Seven things to know about Chiefs’ AFC Championship Game opponent: Buffalo Bills
Thanks to a win against the Bills earlier this season, the Chiefs won’t have to shuffle off to Buffalo for the AFC Championship Game.
The Bills, 15-3, have won eight straight games, and their last loss was a bit of bad luck: a 32-30 defeat to the Arizona Cardinals, who completed a Hail Mary pass at the end of regulation.
Buffalo was the No. 2 seed in the AFC field, so it should be a great matchup at Arrowhead Stadium, which will be the site of a record third straight AFC Championship Game.
Each week I take an early look at the Chiefs’ next opponent. Here are seven things to know about the Bills ahead of Sunday’s game, which kicks off at 5:40 p.m. and will be broadcast on CBS (Ch. 5):
1. A late MVP push
The Bills’ jump to AFC East champions and a conference powerhouse was fueled by a jump in production from quarterback Josh Allen. Here is a sample of his statistics that improved:
- Completion percentage 58.8 to 69.2
- Passing yards: 3,089 to 4,544
- Touchdown passes: 20 to 37
- First downs passing: 146 to 228
- Quarterback rating: 85.3 to 107.2
In the Bills’ final five regular-season games, Allen threw for 1,516 yards, completed 70.1% of his passes and had 15 touchdown passes to two interceptions.
Although he struggled at times in Saturday night’s 17-3 win over the Ravens in an AFC Divisional playoff game, Allen had 324 passing yards and two touchdowns against the Colts in the Wild Card round.
Allen also rushed for 421 yards and eight touchdowns this season, and some thought he should be in consideration for MVP. Buffalo was second in the NFL scoring (31.3 points per game).
2. Can you Diggs it?
One big reason for Allen’s jump in production was the addition of wide receiver Stefon Diggs, who was acquired in a trade with the Vikings before the 2020 season.
Diggs was targeted a whopping 166 times and led the league in receptions (127) and receiving yards (1,535). Diggs caught eight touchdown passes and 73 of his receptions resulted in a first down.
Against the Ravens, Diggs had the game’s only offensive touchdown.
3. Other targets
Cole Beasley is the Bills’ No. 2 receiver, and he had 82 receptions for 967 yards and four touchdowns this season.
Rookie Gabriel Davis averaged 17.1 yards per catch (35 receptions for 599 yards) and he was second in touchdown receptions with seven.
Buffalo’s tight ends (Dawson Knox, Tyler Kroft and Lee Smith) caught a total of 40 passes
4. Hand it to Devin
The Bills ran the ball 16 times for 32 yards in Saturday night’s win over the Ravens. In the first half, they had two rushing attempts before a kneel down, the fewest in an NFL playoff game since 1991, per NFL Research.
There are multiple reasons why Buffalo may have focused so heavily on passing the ball. One is Allen, who is going great. Also, the Bills might have seen something in the Ravens defense that made running the ball unappealing.
Also, Bills running back Zack Moss missed the game because of an ankle injury that will keep him out of the postseason.
Devin Singletary was Buffalo’s leading rusher this season, gaining 687 yards on the ground in 156 attempts. Singletary also caught 38 passes for 269 yards.
“I could be getting more of the workload, but I’m built for it, I’m ready for it,” Singletary told reporters last week. “I know the team has confidence in me, I got confidence in me.”
5. Third-down success
The Bills led the NFL by converting 49.7% of their third-down attempts (the Packers were second at 49.4%). They also converted 80% of their fourth-down tries (eight of 10).
Buffalo’s 397 first downs were tied for the most in the NFL with the Chiefs.
The Bills were the sixth-most penalized team during the regular season (102), while the Chiefs were fifth (105). Buffalo’s offense was called for holding 16 times, the fourth-most in the NFL.
6. The defense
Buffalo’s defense allowed 23.4 points per game, ranking 16th in the NFL. Opponents were held to 17 or fewer points six times this season, including Saturday night’s game. But the Bills also gave up 28 or more points in five games.
The Bills were plus-4 in turnover margin and recovered 11 fumbles, which tied for the fourth most in the NFL.
Ten Bills players intercepted at least one pass this season, with cornerback Tre’Davious White leading the way with three interceptions.
This was a big one on Saturday:
Buffalo tied for 15th with 38 sacks and tied for 22nd in quarterback pressures (21.0%), per Pro Football Reference. The Bills’ passing defense ranked 13th and the rushing defense was 17th in the NFL.
7. Kickin’ it
Kicker Tyler Bass made 28 of 34 field-goal attempts (82.4%) and missed just two of 59 extra-point attempts.
Punter Corey Bojorquez led the NFL with a 50.8-yard average per punt.
This story was originally published January 17, 2021 at 5:22 PM.
