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    • Buffalo’s revenge against KC can’t come until after the NFL playoffs
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    Buffalo’s revenge against KC can’t come until after the NFL playoffs

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    Josh Allen said it with a straight face.

    It’s just a different game.

    “It’s a Week 11 game. It’s no bigger or no less than the last 10 games we’ve played,” the Buffalo Bills quarterback insisted during his midweek press conference. “I know the media perception, the fan perception and what this game means, but for us it’s just Week 11.”

    Yes, right.

    The Kansas City Chiefs come to town as the NFL’s only undefeated team (9-0), and the game at Highmark Stadium is the biggest game of the NFL season — so big that CBS is making its “NFL Today” show will broadcast on location.

    Maybe, just maybe if the Chiefs stumble, a Buffalo win could provide a tiebreaker that would allow them to host the AFC Championship Game. And it’s become such a rivalry. The Bills have had Super Bowl visions for a few years now, but three of their past four seasons have ended with heartbreaking playoff losses to the Chiefs.

    That makes Kansas City, two-time defending Super Bowl champions, a certified demon for Allen & Co.

    Go ahead, tell yourself it’s just another game.

    “It’s something we talk about, not to make one play bigger than another,” Bills tight end Dawson Knox, a sixth-year vet, told reporters. “So we want to look at every game as equally big. We don’t want to get too far ahead and look forward to the play-off picture or something like that. But they are an incredible team. We’ve played them every year since I’ve been here. It’s always a great challenge.

    “But our focus is on us,” Knox added. “The most important thing is to keep everything in the building, focus on the little things on the practice field and not get too far ahead.”

    You cannot go against the legislative proposals (8-2) for such an approach. Although the Chiefs ruled the NFL during this Patrick Mahomes era, Buffalo was a legitimate contender under coach Sean McDermott and owned the AFC East in recent years. With Tom Brady out of the way, the Bills have won four straight division titles. They know a thing or two about good football and the mentality to solidify a standard.

    Hurry, the Bills have won the last three regular season games against the Chiefs, winning each time at Arrowhead Stadium.

    Still, this isn’t just another ho-hum Week 11 game for several reasons.

    First, the Bills can put an end to any discussion about Kansas City, the winner of 15 straight games and possibly a perfect season. Of course, an undefeated season is a gamble. But imagine what it would do to Buffalo’s psyche if he were the team that submerged any thoughts of making such history.

    Did anyone mention psyche? The Bills finally drew the Chiefs for a playoff game in Buffalo, in an AFC divisional round match in January, and then lost in a second-half meltdown. The other playoff games in recent years took place in Kansas City, where the Bills were 13 seconds away from reaching the 2021 AFC title game — until Mahomes engineered a drive that set up a field goal that forced overtime. Nightmare at Arrowhead.

    No, Week 11 or not, the Bills can give themselves a solid performance with a win. It’s clear that a win on Sunday won’t be the ultimate payback. The opportunity to do so could come in January in the playoffs, when the Chiefs will look to earn a shot at making history as the NFL’s first three-peat Super Bowl champion.

    But winning now sets a new benchmark for what’s possible later for a Bills team with 17 players who weren’t on the roster for the final playoff game.

    On the other hand, Knox’s point about making it about the Bills instead of the Chiefs has a lot of substance. While Buffalo has won five straight games, only one of its victories this season has come against a team that currently has a winning record. And it took a monumental rally to beat Arizona in the opener. When the Bills faced Baltimore and Houston in back-to-back road games, they were defeated.

    So now comes the chance to measure themselves against the highest quality opponent of them all.

    And with the intense spotlight, there will be no problems getting aroused.

    “But sometimes that can be negative,” Knox said. “If you get too excited, too ready to go, you can have mental mistakes. So a lot of balance is needed and we just have to fall back on our preparation. Don’t get excited too quickly. But it’s always a little more fun when it’s a primetime game or a big match.

    Other side of the rivalry

    After four years in Baltimore, Steelers linebacker Patrick Queen now lives on the other side of one of the NFL’s most intense rivalries. And with the Ravens (7-3) coming to Pittsburgh on Sunday for a game that will determine first place in the AFC North, he’s adding fuel to the fire. As if extra juice is needed.

