‘Of course we’re going to see them again’: Chiefs anticipate next meeting with Buffalo
Chiefs defensive tackle Derrick Nnadi seemed surprised anyone would ask if a second Chiefs-Bills game will happen this season/postseason.
“Of course we’re going to see them again,” Nnadi said.
A second meeting between the Chiefs and Buffalo Bills would have to happen in the playoffs, and that has been the case in the previous two seasons.
They can’t seem to avoid each other. In 2020, the Chiefs won the regular-season meeting in a pandemic-empty stadium at Buffalo. The rematch came in the AFC Championship Game at Arrowhead, and it was won by the Chiefs.
The teams split their 2021 clashes, with the Bills taking advantage of four Chiefs turnovers to win the regular-season meeting in Kansas City. The return match was the AFC Divisional Round game, again in Kansas City, with the Chiefs prevailing in the overtime classic.
Once again, the Bills have won round one, and if there is to be a round two, the Bills’ victory on Sunday could give them a site advantage. If the teams are aligned in the playoffs and finish with the same regular-season record, the game would be played in Buffalo.
“They’re a good team,” Chiefs running back Isiah Pacheco said. “I hope we see them again.”
On Sunday, neither team owned more than a one-score lead and the lead changed hands multiple times. Buffalo plowed ahead for good in the fourth quarter on Josh Allen’s 14-yard touchdown pass to tight end Dawson Knox.
The Chiefs had taken the lead with 9:49 remaining on Harrison Butker’s 44-yard field goal. On the final play of the first half, Butker hit from 62 yards, a team record.
After Butker kicked his second field goal, the Chiefs forced a Bills punt. Get points here and the Chiefs would have put themselves in the driver’s seat.
But Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs went three-and-out. The Bills took over with 5:31 to play and got the touchdown with 64 seconds remaining.
The Chiefs trailed by four and had two timeouts. Plenty of time for Mahomes and the Chiefs’ offense, and there must’ve been flashbacks to last year’s playoff game, when they rolled 44 yards in two plays in the final 13 seconds to set up Butker’s game-tying field goal.
Only this time the Chiefs didn’t move a yard before Mahomes was intercepted by Taron Johnson.
Game over.
Let the rematch talk begin.
“We need to keep trending in the up direction, keep tightening the ship as the weeks go by,” Chiefs safety Justin Reid said. “And we’ll be ready for the big ones down the road.”
Like the Bills.