Buffalo Bills vs. Kansas City Chiefs AFC Championship Prediction Roundtable
Joe Johnson
|
Note: For our NFC Championship prediction round-table on our sister site, VikingsTerritory, click here:
Both the conference Championship games have strong narrative threads as far as the Minnesota Vikings are concerned. The Green Bay Packers, breaking news, are the main rival of the purple and gold where as there is no shortage of ‘Diggs was right!’ Or ‘Diggs gets the last laugh’ articles floating around Vikings media now that former Vikings wide receiver and headache Stefon Diggs is the focal point of the upstart Buffalo Bills’ offense.
Buffalo is heading to Kansas City as the underdog by 3 points per Sports Betting Dime, and that was before it was announced that Patrick Mahomes was cleared to play after entering the NFL’s concussion protocol in last weekend’s Divisional Round match-up against the Cleveland Browns.
So, what do the UFFda! Sports fellas think about all of this?
Let’s find out!
Josh Frey, Senior Writer, purplePTSD.com/VikingsTerritory.com
While the Chiefs had a scare when Patrick Mahomes stumbled off the field with a concussion last week, it looks like he will be ready to go this week. Meanwhile in Buffalo, Josh Allen has turned himself into an extremely consistent thrower of the ball, and his ability to make plays in and out of the pocket has been Mahomes-esque.
In the previous matchup between these teams, Kansas City ran all over Buffalo for 245 rushing yards and a touchdown. However, both Clyde Edwards-Helaire and LeVeon Bell have been out with injuries and are listed as questionable for this game. The lack of these two dynamic runners has hurt the Chiefs’ run game, but if they should make an appearance, Andy Reid should feed them often against this mediocre run defense.
Josh Allen has been great all year, but the biggest issue with this Bills team has been turnovers and a lack of run game. Devin Singletary and Zach Moss have not been very consistent, forcing Allen to make a lot of plays on his own. If Edwards-Helaire and Bell are either out or limited, this should be a close game. If they are back to 100%, this game could be a blowout as Buffalo’s defense has not been nearly as great as in seasons past.
Chiefs win 35-27
Joe Johnson, owner, UFFda! Sports
There is no better representation of the future of the NFL than Patrick Mahomes and breakout superstar Josh Allen facing one another in the AFC Championship game. Both play a similar style of ball, with Allen improving massively this past season. The question is whether or not the Bills will be able to hang with the defending champs and their recently cleared MVP in Mahomes.
On paper the Chiefs are the more balanced team. But, that’s not the angle I’m going to pursue with my prediction. Instead, I’m going to argue that the Bills simply aren’t as ready for primetime as this game suggests.
They barely snuck by the Indianapolis Colts, who had to be stopped on their final potential game-winning drive. Their defense came through in a windy night against the Baltimore Ravens, but they also didn’t face Lamar Jackson for the final third of that game.
The Bills seemed destined for the luckiest playoff run ever had Mahomes been unable to play, which isn’t the case as we all now know. I’m sure some of you will connect this to my string of anti-Diggs takes and chalk it up as sour grapes.
However, we haven’t seen the Bills dominate any of their post-season opponents without the assistance of wind and injury, and I just don’t think the Bills are capable of beating the Chiefs at home or otherwise.
Kansas City – 34
Buffalo – 24