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The NFL season has come down to the four best teams in the league. We are concentrating on the AFC Championship Game and wow, do we have a matchup to preview. Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills will take on Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs this weekend in a battle to reach Super Bowl 59. Throughout this article, not only will we preview that matchup, but we will also break down each respective team’s performance in the Divisional Round while also making game picks. Let’s dive in.
The Buffalo Bills had a great Divisional Round game against the Baltimore Ravens. They were able to hold off a late charge from the Ravens and win 27-25 at home. They did that on the back of three turnovers forced by their defense.
With the Bills’ defense doing enough to slow down the Ravens’ offense and forcing turnovers, the offense didn’t have to do much. Josh Allen threw for just 127 yards through the air, which was his season low. He did, however, find the end zone twice on the ground, scoring two of the three touchdowns for the Bills.
With Allen not having to do a lot in the passing game, it was a quiet night for his pass-catchers. Khalil Shakir led the team with six catches for 67 yards. No other Bills pass-catcher had more than 15 receiving yards.
The Bills wanted to do as much damage on the ground as possible and that’s what they did. They had 147 rushing yards on 36 carries, limiting how many times Lamar Jackson and the Ravens’ offense touched the ball. James Cook finished with 67 yards on 17 carries, while his backup, Ray Davis, scored the other touchdown on the ground. It was a good game plan by the Bills and they could adopt a similar one for their game against the Chiefs.
Now, looking at the Chiefs, they took on CJ Stroud and the Texans in the Divisional Round of the playoffs. That was another contest determined by the defense. The Chiefs’ defense was outstanding, holding the Texans to just 14 points and sacking Stroud a whopping eight times. That led to the Chiefs winning 23-14.
Just like the Chiefs had done all season, they won ugly once again against Houston. Star quarterback Patrick Mahomes threw for just 177 yards and one touchdown, where he hooked up with Travis Kelce as Mahomes was being dragged to the ground by a Texans pass-rusher.
Kelce had a monster performance, reminding us all that he can still get it done whenever he wants to. He finished the game with 117 receiving yards and that touchdown on seven catches, leading the team. Rookie Xavier Worthy also chipped in with five catches for 45 yards.
The running game for the Chiefs was quiet as well, rushing for just 50 yards on 17 carries. Kansas City has been riding their defense for most of the season and that is unlikely to change, in this game or the rest of their playoff run.
Now, looking at this matchup between the Bills and Chiefs, this is going to be a battle. We have seen this Conference Championship game before during the 2021-2022 season and we all remember how that ended. It was one of the best AFC Championship games of all time as the Chiefs won 42-36 in overtime. That game was the reason why the overtime rules were changed, now allowing both teams to have at least one possession.
Now, with the way these two teams have played this season, we do not quite see such a high-scoring affair in this matchup. Both teams will likely want to try and establish the run early, especially the Bills. Each team is going to want to limit how many times their opponent touches the football.
The issue with that for the Bills is that the Chiefs have allowed the third-fewest rushing yards to opposing running backs this season at just over 68 yards per game. One thing that does stick out, however, is that the Chiefs struggle to contain rushing quarterbacks. They have allowed the seventh-most rushing yards to opposing quarterbacks this season. That means Josh Allen could be in for a big game on the ground. With that said, our Bills @ Chiefs pick is for Josh Allen to rush for at least 50 yards in this game.
Our friends at SportsGrid have also come up with some picks ahead of the big game this weekend, where Tom Vecchio talks QB Props for Sunday’s clash between the Bills and Chiefs in the AFC Championship. Check out the video here:
Dylan has had a love for sports since he was a kid. Four years ago, he decided to dive into the sports content-creating industry specializing in Fantasy Football, NFL and NBA. He has since had his work published on sites that include Fantasy Alarm, Fansided, and Fantasy Six Pack.