WizeGuy

These questions always come off as hot takes after a loss. It's rough in the AFC for any QB not named Mahomes whose biggest advantage is being paired with an elite HC. Most insanely skilled QBs don't have that luxury. It's really a spectacle what that team is pulling off right now.

As long as Reid is his coach, they'll be killing it. Reid as just as big a part of that team's success as Mahomes. Mahomes was mentored by a Jedi Master for his entire career, and he's now the best QB in the league because of it. Chiefs' fans are a lucky bunch.

I just want to give you both credit for being able to debate things and keep a level head. That's rare on the internet now-a-days; even over something as trivial as QB rankings. Lamar is such an interesting case to me. He's always teetering between elite and franchise QB in my rankings. I thought he was going to pop off these playoffs, but credit to the Chiefs defense- they're nasty and were getting a lot of pressure from what I saw of the game, though Lamar did get caught holding the ball too long at times, but with his athletic ability- I suppose he assumes he can get away with it more.

Meh. I don't really care to argue semantics of my wording. It's inconsequential to my point, and the debate will go in circles and lack substance. Here's my point- Allen is consistently near the top of the league in QB play during the regular season, and he's a maniac in the playoffs. That's pretty much it, and I think him consistently being one of the top- QBs in the league during the regular season over the past 4 seasons + being an even better playoff performer has him #2 for me.

Top-5 going into next season: Mahomes- pretty easy choice. KC fans are a lucky bunch. Mahomes is elite, obviously, but pairing him with Reid is unfair and it's why they have so many AFC championships and SB appearances. Great QBs usually have a great coach behind them. Not a slight at Mahomes at all. Montana, Brady, etc...had grea coaches as well. Allen- Him and Mahomes are the two best playoff performers. He actually has one of he lowest INT rates of any QB and is top-5 (I believe) in QBR among ALL QBs ever in the playoffs. Hes top-5 ever in the playoffs in 3TD games (close to Mahomes) and tied for 1st in 4TD games. He's also consistently been in the conversation for MVP every year since 2020. Burrow- Burrow is a savage, but he hasnt been on Allen's or Mahomes' level in the playoffs. His health is also a concern. But man, he's a beast, and could definitely jump to #2 if healthy. Lamar- Man, the playoff woes really hold me back from putting him with Allen and Burrow. He's close. I was hoping he'd get his ring this year. Great year from him, and I think he'll be just as good next year. Here's to hoping he gets his ring one of these years. Herbert- the stench of the Chargers rubs off on him, unfortunately. Put him on the Chiefs, Bills, Ravens, or Bengals, and he'd be considered top-3.

Im excited to see what the Bills do next season. I think they're in the SB if they had a healthy defense vs the Chiefs. Even if they did beat the Chiefs, they would've been worked against the Ravens because noone left in the LB core wouldve been able to spy Lamar. The take about Buffalo's window closing were premature. It's open as long as Allen is their QB. Should be another fun year!

I thought it'd be obvious I was referring to all the injuries to the defense, not just the punter.

They did add Hack to the practice squad. He's a terrible punter, though. Probably a better option than Martin given the injury, but it still would've been an issue. It was just the perfect recipe for a letdown game. That's how it goes for teams sometimes. The injury bug hits at the worst moment. The Chiefs lost a SB because their entire O line was injured. That being said, I'm glad I don't have to stress about football for a while. My heart is happy about that, too, hehe.

I got Baltimore here. I'm intrigued to see how KC's offense looks against a defense that isn't battered and bruised like the Bills and Dolphins were the past two games. So many game breakers on both of those defenses were out against the Chiefs. The same can't be said for Baltimore. I also believe Lamar is going to pop off, and the difference between Lamar and Mahomes isn't nearly enough to overcome the better constructed roster of the Ravens.

