Last Sunday, the Missouri squad lost to the Los Angeles Chargers after a defensive game, which sounded the death knell for their hopes of participating in the Super Bowl hunt.
To add insult to injury for the Chiefs, Mahomes suffered a torn ACL, which ended his campaign and even cast some doubt on his chances of being ready for the start of next year.
Obviously, in life, we are often told that we should not rejoice in the misfortune of others, but in the land of the Bills, it is a safe bet that this ousting of the Chiefs has created a lot of happy people.
You see, a fantastic rivalry has been building in recent years as Kansas City and Buffalo have found themselves in the playoffs countless times. Every confrontation, the entire football universe had its eyes glued to this battle which would pit two of the greatest talents of this generation of quarterbacks.
And, each time, without exception, it was Mahomes and the Chiefs who won. This was the case during the 2020 season in the American final (38 to 24), then in 2021 in the divisional round (42 to 36 in overtime), in 2023 again in the divisional round (27 to 24) and in 2024 in the American final (32 to 29).
Each defeat was crueler than the previous one for the Bills and Allen. Each time, however, Allen showed himself to be imperial, even putting his team in a position to win at the end of the game, but his defense collapsed in the face of Mahomes’ excellence.
In 2025, the kryptonite of the man we nickname “Superman” will not be there. So could this be the year that Allen can finally take his team to the top? It could be, but it certainly wouldn’t be a walk in the park for two main reasons.
On the road for the entire playoffs
With a record of 10 wins and four losses, the Bills appear in sixth level in the American tied with the Los Angeles Chargers (they have the advantage).
Thanks to their dramatic victory against the New England Patriots (11-3), the Bills remain in the race for the top of the East division, but it would take a collapse on the part of the Patriots in the last three games of the schedule for them to have a real chance of winning it again.
So if the trend continues, Buffalo will have one of the three tickets wildcards with a view to the playoffs. This means that they will play their first duel in the hunt for the Super Bowl on the road when they will have to go to the home of one of the American division champions.
For example, before this Sunday’s games, New York State representatives would need to go to the Jacksonville Jaguars stadium.
If they were to win such a battle, they would also be guaranteed to play on the road in the next round. In fact, to have one final, unexpected game at Highmark Stadium before it closes, the Bills would have to hope that the seventh-ranked team The American also passed the first two rounds with flying colors.
Let’s just say the chances are extremely slim!
On the other hand, if there is an active quarterback who can lead to such a journey, it is Josh Allen. As long as he is up and able to perform as he can, his club has a real chance of winning.
Since the start of the second millennium, there have only been three quarterbacks who have been able to accomplish the feat of winning three road games to lead their team to the Super Bowl title.
Their names? Ben Roethlisberger with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2005, Eli Manning with the New York Giants in 2007 and Aaron Rodgers with the Green Bay Packers in 2010.
Allen could add another extraordinary feat to his record if the stars align.
Dangerously porous defense
In recent years, the Bills usually fielded a tight defense which, as the campaign progressed, fell apart at the dawn of the playoffs and was thus unable to slow down the powerful Chiefs machine.
This year, Buffalo’s defensive unit has demonstrated glaring flaws from the first day of the season, especially when it comes to stopping the ground game.
As proof, it arrives at 30e rank in the NFL with an average of 143 yards allowed per game. This is just awful and by far the worst team going into the playoffs.
When we know the importance of a good ground attack to advance on the road leading to the Super Bowl, seeing the Bills being incapable of neutralizing their opponents at this level means that Josh Allen and his offensive companions do not really have the right to have an ordinary game.
It’s no coincidence that Allen and his teammates produced 29.4 points per game this year (fourth in the NFL). They needed to do that if they wanted to win, since their defense wasn’t stopping much.
Luckily for the New York State representatives, their air defense is one of the best in the NFL (second with 169.5 yards allowed per game), which puts the club in the middle of the pack for points allowed on average (23.1).
The good news for Buffalo is that star defensive tackle Ed Olivier, who suffered a torn biceps, may be able to return to action during the playoff games. His presence would be a game changer to stop the race.
This will be a major issue in fact. Allen may be Superman, but if the defense can’t slow down the opponent, he won’t have much time to create his magic and he won’t have the right to make mistakes.
Buffalo has a chance to go all the way this year thanks to Allen who is at his peak, but the defense will have to raise its level a notch if it wants to take advantage of the absence of Mahomes and the Chiefs…
