KANSAS CITY – By now, it’s safe to say that the Buffalo Bills have grown pretty comfortable playing at Arrowhead Stadium.
After all, Sunday afternoon will be their fifth game at the home of the nemesis Kansas City Chiefs since January 2021 and while their two appearances in the postseason went poorly, they have won in back-to-back games here in the regular season, doing so in 2021 and 2022.
The only visiting team since 2016 that has won in consecutive years at Arrowhead are Kansas City’s AFC West rivals, the Los Angeles Chargers, who like the Bills overcame what is widely considered to be the toughest environment to play in the NFL.
If the Bills don’t stretch their streak to three games, their tremendously underachieving season will reach critical mass because they will fall below .500 and their chances of earning an AFC playoff berth will dwindle precipitously.
This story will be updated throughout the day.
Dawson Knox may be in the lineup
We’ll find out for sure when the Bills announce their inactives just before 3 p.m.., but Knox was activated from the injured reserve list Saturday and it seems unlikely the Bills would do that – and cut linebacker A.J. Klein to open a spot on the 53-man roster – if he wasn’t going to play.
Knox has not played since the Oct. 22 game in New England. He underwent surgery days later and has missed the last five games. In his absence, the Bills leaned into a three-wide receiver offensive look with Khalil Shakir as the third wideout, and Dalton Kincaid as the lone tight end.
They began the season, of course, running a heavy dose of two-tight end, two-receiver formations with Knox and Kincaid both on the field approximately 50% of the time.
It will be interesting to see what new offensive coordinator does if Knox is indeed active. He is know to favor three-wide formations and since he took over for Ken Dorsey, the Bills have used that set primarily and have scored 66 points in the last two games.
What time is the Bills vs. Chiefs game?
Date: Sunday, Dec. 10
Time: 4:25 p.m.
Place: Arrowhead Stadium
What are the odds for the Bills vs. Chiefs game?
The betting line is Chiefs -1.5. The over-under is 48.5 points. The money line is Chiefs -120, Bills +100.
Bills vs Chiefs prediction
Sal Maiorana: Bills 27, Chiefs 26
Buffalo is desperate, Kansas City is not. Granted, the Chiefs have not locked up the AFC West and they’re still in contention for the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoff bracket, but their level of needing to win this game is far less than Buffalo’s and I think that means something.
Although their visits to Arrowhead in the postseason have gone poorly, the Bills have won two years in a row in the regular season. The only other team that has won in back-to-back visits to Kansas City since the start of 2016 are the Chargers (2020-21), and let’s be honest, it should be three straight wins for Buffalo had it played the final 13 seconds of the 2021 playoff game properly.
All that is to say the Bills have not wilted the way many teams do in one of the toughest environments in the NFL to play and I think they will rise up with a strong effort and strengthen their playoff hopes with a critical victory.
