ESPN laughably labels Week 9 game vs. Chiefs as 'must-win' for Bills

When a member of the knee-jerk, prisoner-of-the-moment media used to ask Bill Parcells for a "big picture" assessment of his team early in the season, the Hall-of-Fame head coach would generally reply with a gruff "Let's get to Thanksgiving before we try to makes heads or tails out of any team, okay?"

On Sunday we'll still be 3.5 weeks from eating turkey — and just hours from setting our clocks back an hour — yet the talking heads at ESPN are treating the Buffalo Bills Week 9 game against the Kansas City Chiefs as some sort of pre-pre-pre-pre-playoff game.

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On Thursday's Get Up!, analyst Dan Orlovsky labeled the game as a "must-win" for the Bills. After Sunday, Buffalo will be - at worst - 5-3 with more than half of its schedule (nine games) remaining. The hyperbole is laughable.

.@danorlovsky7 believes this is a must-win game for the Bills against the Chiefs 👀 pic.twitter.com/hjsBYGulGH
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) October 30, 2025

"It's a must-win for Buffalo," Orlovsky said nonetheless. "For the Bills to get to the Super Bowl, that game against the Chiefs in the playoffs has to be played in western New York."

More pressure on Bills or Chiefs?

Would Josh Allen and Bills Mafia prefer to face the Chiefs in the playoffs at Highmark Stadium? Of course. But the margin between the teams is so slim that last season's two meetings came down to fourth-down plays: Allen ran for a touchdown in Buffalo and Dalton Kincaid dropped his pass in Kansas City.

Make-or-break pronouncements for games played on Nov. 2 are ludicrous.

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For what it's worth, all but one person on ESPN's Thursday panel picked the Chiefs to win. And K.C. is actually favored. So, honestly, a Buffalo loss wouldn't be shocking nor should it be devastating.

Said host Mike Greenberg, "If they stay healthy, nobody's beating the Chiefs."

Dalton Kincaid | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

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