Sunday is the Kansas City Chiefs faced with the Buffalo Bills. We are welcome Matt Byham by Buffalo rumble – our sister SB Nation site on the bills – for Five questions with the enemy.

1) The Bills are having an excellent season, but the losses to Baltimore and Houston stand out. What’s a reasonable response to the “failure to beat quality teams” narrative?

It’s really hard to win in the NFL, where the best of the best are spread across 32 teams. I see a moderate level of concern in the Bills’ losses to Baltimore and Houston, but it’s more of a point How they then lost because they lost. Many are quick to say that Buffalo was shocked after Henry destroyed the field on Baltimore’s first offensive play. Teams don’t lose because the first game went poorly, and it’s a narrative I think fans use to cope. They were within eleven points and were driving well into the third quarter, but the coaching got too much fun and disaster struck. That’s the kind of momentum swing that can devastate any team.

I could say thousands more words about why I think the Bills should have played OT against the Houston Texans (but playing to draw against the Chiefs in last season’s playoffs was a fatal plan), but in reality no outcome is guaranteed. I simply preferred Buffalo’s chances to regroup and mount a resourceful battle against Houston in overtime in better circumstances.

Fortunately, the Ravens and Texans are in the rearview mirror of the playoffs for now. Could Buffalo see either team in the postseason? Sure – but I expect the Bills to have a response to what failed them in both regular season losses. Sometimes losing to your opponent before the play-offs starts proves to be the most beneficial, as Chiefs Kingdom can attest. How Buffalo responds to the stories about Baltimore and Houston could define their most important matchups.

2) How do you expect the Bills to reshape their offense while likely playing without several key pieces?

First and foremost, the Bills’ passing game runs through slot receiver Khalil Shakir, who can do everything well. He’s not just a receiver between the sticks. It’s fair to say he resembles the likes of Wes Welker and Cole Beasley – even a bit of Hines Ward – while proving to be a nightmare to tackle with the ball in his hands. He also catches almost everything he faces (48 receptions on 54 targets in 2024; 97 catches on 117 targets in his career).

I guess the good news is that the Bills aren’t suddenly trying to figure out how to replace Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis. Actually, they have been working on this since week 1.

Playing without starting wide receiver Keon Coleman stings because he really started cooking — but all season, the “everyone eats” mantra has seen Buffalo’s depth see plenty of snaps and targets. That means wide receiver Mack Hollins can pick up where Coleman left off, and he’s more than comfortable in that role.

As for Amari Cooper, it’s frustrating that they traded for him and he injured his wrist six quarters into his Bills tenure. He could play this weekend, but it will come down to pain management. If he doesn’t play, it won’t be the end of the world for Allen and the offense, as they’ve been down this road enough. Hopefully wide receiver Curtis Samuel can step up for Buffalo in what has been a fairly disappointing free agent signing for the team.

Tight end Dalton Kincaid is a big loss for Allen because he played such a big role in terms of target share. At the same time, Kincaid has been double-teamed far too often as defenses failed to respect outside receiver options. That’s obviously a big part of why Cooper is in town. Dawson Knox is more than ready to step up in Kincaid’s absence – and he has a history of playing well against the Chiefs. It’s also likely that Quintin Morris finds more snaps, and he’s proven to be a reliable red zone target for Allen.

3) What are Buffalo’s strengths and weaknesses on defense?

At every level of defense this season, they were elite at creating turnovers and negative play thanks to peanut shots and stripping the ball. There are times when four or five defenders are trying to get the football on the ground.

There are plenty of media outlets writing about the defensive line, but they aren’t so much skilled pocket artists as they are at creating chaos for the football after the snap – rushing throws to incomplete routes, flushing the quarterback with bad reads and batting passes at the line – plus exploiting fumbles and turnovers.

Many would be quick to point to the middle of Buffalo’s defense as the biggest positional strength in linebackers Terrel Bernard, Matt Milano (when healthy and available), Dorian Williams (now in for Milano) and Johnson at nickel. Add in cornerbacks Christian Benford and Rasul Douglas and it’s a unit built to make life difficult through the air.

But prioritizing pass defense means their biggest weakness is a perceived love-hate relationship with run defense. They tend to give up huge chunks, but… most often don’t give up long touchdowns.

Their athletic center hasn’t always worked well against elite tight ends in Travis Kelce. In general, they don’t always match up well with more physical teams/individual players.

4) No running backs reached 60 yards on the ground against Kansas City. How come James Cook will be the first to do this?

James Cook is a home run threat every time he touches the football, so he could hit 200 feet on one drive to the house. Cook has run for 71 or more yards in five of 10 games so far. If I want to convince you that he’ll be the first to do this, it’s because of offensive coordinator Joe Brady’s commitment to making the run happen. Cook is far from guaranteed to have explosive moments against top-ranked defenses, but he has become a much more physical and complete runner than in previous seasons.

But the point is, Buffalo doesn’t have to rely on one back carrying the torch on the ground. Cook’s backups – rookie Ray Davis (a true throwback, physical runner) and Ty Johnson (another dual-threat who is faster than Cook) – are fully capable of playing the lead role. But Cook will get his taste, and he could surprise.

The runner to watch out for in this race might be Josh Allen.

5) How do you see this playing out?

I see no reason to predict that things will play out any differently than before, which means it’s anyone’s game – and will probably come to the end of the game.

You must win in the regular season to qualify for elimination round football. There’s little doubt that key players from both sides remember how things played out last January – from the run-up in which national stories swarmed around the Chiefs after they failed to play a proper road playoff game, to Taylor’s sideshow Swift and those unsavory fans who threw snowballs at Mahomes. and company after the match. That’s without even mentioning how intense the action was on the field — and how Buffalo couldn’t get off its own turf defensively.

I’m sure the Chiefs are ready to remind the Bills Mafia who the champions are, and I’m just as sure that the Bills are tired of losing to the Chiefs in big moments. This feels like a big moment in a way. Right? Kansas City is undefeated – since last Christmas. Buffalo would need a “redesign” and most predicted a bad year. Yet here we are again, with the Bills and Chiefs at the top of the AFC.

I understand why Arrowhead Pride wrote about the team going undefeated throughout the Super Bowl, but I think it’s way too early to talk about that. I’d also be surprised if the locker room is focused on that, because so many players understand that getting into the game any way possible is more important than style points along the way. The question becomes how important winning is for both sides, and whether errors and limitations of the season preclude this.

It really is anyone’s game. The Bills are skilled turnover makers, and the Chiefs are eighth-worst at giving the football away. It comes down to turnovers and racking up points on every possible drive – ideally winning the battle in the red zone. Kansas City has scored 30 points just once this season, while the Bills have scored 30 or more points in seven games, including the last four weeks.

I don’t think anyone would be shocked if an 8-2 Bills team handed a 9-0 Chiefs team its first loss of the season. Also, no one will gasp if Kansas City improves to 10-0. You can bet that Mahomes and company will once again be motivated by that underdog narrative, even if it’s simply because they’re the road team this week.

I expect this game to be much more fun than Tyson vs. Paul, and I’m thankful this isn’t streaming exclusively on Netflix.

Be sure to check out the answers I gave to their questions by clicking on them here.