Bills Central

Stephen A. Smith says 'hold your horses' despite Bills' emphatic win over Chiefs

Sunday's victory was not enough to convince him that the Bills are the AFC's best
Owen Klein|
Oct 23, 2024; Inglewood, California, USA; Stephen A. Smith doesn't believe the Buffalo Bills are the best team in the AFC yet.
Oct 23, 2024; Inglewood, California, USA; Stephen A. Smith doesn't believe the Buffalo Bills are the best team in the AFC yet. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

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The Buffalo Bills proved themselves as arguably the team to beat in the AFC with their 28-21 victory over the reigning three-time AFC champion Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday. Key word is "arguably".

Stephen A. Smith disagrees with that sentiment. On ESPN's First Take on Monday, he fed off a rowdy crowd at Texas Live in Arlington as he proved his case.

Despite a defensive effort that held Patrick Mahomes to a career-low 44-percent completion rate and sacked him three times, Smith still thinks highly of Kansas City and a couple of other teams to challenge Buffalo.

Buffalo Bills defensive ends
Buffalo Bills defensive ends Greg Rousseau, Joey Bosa and Michael Hoecht take down Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes in Orchard Park on Nov. 2, 2025. | Tina MacIntyre-Yee/Democrat and Chronicle / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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"I'm not gonna over-blow this. Best team in the AFC? Hell, nah," Smith said. He mentioned the Chiefs, Indianapolis Colts, and Denver Broncos, the last two with 7-2 records, as candidates, along with the Bills, to be the best in the conference.

Even more competition resides in the AFC, with the New England Patriots still leading the AFC East at 7-2 over the 6-2 Bills, which sets up the possibility for a very unique matchup.

Josh Allen and James Cook
Nov 2, 2025; Orchard Park, New York, USA; Bills quarterback Josh Allen (17) throws the ball in the second half against the Chiefs. | Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images

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"If they face them in the playoffs again, do we think that Patrick Mahomes is gonna complete less than 50 percent of his passes? Do we think that he's gonna go three straight incompletions to end the game?" Smith argued. "We know better than that."

It is a different story in the postseason, to Smith's point, as the Bills are 0-4 against the Chiefs in the postseason since 2020, including two AFC Championship losses. It's no fault of the quarterbacks, however, as history has proven.

Smith's argument against the Bills should add more fuel to their fire in their quest for their first Super Bowl despite the odds being stacked against them.

Dalton Kincaid
Nov 2, 2025; Orchard Park, New York, USA; Bills tight end Dalton Kincaid (86) runs with the ball in the second quarter against the Chiefs at Highmark Stadium. | Mark Konezny-Imagn Images

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Owen Klein
OWEN KLEIN

Owen Klein has covered football, basketball and baseball for Penn State athletics as a broadcaster on local radio, including producing Penn State’s 2024 men’s basketball Big Ten Tournament games and calling Penn State football’s Whiteout vs. Washington in November 2024. He has internships with the Buffalo Bisons and CBS affiliate WIVB in Buffalo, NY, in the summer of 2025. He is a Penn State University broadcast journalism student at the Bellisario College of Communications majoring in broadcast journalism and is passionate about college and professional sports, the Pokémon Video Game Championships and the Buffalo Bills.

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