The game that everyone has circled as a must-see for this week is the Kansas City Chiefs taking on the Buffalo Bills up in western New York on Sunday, and unless you've been sitting under a rock for the last few years, you know exactly why.
Yet again, in 2024, the Kansas City Chiefs are the team to beat. Literally, they have the best record in the league at 9-0 going into Sunday's matchup at Highmark Stadium. If you look at the Chiefs' remaining games this season, this game (and potentially the rematch with the Denver Broncos) feels like the only window of opportunity to stop the Chiefs from an undefeated regular season.
Rivalries can come and go depending on who's under center for teams. Nobody cares as much anymore when the New England Patriots play the Indianapolis Colts. Over a decade and a half ago, people did when it was Tom Brady vs Peyton Manning on the field for four quarters.
Once upon a time, the Chiefs and the Bills were just another Sunday game. Now, with Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen signal-calling their respective teams, the games these two teams play against one another have emerged as Brady/Manning 2.0.
It seems that the Chiefs are always in the Bills' way of a championship run. All of this dates back to 2020 when the Bills made it to their first AFC Championship game in decades, only to fall to the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium.
A year later, the two teams had a 'never say die' shootout in the divisional round of the playoffs. Both Mahomes and Allen threw for a combined 717 passing yards. In the final 114 seconds of the game, both teams scored a whopping 25 combined points.
The Bills took the lead with 13 seconds remaining, but that didn't stop the Chiefs. They rallied to tie it and send it to overtime with a field goal. The Chiefs eventually got the win in overtime, 42-36.
Mahomes knows how passionate this rivalry is now. In a video that resurfaced on Jake Paul's "Impaulsive" podcast, he talked about it this past off-season.
"I'm trying to hand my headband off to a kid, and snowballs are just flying at me," Mahomes said about the environment last season when the Chiefs were in town to play the Bills.
"These people really don't like me," Mahomes said about the Bills Mafia.
Anybody who has ever been around the Bills Mafia as a fan of a visiting team knows one thing about Buffalo's faithful fan base. They'll let you tailgate with them and share a few laughs, but once you're in the stadium, all bets are off.
Mahomes knows what he's up against this Sunday. Could that lead him and the Chiefs to a 10-0 start, or maybe the Bills can wipe away any hopes of the Chiefs having the perfect season?
Coverage of the highly anticipated game begins Sunday at 4:25 pm ET on CBS and Paramount+.
