Week 11 is highlighted by the highly anticipated matchup between the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs. Live from Orchard Park, NY, the Bills will host the last undefeated team in the league and will be looking to show the NFL that they are the team to beat the NFL, not the Chiefs.
Since 2021, the Bills have defeated the Chiefs in three regular season meetings. Mind you, they have never played in Buffalo in the regular season. At the same time, the Chiefs did defeat the Bills in the playoffs last season and pulled off a 27-24 victory after a missed field goal by Tyler Bass.
Even though the Bills would still be one game behind the Chiefs with a win, getting that tiebreaker advantage could come back to heavily help the Bills if both teams end with the same record by the end of the season.
Last year’s showdown ended with the Kansas City Chiefs drawing up a pass play that turned into Travis Kelce tossing it back to Kadarius Toney who took it to the house to the give the Chiefs a late fourth-quarter lead. However, Toney was offsides and the refs ruled off the touchdown which cost them a win against Buffalo.
Fans should expect yet another down-to-the-wire battle between these two teams and it should be a thriller for sure. We had the chance to talk with Matt Conner, Site Expert for Arrowhead Addict this week to talk about this upcoming game. Conner gave some valuable insights on the Chiefs and Bills Mafia will now have a better idea on what to keep in mind for this game.
Bills vs. Chiefs Week 11 insights
1.) Which under-the-radar Chiefs player could become an x-factor for KC against Buffalo?
The Chiefs have been a cornerback factory in recent years, replacing Charvarius Ward and L'Jarius Sneed with a bright young "next man up.' Each time. This year it was Jaylen Watson until he was injured for the season with a fractured ankle and the Chiefs haven't found an answer since that loss. But Nazeeh Johnson is a former 7th rounder out of Marshall from the '22 draft who has struggled to stay healthy in his first two seasons but the team loved him out of camp. Just out of concussion protocol, he looked great against Denver and if he can grow into a dependable boundary starter, Spags' unit is that much tougher.
2.) The Chiefs haven’t beaten the Bills in the regular season since 2020. What do you they need to do in order to leave Orchard Park with a win?
That's a small sample size, and given the fact that the Chiefs are the only unbeaten team left with consecutive titles under their belts and 15 consecutive wins overall, I'd say the question is backwards. I wouldn't expect the Chiefs need to do anything but what they've already been doing with no special thought given to playing in Buffalo.
3.) Buffalo has been on a roll, scoring 30+ points their last four consecutive games. What does KC need to do to limit the Bills from getting into the endzone?
Yeah this is going to be where things get fun, because even on a bad night for the defense, Steve Spagnuolo's side of the ball is still suffocating opponents. The Broncos looked like they they were dominating and then suddenly adjustments were made and they failed to score in the final 2.5 quarters. This will be a collision where something has to give, but if i'm Buffalo, I try to put a lot of pressure on the front end. Aggression on fourth down. De-emphasize the field goal and try your best for seven. Because the Chiefs offense might not be able to catch up with the defense, and even if Spags slows Buffalo's offense as the game goes on, a big enough lead could still carry them through.
As for what the Chiefs have to do to physically slow Buffalo, they've been quite good at slowing the mobile quarterbacks against them this year. Lamar Jackson, Bo Nix, etc. have all ran for less yards than their average. That said, corner depth is hurting them now so tertiary target will shake free. Also tight ends are causing them fits as they choose to secure other parts of the field to allow for some softer areas in short-to-intermediate range in the passing game. Josh Allen should lean into what the Chiefs give him while making sure to test the unproven players in pass coverage.
4.) Do you believe this matchup is a playoff preview, or will this be the only time these two teams face off against each other this season?
No one should be surprised if these are the last two teams standing. The AFC North is doing the dirty work for both the Chiefs and Bills with regards to eliminating the other teams (or at least knocking them down the standings), so both teams might enjoy some postseason football at home.