It didn't help that their punter still appeared injured given the punts he did have. Awful punts. If Martin is pinning the opposing team back that he had been prior to being injured, I think McD probably punts it there. This is a game I will wonder what could've been if the defense was healthy. Douglas was clearly still injured, and I believe was benched halfway through the game. Buffalo was down their #1 CB, their #2 CB, their #1 MLB, their #2 MLB, and their #1 OLB. LBers are the bread and butter of McD's defense, so going from Milano/Bernard (a top LB core in the NFL) to Dodson/Klein was killer. Klein was about to take a trip to Cancun when Buffalo called him to sign him to the PS two weeks ago, and had to start a divisional playoff game less than two weeks later, haha! I believe they win this game with a moderately healthy defense. People forget how *** the defense looked in the middle of the year when the injuries piled up. Luckily, they healed up for the run in Dec only to have the injury bug hit in the playoffs. I mean- once we lost our LBers and Benford against Pitt- Rudolph started heating up and made the game close. I think that's why Brady and co. went with a passing game with a lot of screens, short yardage throws, and ran the ball a lot. They wanted to control the clock to keep Mahomes off the field against his battered and bruised defense. It almost worked! Oh well, always next year, and with an elite QB at the helm- anything is possible. The defense just needs to be healthy during the playoffs.

They've had an insane run. As I said, they're the only franchise right now with the chance to match Brady/BB's run of championships during their tenure. Also, here's the injury report for those who are interested: Buffalo Bills Injury Report | Buffalo Bills - buffalobills.com Buffalo's injury update: Benford CB DNP Bernard MLB DNP Davis WR DNP Dodson OLB LP T. Johnson Slot Corner LP Martin Punter LP Rapp S DNP Spector MLB DNP That's pretty terrible list, if I'm being honest. We're going to get killed in the middle of the field if Johnson and Bernard are unable to play. Spector is Bernard's backup, so we may be down to Klein starting at MLB, who we just signed last week. I can't put into words how big of a drop off Bernard to Klein is in coverage. Benford is our #2 corner, but we have depth there, so I think we'll be ok there as long as Douglas can go. Martin possibly being out is the terd on top. I do not want to see Hack punting. That man is ***, and Martin has been great the last half of the season. Hack is good at holding, at least. All that to say, we've also been down our best defensive player for most of the season. Damn. This injury report is reminding me a lot of the defensive injuries we dealt with going up against the Bengals last year in the divisional round. Luckily, we don't have to deal with the weapons CIN had, but instead we have to deal with Mahomes...great. Chiefs injury report: Nnadl NT DNP Moore WR LP Toney WR LP (addition by subtraction?!) Ross WR LP Sneed CB LP Morris OT LP KC's injury report looks much better, but I'll keep an eye on Sneed. I'm assuming he'll play. He's a beast! Also, lots of WRs on there, but I'm assuming most will play. KC fans can give more insight there!

I wish!

I too am mildly annoyed by the Bengals, and will probably root against them playing any team except the Dolphins. The Jets and Pats are just too irrelevant right now to care about if they win or lose, but I'm sure that will change one day!

Good way to put it, and I agree. I don't hate the Chiefs at all. I actually respect them quite a bit. Mahomes/Reid and co. handle winning well, and I think they're the only team that can possibly rival BB and Brady's run with the Pats. The Bengals annoy me with all their lame smack talk, but we haven't been competitive enough against them, or played enough playoff games against them, for me to believe there's any type of rivalry yet. The best way to put it is, the Chiefs and Bills have a competitive rivalry. They see each other in the playoffs a lot. Now, the Dolphins are a whole other level of hate for me. Divisional rivalries just hit different. Too much history. Their fans are awesome on this site, though, from what I've seen.

As a Bills fan, the feeling is mutual in regard to Mahomes and the Chiefs. Pretty cool little rivalry we have brewing. This won't be that last time these two teams meet in the playoffs, and they've been fairly evenly matched over the years, so expect more stress on the heart!

I doubt either fanbase feels good about it. It's a 50/50 game!

You can't rationalize with someone whose argument is based in envy.

They looked great against him in the 2nd half of their first meeting this season. I assume they're going to make life difficult for Allen. They have a great defense this year. Which is why it's so damn important Buffalo's defense is healthy because they played awesome against the Chiefs in the regular season and have looked great since healing up and acquiring Douglas. Every advantage is huge in this game. Everyone knows how close Bills/Chiefs games usually are. We have the home field, which is a slight advantage, but the Chiefs seem to be healthier, which is a much bigger advantage, imo.

