Bills vs. Bengals? Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes Reveals True Thoughts
Over the last several years, the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs have grown quite the distaste for one another.
Both teams have asserted themselves among the AFC's elite over the last half decade, led by young phenom quarterbacks Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes. They've met in each of the last three regular seasons, with the Bills winning two of those games, but more importantly, they've also squared off twice in the postseason in that time. The Chiefs won both games on their home turf, first in the 2021 AFC Championship Game, then an all-time classic in the 2022 Divisional Round.
The two teams did not meet again in the 2023 playoffs, though, as the Bills lost in the Divisional Round to the Cincinnati Bengals. The Chiefs would then narrowly defeat the Bengals in the AFC Championship Game en route to a Super Bowl LVII championship.
With Mahomes starring in the newly-released Netflix documentary "Quarterback," it was inevitable that his thoughts on the postseason run would pop up. When it came to potential AFC Championship Game opponents, Mahomes had an interesting take. He believed the Bills to be the better matchup for the Chiefs, but still preferred to play the Bengals.
"I think the Bengals are better, but with all those injuries on the O-line that the Bills have a chance," Mahomes said. "I think we match up better versus the Bills but I want to play the Bengals. I mean, I just want to play them, we haven't beat them, I'm tired of them talking."
Over the last two years, the Joe Burrow-led Bengals had been a thorn in the Chiefs side. Cincinnati had beaten Kansas City three times in a row, including in the 2022 AFC Championship Game, which led to plenty of trash-talking from the Bengals. In this year's AFC Championship matchup, the Chiefs finally exorcised their demons and got the better of the Bengals.
Another reason Mahomes could've preferred to face the Bengals is because the Chiefs actually had home-field advantage against them. Thanks to the Bills-Bengals regular season game being canceled after Damar Hamlin's on-field collapse, the AFC playoff picture featured a unique set of circumstances. Most notably, if the Bills and Chiefs had met in the AFC Championship Game, it would've been a neutral-site contest at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
Regardless of the reason for Mahomes' preference, his comments highlight the disparity between the three AFC heavyweights. Kansas City, Cincinnati and Buffalo have been the conference's elite teams over the last couple seasons, but only Allen and the Bills have yet to make the Super Bowl.
Needless to say, the Bills will be looking to change that this season.
You can follow Jonathan Alfano on Twitter at @JonAlfano_News
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