While this Sunday's game in Orchard Park will be the 10th meeting between the Buffalo Bills and the Kansas City Chiefs, with Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen under center, the rivalry is one of the best in the NFL. The Bills are 4-5 in this competition, hoping to secure the win.
While both teams tend to play with a chip on their shoulders, they are both fighting for their playoff lives and really need to win this one on Sunday.
4 essential matchups Bills will face against Chiefs on Sunday
1. QBs: Josh Allen vs. Patrick Mahomes
The first matchup always features the intense competition between the two signal callers, Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes. The two frenemies have the utmost respect for one another, having played against each other year after year since 2020.
They like each other off the field, but when it's game time, it's going to be a battle. While the two quarterbacks are similar in a way that they win for their teams, they're very different when it comes to putting their bodies on the line.
Allen is 6 feet 5 inches, 237 pounds, with a cannon of an arm, and plays with reckless abandonment. He is not afraid to take off and run or to make contact with a defensive player.
This season, he has thrown for 12 TDs and four interceptions with a 68.0 completion percentage. Despite his wide receiver's struggles, he has helped orchestrate the fourth-best offense in the NFL.
As for Mahomes, at 6 feet 2 inches, 225 pounds, he is a magician on the football field. It certainly helps when you have two big play receivers like Rashee Rice and Xaiver Worthy, who Mahomes can throw to on deep routes and take the roof off the stadium.
This season, the Chiefs' superstar has thrown for 17 touchdowns and four interceptions with a 67.0 completion percentage. He has been very accurate with his throws despite the team starting the season at 2-3.
The only knock on Mahomes is that, unlike Allen, who isn't afraid of making contact, Mahomes tends to get happy feet and be a little fearful of getting hit. Other than that, Mahomes, along with Allen, will be in the Hall of Fame someday, just like Tom Brady and Peyton Manning were when their playing careers were done.
2. Will the Bills feature RB James Cook again vs. Chiefs' defense?
Let's face it. The Bills' offense literally and figuratively runs right through No. 4 of the Buffalo Bills.
The young superstar running back currently has 753 rushing yards and is on pace for over 1,800 rushing yards in 17 games this season. He is this generation's Thurman Thomas. Last week, he ran for a career-high 216 yards on 19 carries.
The scary thing is, he probably could have more rushing yards right now and could be chasing 2,000 yards if they used him more during their two-game losing streak.
If the Bills can figure out that running the ball with Cook actually wins them games, then they probably should stick with that against the Chiefs on Sunday.
3. Who will replace DT Ed Oliver to challenge Chiefs' offensive line?
With Oliver recently placed on IR with a torn bicep that will keep him out indefinitely, the Bills need to figure out who their number one understudy is. Right now, DT Larry Ogunjobi is back from his six-game suspension, and he looked like a winner in his debut last week against the Carolina Panthers.
They also have undrafted free agent DT Zion Louge, who has been activated from the practice squad and has played in a few earlier-season contests. Louge is a 6-foot-6-inch, 314-pound physical player who is a force against the run and the pass.
Don't forget about the two big DTs in 6-foot-7-inch, 331-pound Deone Walker and 6-foot-5-inch, 342-pound Jordan Phillips.
Walker is only a rookie, but he's already playing like a ten-year veteran. Walker has swift feet for his size and moves well into the backfield. Phillips is a veteran with size and is athletic enough to stop the run and sack the quarterback hard and aggressively.
4. TEs: Travis Kelce vs. Dalton Kincaid
What makes this rivalry so special is that both quarterbacks have two impactful tight ends to throw to. Mahomes has the skyrocketing Travis Kelce, who has been a world-beater for his entire career.
Kelce currently has 474 yards on 37 receptions along with three touchdowns. While those look average, it will not change the fact that No. 87 of the Chiefs will make the Hall of Fame, along with fellow No. 87 at tight end, Rob Gronkowski.
As for Allen, he has a Kelce-in-waiting tight end in the ultraskilled Dalton Kincaid. Kincaid is a young tight end who has made tremendous strides each year since being drafted in 2023.
This season, No. 86 has 310 yards on 21 catches, but he also recorded a 100-yard game for the first time in his career in a 23-20 loss at home to the New England Patriots.
While he hasn't lived up to being the best tight end in the NFL, he definitely has been one of the Bills' most consistent targets in the passing game in the Bills, "Everybody Eats Offense".
No matter what happens this Sunday, this is a measuring-stick game for the Bills to see what type of speedy receiver they may go after before the trade deadline.