction and overreaction, the truth is that this moment is about the bigger picture, both for this season and for future campaigns. This is only a chapter in the book, which helps create the rest of the novel.
In order for Buffalo to truly earn an equal footing with Kansas City, they must win the Super Bowl. The Colts had always had fun with Manning, but they weren’t complete until they defeated the Patriots in the 2006 AFC Championship game in Indianapolis. The Raiders were a hated enemy of the Steelers, but they were nothing more than a serious foil until they beat Pittsburgh in the 76th Conference title match before winning it all.
The Bills may be more talented than the Chiefs, but they haven’t made it to the Super Bowl yet with this group. Buffalo’s last two years at Arrowhead ended in bitter disappointment.
So while a win in Week 6 is great, its biggest impact may be helping the Bales finally get the AFC top seed, something they haven’t done since 1993.
Of course, 93 was the last time Buffalo went to the Super Bowl. Ironically, the Bills defeated Joe Montana and the Chiefs in the AFC Championship match that year.
For Kansas City, week six is all about respect.
The Chiefs have been the league’s best team since the Mahomes became a full-time player in 2018, moving 54-16 in that stretch. They’ve hosted every AFC title match in that span, reaching the Super Bowl twice while winning one. If Kansas City wins it all this year, it can be proven to be a breed.
However, despite entering on Sunday with the same 4-1 record as Buffalo, the Chiefs are a three-point underdog at home. It’s the first time in Mahomes’ career that he’s earned points from the Vegas sportsbooks in a match at Arrowhead. In his eight career games as an underdog, Mahomes is 6-2, with a 7-0-1 record against the difference.
The Mahomes and the Chiefs also want to prove they’re still better dogs even without star receiver Tyreek Hill. They would surely love to keep a potential rematch in Kansas City, rather than travel to the harsh winter weather in Buffalo that comes in late January.
Both teams understand that this will likely be a prelude to what is almost certainly Part Two in a few months time. This is nothing more than a preparation, penultimate episode for the season finale.
But for the House of Representatives and the presidents, every meeting is a referendum, a national event. It’s a measuring stick for every team, the top two in football, and gets an annual moment to see how well they are against their main rivals.
Each NFL era is determined by rivalry. Buffalo and Kansas City are the current duo.
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