Threepeat on the way for the Chiefs? Or is it finally Josh Allen’s time to play in the Super Bowl?
We’ve played 283 out of a possible 285 combined regular season and playoff games for the 2024 NFL season. The AFC Championship is the penultimate game, and naturally the Kansas City Chiefs are involved.
Go figure that after Tom Brady’s AFC dominance ended in 2018, Patrick Mahomes has effortlessly grabbed the baton in the conference. The Chiefs have made seven straight Conference Championship games, winning four of their previous six. We’ve never seen any NFL team complete a hat trick of consecutive Super Bowls. Kansas City has wobbled, looked vulnerable, escaped surefire losses with dramatic wins, and are somehow 16-2 when you count last week’s playoff win. Take out the Week 18 pseudo-forfeit by playing their backups and the Chiefs have lost one game with their starters all season.
Who was that one team to conquer Kansas City’s best in the regular season? Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills, who won 30-21 in Buffalo to end KC’s undefeated run. The Bills have beaten the Chiefs in the regular season four straight years, including three straight in Kansas City. In the playoffs? The Bills are 0-for-3 and have allowed touchdowns or field goals about 65 percent of all Kansas City drives. Sean McDermott’s defenses have been thrashed in the playoffs by Andy Reid’s offenses. The only way Buffalo can get to the Super Bowl is if the defense steps up and slows down the Chiefs offense. Easier said than done, I know.
Oh yeah, and Buffalo hasn’t won a road playoff game since 1993. Feels like that’s a good time to end that drought, right?
The winner plays the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans on Feb. 9.
CBS has the kickoff at 6:30 pm ET/3:30 pm PT. Enjoy!