A lot of that was due to his weapons and O line getting injured, which only reinforces your argument. I agree, he'll never be in the Mahomes/Allen/Lamar/Burrow tier. I think he'll top out as a Kirk Cousins type of QB if everything goes right for him, which is still a damn good QB who can win games. The bigger issue is, they have to deal with Josh Allen in the division, and the division typically goes to the team with an elite QB unless that team has a brain-dead GM and/or coach.

Depends on how healthy the defense is, and even with a healthy defense Mahomes can still go nuclear at any moment. As of right now, Buffalo could possibly be missing their #1 and #2 CBs, their starting MLB, their starting OLB, their backup OLB, and their starting slot corner. There's hope that Douglas (CB) and Dodson (OLB) are back, but even with them back, that's a lot of injuries to the LBs and DBs.

Perhaps, but there wasn't a defender within 5 yards of him when the 'fake slide' happened. It didn't really impact the play at all unless Fitzpatrick is a total dumbass and stopped running while being 5+ yards away from Allen assuming he'd slide. Honestly, it looked like Allen was going to run outside, but then saw a lane and cut it up the middle. Once again, though, when that 'fake slide' happened, no one was even close to him, so I'd be dumbfounded if anyone complained about it. It's not like someone had him lined up a couple of yards away, and Allen pretended to slide. Epic run, though. Holy hell is that man physically gifted. It's wild he has the longest streak of games without missing one due to injury.

The AFC is a gauntlet. It's just insane that one of these QBs will be knocked out before the divisional round each year: Allen Burrow Jackson Mahomes Stroud Then you have Herbert, who I think would be viewed in a much better light if it wasn't for him playing for the Chargers. It's a fun time to be a fan of an AFC team as long as you have one of those guys leading the charge.

Yeah, the Chiefs are lucky to be (I assume by your post) healthy at the right time. Buffalo does not have that luxury at the moment, though they were without some quality players when they played the Chiefs a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, only one of those quality players has returned (Jones), haha.

Mahomes vs Allen meeting in the playoffs just feels right. Two of the best in the league going toe-to-toe in winter conditions...aw yeah! If Buffalo had a healthy defense, then I'd give them the slight advantage, but they're decimated with injuries on defense right now. Down to their fourth string OLB and 2nd string MLB. Both starting corners were out against Pitt. Apparently, Dodson and Douglas have a good chance to play, but losing Bernard is going to be very tough to overcome. He's been awesome. So, assuming Bernard and Benford are out, I think this turns into a 55/45 game in favor of the Chiefs. The Chiefs defense is (I believe) healthy and (I know) stout. They're going to make it difficult on Allen. Mahomes hasn't looked like himself this year, and a lot of that is due to the personnel around him, though they do look to be getting better as the year progresses, which is concerning as a Bills fan. My mind says beating KC twice in one year while the defense is battered and bruised seems unlikely. My heart says Allen is going to go god mode, and Mahomes won't be able to keep pace. I'll go with my brain and say the Chiefs pull out a hard-fought win: Chiefs: 28 Bills: 24 Hopefully, I'm wrong!

I have to agree w/ you. Baker would've been stomped out going on the road in frigid temps against that Chiefs defense. Unfortunately, the Dolphins were ravaged by injuries to end the year, and Baker Mayfield is not the guy to overcome those injuries. You'd need a truly elite QB to compensate for the number of injuries the Dolphins had, and even then- in the AFC- that may not be enough because there are usually 2-3 elite QBs playing in the playoffs every year. Like, now the Bills will likely be playing the Chiefs with a battered and bruised defense. Allen is elite, so they still have a solid chance, but they have to play against Mahomes. Allen gives the Bills a legit shot since he's an elite QB, but you put a QB like Mayfield on Buffalo this Sunday, and I'd bet the house on the Chiefs winning. Mayfield wasn't going to bring a battered and bruised Dolphins team to the AFC championship while having to go through KC and Buffalo. I swear half of what it takes to win a Superbowl is a team getting lucky and staying healthy. Anyone remember the Chiefs getting worked by TB in the SB? That probably doesn't happen if their O line wasn't ravaged by injuries.