Only two teams remain in the AFC and will soon face each other in the championship on Sunday with a trip to Super Bowl LIX online. Saturday, the No. 1 seed Kansas City Chiefs came off his first-round bye week and won the Houston Texans to get out of the divisional round. One day later, the Buffalo Bills managed to turn the house upside down because of the Baltimore Ravens to keep their season alive. All of this now translates into an AFC Championship between two of the of the NFL best quarterbacks: Josh Allen against. Patrick Mahomes.
Here’s a first look at this AFC Championship and some notable storylines to watch out for.
Odds via SportsLine consensus
AFC Championship Preview
Buffalo Bills vs. Kansas City Chiefs
Date: Sunday January 26 | Time: 6:30 p.m. ET
Location: GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium (Kansas City, Missouri)
TV: CBS | Flow: Paramount+
Follow: CBS Sports app
Odds: Chiefs -1.5, O/U 48.5
These two clubs know each other very well and this match will be the fourth head-to-head in the playoffs in the last five seasons. So far, Patrick Mahomes has been impenetrable in this postseason setting, owning a 3-0 record against Allen and the Bills. The previous two matches in the divisional round (2023, 2021), but these clubs have already faced each other in the AFC Championship (2020). That game ended in a 38-24 victory for Kansas City, where Mahomes passed for 325 yards and three touchdowns.
Josh Allen vs. Patrick Mahomes in the playoffs
|
Victories |
0 |
3 |
|
Team point scored |
84 |
107 |
|
Total Yards |
1,030 |
1,011 |
|
Total touchdowns/turnovers |
9/1 |
9/0 |
While the playoffs are one-sided in Mahomes’ favor, Allen has been competitive in this rivalry. Overall, each quarterback has four wins in their eight matchups (regular season and playoffs), including a Buffalo win over Kansas City in Week 11 that handed the Chiefs their first loss of the season.
Josh Allen vs. Patrick Mahomes head-to-head
|
Victories |
4 |
4 |
|
Points scored by teams |
213 |
211 |
|
Total Yards |
2,511 |
2,439 |
| Total touchdowns/turnovers | 22/5 | 19/9 |
Apart from quarterbacks, Travis Kelce will be a main character to watch out for in this match. In their regular season game, the star tight end was virtually non-existent, catching two of his four targets for eight yards in the loss. However, Kelce has seemingly turned things around in the last two games played and enters this AFC Championship having recorded seven catches for 117 yards and a touchdown against Houston. Even though it didn’t burn them against Baltimore, Buffalo’s third-down defense leaves little to be desired (7-10 against the Ravens), so if Kelce continues on that sideline, it should give Kansas City enough opportunities to extend the workouts and score.
As for the invoices, James Cook is a talented player who could make his presence felt. He only ran for 20 yards against the Chiefs in Week 11, but scored two red zone touchdowns in the first half. The guard has been a solid running option for Buffalo in tandem with Josh Allen, especially in the red zone (16 touchdowns in the regular season). Kansas City has held opponents to just 4.2 yards per carry and 104.4 rushing yards per game this season, so Cook could face some tough sledding. However, if he gets into a thicket, Buffalo’s offense could be difficult to stop.
First weather forecasts (via AccuWeather): Intermittent clouds and sunshine are expected throughout the day with a high of 38 degrees, a low of 22 degrees and really feeling like 33 degrees. There is also a 22% chance of precipitation.