Game Preview
from The Associated Press

Bills and Chiefs to meet at Arrowhead with both teams feeling desperate for a win

By DAVE SKRETTA
Thu, December 7, 2023 at 3:59 PM CST

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Bills and Chiefs are accustomed to playing each other with the NFL spotlight shining squarely upon them.

There was that AFC championship game a few of years ago, when Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen and Kansas City counterpart Patrick Mahomes went toe-to-toe for four quarters. And the divisional playoff game the following season, when Mahomes needed a mere 13 seconds to march his team into range for a tying field goal, then led the Chiefs to victory in overtime.

Even their games the past two Octobers have been must-see TV featuring two of the league’s best teams.

Yet there is a different feel surrounding the Bills’ return to Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday.

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Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen gets sacked by Philadelphia Eagles defensive end Brandon Graham during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Nov. 26, 2023, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)ASSOCIATED PRESS

Buffalo is muddling along at 6-6 and outside the current playoff picture, the first time since Allen’s rookie season in 2018 that the Bills were .500 or worse at this point in the season. And the Chiefs have lost three of their last five games, falling to 8-4 and suddenly looking up at Baltimore and Miami in the AFC standings.

“We understand what’s in front of us and what situation we’re in,” Allen said , “but we’ve got a lot of guys in this locker room that are very excited to be back, and we have a very good feeling in this locker room right now for what we need to do.”

The Bills are in their current predicament largely because of their inability to win close games. Each of their losses have been by six points or fewer, including four losses in the six games they played before getting last week off.

With Dallas and Miami still on the schedule, their path back to the playoffs won’t be an easy one.

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A Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes pass is defended by the Green Bay Packers in the end zone during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Dec. 3, 2023 in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Mike Roemer)ASSOCIATED PRESS

“We have to have a somewhat playoff mentality going forward,” Bills center Mitch Morse said, “and that’s not going to guarantee us to win all the games. But we can’t reach our goal if we don’t play, work, practice, come together with a sense of urgency.”

The Chiefs have a similar sense of urgency coming off their loss last Sunday in Green Bay. They squandered control of their own destiny when it came to the No. 1 seed in the playoffs, and the AFC’s lone first-round bye, with the lackluster 27-19 defeat.

“I’ve been on a team that was 6-4 and ended up winning the Super Bowl,” Mahomes said. “We have confidence every week that we’re going to find a way to win. Obviously, these last few weeks we’ve lost a couple, but we still have that mindset.”

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Buffalo Bills running back James Cook is tackled by Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Zach Cunningham during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Nov. 26, 2023, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)ASSOCIATED PRESS

Unlike the Bills, though, the Chiefs do not face anyone with a winning record the rest of the regular season.

“We can’t lose three out of four, or three out of five. It’s a critical situation,” Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones said, “especially where we’re trying to be in the next few weeks. We have to correct the errors, and we have to correct them fast.”

Continued in next post~~~