AFC Championship GDT: Buffalo @ Kansas City

[Trentwannabe]

Our Bills are one game away from the Super Bowl! The only thing standing in their way? The defending Super Bowl Champions.

Big questions to be answered:

Does Mahomes play? If so, how healthy is he?

Will the weather play a part in the game?

Do the Bills change up their scheme on D? Or do they take away the deep game but allow vulnerability in the run game.

What will Brian Daboll do to get the run game going?

How will Josh Allen perform in the biggest game of his life? 

Quick Analysis:

When these two teams met in Buffalo back in October, the Bills had a great plan on defense to limit the Chiefs high powered offense. For the most part, that plan worked. Though they allowed over 200 rushing yards, the game was close right till the end and had Justin Zimmer punched the ball out half a second earlier, the Bills would have been in great position to take the lead with 5 minutes remaining. A big part of that loss was the Bills offenses woes that started right from the first drive. Allen missed some guys and guys dropped balls. It was a gross wet night. That might be the case on Sunday though.

What gives me hope for this weekend is, the Bills did not have Matt Milano, Levi Wallace, Dawson Knox or Jon Feliciano the last time. As well, Allen, John Brown and Edmunds were all playing hurt. I can't speak on KC but this is a much different Bills team this time around. Finally, Sean McDermott, Leslie Frazier and Brian Daboll are tremendous coaches that have shown the ability to self correct and exploit weaknesses in the 2nd meeting vs the same opponent. 

I am definitely riding a high from last weeks game but I am confident in this team and its staff to come away with the win and get this team to the Super Bowl regardless of whether Mahomes plays.. I see Allen fully cementing himself in the Mahomes/Rodgers conversation and our defense performing more like last week and their 2019 selves. Bills 24 - Chiefs 20.

[BillsGuy82]

It's a nerve issue in his neck.. Hell be playing but no way hes 100%

[bigbadbuff]

Head says Chiefs vs Packers, heart says Bills vs Bucs

[Kmart128]

11 hours ago, BillsGuy82 said:

It's a nerve issue in his neck.. Hell be playing but no way hes 100%

Dont believe everything you read.... Andy Reid is a smart guy. He is gonna leak "smoke" all week long. Hell in his press conference he said that Mahomes got hit in back of the head and just got wind knocked out of him. Thats not what happened he never got hit in back of the head. His forehead got jammed into turf. And im no doctor but a pinched nerve doesn't make your eyes glaze over like he was... it doesn't make you unaware of your surroundings like he was. Peyton Manning got a really bad pinched nerve against Redskins that required surgery... he was out there the very next play and didnt react the same way Mahomes reacted at all. Andy Reid is gonna keep his real condition underwraps all week long. We wont know the extent until friday if he practices or not. If he passed the concussion test he wouldnt have been placed in concussion protocol and would have just be diagnosed as out with a neck injury

[Nick]

I want Mahomes to play, and I think he will. I don't want any victory tainted or talked about as not being worthy or properly earned. 

That said, I felt pretty awful about our chances against Baltimore because of how poorly our defense was playing. They earned a lot of respect last week. I'm still worried about the run, we always seem to give up 5 or more yards... but KC is not as strong as Baltimore and we did a nice job against them ultimately. Last meeting with KC we had a nice game plan for Mahomes and the passing game, so let's hope we can limit him as much as possible–big ask of course, but after last week I have a lot more faith. Especially considering we have a healthy roster right now as opposed to our last meeting. Our offense has had some trouble recently but that was against two great defenses, KC doesn't scare me as much. I think we'll have more success, just hope it's enough to keep up with KC's offense. 

I'm not going to make a prediction, I'll just share my overall feeling. I'm extremely nervous and excited to have the opportunity. I'm 29 years old and this is by far the most exciting time in my life as a sports fan that's spent their entire life living in Buffalo. Playing in this game is a win in itself. I know this team is good enough to win it all, and that's still surreal to me.

I felt worse last week going against Baltimore for some reason. I just hope more than anything that we play a good game and make it a tough fight that we can be proud of. Not expecting a win, or a loss. Just looking forward to a good game.

I love this team. Go Bills!

[The BILLievers]

I'm interested to see the reports re Mahomes but I'd expect he'll play. 

Reasons for optimism : 

• Allen is due for another big time game imo. He, for the most part, managed the Ravens game and played really good in the Colts but I see a signature 300+ yard, 3 TD game coming this week (hopefully?!). 
• 2-0 to start the playoffs but the D didn't show up week 1 and the O was held in check for the most part week 2. Can we put both together?
• The defense. Huge bounce back week and they'll have some confidence going into this week.

I'll go with 28-24 Bills right now but no clue. Alot rides on what kind of Mahomes will be out there next Sunday.

[soflbillsfan]

Mahomes will play I think the toe is a bigger concern then anything. With having both Milano and Levi back compared to regular season I am hoping they will be able to play more man coverage and allow the Bills to stop the run whether it is Bell/Williams/CEH. The key to our offense is running the ball, the bills have become so 1 dimensional in the playoffs that defense will be dropping back more, this is where we need to pose a threat and run consistently. Last week not having 1 single drawn up play in the first half is worrisome, some say that it is because Ravens stopped Henry but not even attempting one shows that Daboll has no faith in the running attack at all. This has to be utilized more then ever longer drives tire their defense out and prevents Mahomes to not be on the field. Like our offense KC offense can quickly score when they need to. Lets limit that as both Colts and Ravens time of possession was 35 min while we had 25 min. Bills found ways to win both games but this is next level talent that KC has so we need to win the time of possession because of how deadly their offense can be. Do not want our defense to be gassed early on and be taken advantage of come the 4th qtr because of it. To me it is KC 24-17

Also I am not sure why people think that we need to face Mahomes in order to have a clear victory. A superbowl opportunity is a superbowl opportunity whether you faced Chad Henne at QB or Mahomes I dont care what people would say we would be in the Superbowl and thats all I care about. For those who make comments are just haters and bitter about it. I mean are those same people questioning the KC Championship last year since they faced the Titans instead of the 1 seed Ravens in the AFCCG? So why should people question the Bills playing vs Henne or an injured Mahomes. It is the game/players that is given to us to face at the time. 