    Queen, lured to Pittsburgh with a three-year contract worth $41 million, claimed this week that he felt disrespected because the Ravens let him walk as a free agent. It doesn’t matter that Baltimore had quite a salary cap hit considering the commitments to Lamar Jackson, Roquan Smith and Nnamdi Madubuike.

    Nevertheless, it is a spicy subplot for the impending confrontation.

    “I didn’t want to go back,” Queen told reporters in Pittsburgh this week. “I didn’t get an offer. It was definitely a bit unsettling being there for four years and the bond you build with your teammates. For the first few months, you definitely go through those feelings.

    What could that mean on Sunday?

    “I’ll definitely have feelings,” Queen continued. “Anyone in my position would have that this week.”

    In nine games, Queen has delivered what was promised to help Pittsburgh (7-2) take the division lead. His 62 tackles rank second on the team behind another former Raven, safety DeShaun Elliott (64). He is also crucial for communications, wearing the green dot as a player with the radio device in his helmet to receive play calls from coordinator Teryl Austin. And of course, in helping their cause, the Steelers – who have won three straight and seven of the past eight games in this series – no doubt saw the added benefit of taking a key player away from a Ravens defense that has the fewest players allowed. points in the NFL last season.

    Baltimore is bringing a former Steeler to the fold that’s worth mentioning — even if Steelers coach Mike Tomlin downplayed the presence of wide receiver Diontae Johnson, who tied for the team lead with five touchdowns last season.

    Johnson, who was traded by Pittsburgh to Carolina last spring, was recently acquired by the Ravens in another trade. When Tomlin was asked this week for his thoughts on Johnson, he sent a certain kind of message.

    “Honestly, I haven’t thought about him much,” Tomlin said bluntly, seemingly unconcerned about providing message board juice for Baltimore’s fourth receiver. “They have more important pieces with bigger roles that have caught my attention at this point in the week.”

    Ouch. Let the rivalry resume.

    Mafia action

    With an extraordinary sample size, measured by the fact that he started at quarterback for nine teams during a 17-year NFL journey, believe Ryan Fitzpatrick when he claims he had no better connection with fans than during his four-year stint with the Buffalo Bills who started in 2009.

    So naturally Fitzpatrick, now a rising analyst for Amazon’s Thursday Night Football show, seemed like a member of the Bills Mafia when he offered to match the $12,000 fine imposed on Spencer Brown for coming to Josh Allen’s aid and promised to donate that amount to a charity of the Buffalo Guard’s choice. Pretty cool, Fitz.

    The Bills Mafia has a reputation for supporting players’ causes – including those of opponents – to make a statement while raising money when the situation warrants it.

    Brown was fined for his interaction with Nick Cross after the Colts defensive back went extracurricular after the Bills quarterback completed a short touchdown run last week.

    Fitzpatrick’s tweet (and promise) contained some reasoning for Brown.

    “Thank you for setting an example of what a lineman should be,” Fitzpatrick wrote on X.

    Charitable Benefits. Statement made. And another type of FitzMagic.

    Fast slopes

    – In retrospect, it’s clearly Kliff Kingsbury. The Bears fired offensive coordinator Shane Waldron on Tuesday and replaced him with Thomas Brown, a result of the mess that has engulfed rookie quarterback Caleb Williams. This move came a week after the Raiders dumped their OC, Luke Getsy, who held the Chicago job last year. The connection? The Bears and Raiders both considered hiring Kingsbury but turned him down. Bad moves. And in the case of the Raiders, the breaking point came down to Kingsbury wanting a three-year contract that was a year longer than what was offered. Kingsbury has only unleashed a surging Commanders offense while pushing the buttons for star quarterback Jayden Daniels, the frontrunner for NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year honors.

    – Falcons safety Justin Simmons continues to work closely with some of his former Broncos teammates, so much so that he is still part of a group chat. Still, business is business. Simmons returns to Denver this weekend, where the competition against former teammates will be a lot more intense than it was on the practice field during his eight seasons with the Broncos. Broncos receiver Courtland Sutton felt this way, telling reporters about his message to Simmons: “I jokingly told him, ‘Hey, man, when you see me coming up the middle, just remember we’re friends.’ “

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