The Buffalo Bills are back after their bye in Week 13 for a road game against the Kansas City Chiefs. While it is only Week 14, the Bills are entering a must-win game to keep their playoff hopes alive.
The Bills and Chiefs have played each five times over the past three seasons and while the Bills are 0-2 against them in the playoffs, they have won their last two regular season games. Similar to Sunday's game, the last two regular season games were at Arrowhead Stadium.
Looking ahead to Sunday, these are the four biggest questions for the Buffalo Bills against the Chiefs.
Can the Buffalo Bills win if the game is close?
The biggest question mark recently has been whether or not the Buffalo Bills can win a close game. The Bills have six losses on the season and all six games were decided by one score and what makes it even worse is in four of those games the Bills had the lead late.
The Kansas City Chiefs are one of the best teams in the NFL and three of their four losses this season have been within one score. This week's matchup almost certainly will be decided in the final minutes and the question will be whether or not the Buffalo Bills can hold onto that lead to keep their playoff hopes alive.
Will Dawson Knox return from injured reserve?
The Buffalo Bills lost Dawson Knox to a wrist injury at the end of October and would place him on injured reserve. He would be required to miss four games and could have returned against the Eagles in Week 12.
However, he wasn't ready yet and the Bills didn't activate him before the game. Now with an extra week to recover, it will be interesting to see if Buffalo opens the practice window on Wednesday. If they do, it doesn't guarantee that Knox will return for this game but it is a big indication he is close.
If Dawson Knox is activated for this game, it raises the question of how he fits into the offense. The Bills have a new offensive coordinator and it will be interesting to see if Joe Brady is willing to run as many two-tight end sets as Ken Dorsey.
Can Joe Brady match wits with Steve Spagnola?
Speaking of Joe Brady, the final five weeks will be a big test for the Buffalo Bills interim offensive coordinator. He took over for Dorsey after the Broncos game and had to implement a game plan on a short week against an excellent Jets defense.
In the Jets game, along with the Eagles game, the offense looked completely different and was playing much better (especially Josh Allen). Joe Brady has had to kind of build a game plan and playbook on the fly but with a bye week, it gives him a chance to really build out his offense.
However, this week is going to be a big test against Steve Spagnola, who is one of the best defensive coordinators in the NFL, and has this Chiefs defense playing very well. While they did just give up 27 points to the Packers, they held the Eagles to 21 points and the Dolphins to 14 in Week 11 and Week 9 respectively.
This will be a big test for Joe Brady and if he can keep this offense on track.
Who will cover Travis Kelce?
This is not the same Kansas City Chiefs team the Buffalo Bills are used to as it has been the defense that has been winning them games. The offense meanwhile has been middle of the road but with Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce, they can't be taken lightly.
Kelce is one of the best tight ends to ever play the game and he is the primary target for Mahomes. One of the reasons that Kelce is so effective is that he is too quick for the typical linebackers to cover him and too big for most players in the secondary.
The Buffalo Bills have had Matt Milano, who is considered one of the best coverage linebackers in the NFL, to cover Kelce. However, Milano is out of the season after suffering an injury in Week 5 against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
It will be interesting to see how Sean McDermott plans to slow down Travis Kelce as Tyrel Dodson is not that great in coverage. The Bills could try to have three safeties on the field if Taylor Rapp is recovered from his neck injury, but Kelce would have the size advantage.