Kansas City (9-0) at Buffalo (8-2)
Sunday, 4:25 p.m. EST, CBS
BetMGM NFL odds: Bills by 2 1/2.
Series record: Bills lead 29-25-1.
Against the spread: Chiefs 5-4, Bills 6-4.
Last meeting: Chiefs beat Bills 27-24 in AFC divisional playoff on Jan. 21 at Orchard Park.
Last week: Chiefs beat Broncos 16-14; Bills beat Colts 30-20.
Chiefs offense: overall (10), rush (21), pass (9), scoring (11).
Chiefs defense: overall (4), rush (3), pass (14), scoring (5t).
Bills offense: overall (14), rush (15), pass (13), scoring (3t).
Bills defense: overall (18), rush (15), pass (18), scoring (9).
Turnover differential: Chiefs minus-4; Bills plus-13
Chiefs player to watch
WR DeAndre Hopkins has exceeded every expectation from when Kansas City acquired him for a conditional fifth-round pick from Tennessee. He has 14 catches for 171 yards and two touchdowns in his first three games for the Chiefs; by comparison he had 15 catches for 173 yards and one TD in six games with the Titans. He also commands attention from the defense, and that has allowed Travis Kelce and others to flourish the past three weeks.
Bills player to watch
Linebacker Terrel Bernard missed the playoff meeting in January because of an ankle injury. The dual-purpose player could have made a difference in an outing in which the Chiefs finished with 146 yards rushing and allowed Kelce to score twice, with Taylor Swift celebrating each of the touchdowns in an end zone suite.
Key matchup
Patrick Mahomes versus Josh Allen. Fasten in for a premier showdown between two of the NFL’s elite quarterbacks, which has traditionally played to expectations. In seven meetings, Mahomes is 4-3 while combining for 2,024 yards passing, with 15 touchdowns, five interceptions, plus 219 yards rushing with a TD and lost fumble. Allen has combined for 1,801 yards passing with 16 touchdowns and three interceptions, along with 393 yards rushing and four TDs with a lost fumble.
Key injuries
Chiefs WR JuJu Smith-Schuster (hamstring) is expected to play for the first time since Week 7. RB Isiah Pacheco (ankle) and DE Charles Omenihu (ACL) returned to practice this week but are unlikely to be ready for the Bills. … Bills rookie WR Keon Coleman (wrist) has been ruled out and will miss a second game. WR Amari Cooper is progressing from a wrist injury that has sidelined him the past two games. LB Matt Milano (torn left biceps) resumed practicing this week after getting hurt in August but won’t be ready by Sunday.
Series notes
The Bills have won the past three regular-season meetings and the Chiefs have won the past three postseason meetings. … The non-division rivals have met twice in three of the previous four seasons. … They’ve split their past eight overall, including playoffs, since 2017, when Sean McDermott took over as coach of the Bills. … Including playoffs, the Chiefs have won four straight at Buffalo since a 35-17 loss on Sept. 16, 2012. … Kansas City has a 4-2 edge over Buffalo in playoff meetings, going back to a 31-7 win on Jan. 1, 1967, in the American Football League championship game, with the Chiefs advancing to face the Green Bay Packers in the first Super Bowl the following week.
Stats and stuff
The Chiefs are tied with the 2003 and ’13 teams for the best start in franchise history. The longest regular-season win streak in Chiefs history is 10, set in 2015 and matched in 2020. … Kansas City has won 15 straight overall going back to last season, the longest streak in the NFL since the Packers won 19 in a row in 2010-11. The record is 21 set by the Patriots in 2003-04. … Kelce has 76 touchdown receptions, tied with Hall of Famer Tony Gonzalez for the Chiefs record. Kelce has 79 touchdowns overall, four behind RB Priest Holmes for the club mark. … Kelce has 11,827 yards receiving. He needs 15 to pass Antonio Gates for the third most by a TE in NFL history. … Chiefs LB Leo Chenal blocked Denver K Wil Lutz’s 35-yard field-goal try on the final play last week to preserve their 16-14 win over the Broncos. … Mahomes has 231 TD passes. He needs seven to pass Hall of Famer Len Dawson for the franchise record. … Chiefs C Creed Humphrey has started 60 straight games since entering the league in 2021. He needs five more to pass CB Brandon Carr for the second most in Chiefs history. … Chiefs DT Chris Jones has 78 1/2 sacks, tied with LB Justin Houston for fourth in team history. He is 8 1/2 behind DE Neil Smith for third. … The Bills have won at least eight of their first 10 games of a season for the eighth time in team history, and first since 1993, the final year of their run of losing four consecutive Super Bowl appearances. Buffalo has been 9-2 or better only five times — the previous in ‘92. … Buffalo has won seven straight home games since a 24-22 loss to Denver on Nov. 13, 2023, and is 20-2 in its past 22 outings at Orchard Park, New York. The team record for consecutive home wins is 15, spanning the 1990-91 seasons, and tied for second are two eight-game runs (1988 and 1991-’92). … With two interceptions on Sunday, Allen improved to 11-15 (including playoffs) when committing two turnovers, and is 42-27 overall — and 4-1 this season — in games with at least one giveaway. … WR Khalil Shakir has 48 receptions on 54 targets for a league-leading 88.9% catch rate among players targeted 50 or more times. Shakir also ranks second with 369 yards after catch. … CB Taron Johnson’s interception against Indianapolis was the seventh of his career, and third returned for a touchdown (including playoffs), while also getting his eighth career sack. … Buffalo has a takeaway in each of its 10 games this season and 14 straight going back to last season, including playoffs. The Bills’ 19 takeaways this season are tied for second in the NFL behind Minnesota’s 20, and their plus-13 turnover differential leads the league.
Fantasy tip
Chiefs RB Kareem Hunt has topped 100 yards from scrimmage in each of his past two, and in line for a productive game against a defense that’s allowed 120-plus yards rushing six times. Jonathan Taylor had 107 yards on 16 carries in the first half last week, before the Colts stopped feeding him the ball in the second half in finishing with 114 yards on 21 carries.
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