Even with an injured Mahomes I do not see us winning. Andy Reid is a phenomenal Offensive Minded HC I just don't see us being able to over come his mind and the talent that they have in their players. They are more well rounded then the Bills, I think we are one year away from making it to the Superbowl.

In case this is our last game I love this team and will continue to watch them as I have done for the last 30+ year this team has done more then any of us could imagine this year, so I am grateful for this season and what this organization has done. We need to come back next year with the same offense, attitude and add a couple more players to make this team better then KC. Allen has proven that he is who we never truly thought he could do (or at least in my eyes and many doubters out there). Diggs, Smoke, Beasley, and Davis will all be back next year, hopefully we retain Mckenzie and Roberts. Oline hopefully we can get Feliciano and Daryl Williams back without them hitting FA, we get a healthy Ford back then the oline is intact. To me we are a Hunter Henry type Te and a RB away from being arguably the best offense in the league. I like Singletary and Moss but neither of them have proven to be the #1 RB on this team and we could use a Etienne or Najee Harris with our 1st pick at 30. Defense we will need to retain Levi as RFA, get Gaines back and the DBs will still be intact minus Josh Norman. Milano may walk and we do need to revamp the dline to pose a greater threat to opposing olines as they struggle at times up front. The Coaching staff seems to be kept at least for another year so no changes will be done on that. All in all our future is bright and I cant wait to see how this team bounces back. 

Also credit to you guys and the fans out there who have been constant participants in the donations. It is great that we can be so kind in such an odd/difficult time we have been facing in the US and in the World. Some people see us as crazy drunk table jumpers but more and more people are seeing us as the fanbase willing to contribute to such great causes between Andy Dalton's foundation, Josh Allen's Foundation, and Lamar Jackson's Foundation. Also credit to @Trentwannabe and @bigbadbuff for creating the Game Day Threads (I apologize for the ones I miss who created them as well). Again if this is our last game I will see you all back on here in a few weeks. If we do win I will see you in the Superbowl Thread!!

[candyman93]

Wyatt still loves Buffalo. Good luck fellas.

Edited January 19, 2021 by candyman93

[Trentwannabe]

1 hour ago, candyman93 said:

Wyatt still loves Buffalo. Good luck fellas.

We could certainly use Teller this weekend. A lot has been made of our running backs, who aren't top tier, but I think the biggest issue has been the OG play.

[Trentwannabe]

It's been a pleasure to do the GDT this season. I can say, without hesitation this has been the most fun Bills season on this forum and I want to thank you all for making my job easier because I don't ever have to moderate any of your actions. This is one classy and die hard group of fans and I hope we get one more week to celebrate!!!

[Trentwannabe]

Would love to see Stills and Freeman called up and be active

[Jlowe22]

Go Bills!

[Billsfaninptown]

11 hours ago, Nick said:

I want Mahomes to play, and I think he will. I don't want any victory tainted or talked about as not being worthy or properly earned. 

That said, I felt pretty awful about our chances against Baltimore because of how poorly our defense was playing. They earned a lot of respect last week. I'm still worried about the run, we always seem to give up 5 or more yards... but KC is not as strong as Baltimore and we did a nice job against them ultimately. Last meeting with KC we had a nice game plan for Mahomes and the passing game, so let's hope we can limit him as much as possible–big ask of course, but after last week I have a lot more faith. Especially considering we have a healthy roster right now as opposed to our last meeting. Our offense has had some trouble recently but that was against two great defenses, KC doesn't scare me as much. I think we'll have more success, just hope it's enough to keep up with KC's offense. 

I'm not going to make a prediction, I'll just share my overall feeling. I'm extremely nervous and excited to have the opportunity. I'm 29 years old and this is by far the most exciting time in my life as a sports fan that's spent their entire life living in Buffalo. Playing in this game is a win in itself. I know this team is good enough to win it all, and that's still surreal to me.

I felt worse last week going against Baltimore for some reason. I just hope more than anything that we play a good game and make it a tough fight that we can be proud of. Not expecting a win, or a loss. Just looking forward to a good game.

I love this team. Go Bills!

I feel like it doesn't matter what happens with Mahomes. If he plays and we win, the narrative from the media and Chiefs fans will be that we won because Mahomes wasn't 100%. If he doesn't play then the narrative will be that we got a free pass to the SB. If we lose with Mahomes playing we will get the crowd that says we couldn't beat a hobbled Chiefs team. And if we lose to Chad Henne we will get buried by the media pundits. At this point I don't give a damn what happens with Mahomes and what the media or Chiefs fans have to say. Just win baby. Go Bills!

[Trentwannabe]

There is a fun stat.

[Kmart128]

Practice Injury report is set to be released later today. Ive never looked forward to seeing one this much... not just Mahomes but Breeland, CEH, and Watkins as well. Seems the injuries have been flipped from our first meeting. We are suddenly the healthy ones and they're the banged up ones.