Nov 01, 2025
3 min read
Bulls-Chiefs AFC rivalry resumes on Sunday as 'Groundhog Day': Where are Punxsutton Phil and Ned Ryerson?
The Bills are still looking to avoid a rivalry with the Chiefs on Groundhog Day
– The next Bills-Chiefs game is the 10th meeting between quarterbacks Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes since 2020.
- While the Bills have won their last four regular-season games, the Chiefs have beaten them in four straight in the playoffs.
- For the first time in years, neither Buffalo nor Kansas City lead their respective divisions going into the playoffs.
Here we go again.Bills.Chiefs.Highmark Stadium.
Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen (and their respective teams) will face off for the 10th time since 2020, and if history is any indication, this could be a midseason tease for another clash in the AFC playoffs.
If Sunday's AFC showdown were a movie, it would be "Groundhog Day."
In the classic comedy, the weather played by Bill Murray was relieved the same day with "PunxSututawne Phil" in the mix.In this NFL adaptation, the bills have the number of Kansas City in the regular season games with four consecutive victories ... only to suffer four consecutive postseason meetings against the chiefs.
What, what are you?
“We know it's going to take our best football,” Mahomes told reporters this week in Kansas City.
The game last November, when Mahomes threw two touchdowns, ended with Allen's amazing 26-yard run.Then January's AFC title game ended in a fumble, giving up a fourth down to the Bills' Dalton Kincaid in the final two minutes, allowing Kansas City to hang on for a 32-29 verdict.Until then, Allen's fourth fumble had sparked controversy over whether the officials had correctly spotted the football.Kansas City turned the turnover into the eventual game-winning TD drive.
This year's scenarios are not so much the car, these teams, these teams will meet again in January.At first, neither the bosses nor the laws are strange.Kansas City (5-3) has never won nine straight titles against Buffalo (5-2).They are chasing the leading Broncos and Patriots.
If either of those teams is going to keep the Couts (7-1) atop the AFC race, it will need to be turned around.
Can the higher running game from the bills make up for their passing deficiencies?
But first.Although the Chiefs have made progress from an 0-2 start and Mahomes has finally made progress with the help of his entire receivers — when Rushie Rice returned from a six-game NFL suspension two weeks ago, it was the first time he, "Hollywood" Brown and Xavier Worthy lined up at the same time to compete with me.Listed as a two-point underdog.
If this is the year Buffalo finally breaks through and makes it all the way to the Super Bowl, there's no better time than now to spotlight a foe that has advanced to seven straight AFC Championship games.
The Bills couldn't match the explosive playmaking ability of the former, when Allen left with impo-olehing.Due to Spotty receiver production, the Bills are being targeted as a potential landing spot for wide receiver Chris Olave as the NFL deadline looms.Meanwhile, they have money from Allen, the contested NFL MVP and signed to a massive contract extension (6 years, $330 million) in March.It doesn't get a lot of bang for the buck, but it doesn't look like one of the league's indoor balls is any better - at least the results aren't.
Buffalo's running game, however, has more potential than it's ever had under coach Sean Ccdermott.The Bills, using a 10-1-10 bench attack per season since 2021, have the NFF's leading running game behind James Yance.He helped Buffalo lead the league in his time of possession (33:15), which could be the key to keeping Mahomes OR Bay, just covering the problem of tracking.But it's just a baby.
"We have to be able to throw the ball, or something else that will sit in the body of the psychologist of the crime," McderMt said."You have to be able to do both well to play at the high level we need."
Such a challenge will also be tested by teams averaging 29.6 points per game by the second-lowest scoring defense in the NFL (16.4 points per game).
Bill has moved away from this previous limit.Will they do it again?
Obviously complementary football is the ticket.Kansas City has averaged 30.8 points over the last five games, while Buffalo's injury-riddled defense has had some red flags, including a 238-yard (170-rush) game and 238-yard rushing game from running back Bjorn Robinson in the Week 6 loss at Atlanta, with F.Oliver out again.This time with a torn biceps that will require surgery and will disable him indefinitely.And a second who has had one problem after another this season is facing his toughest test yet.
The Bills, who swept Carolina last weekend to snap a two-game losing streak, will make an even stronger statement if they deal with their dear friends from Kansas City.
Or are they destined to see their own shadow?
"You don't try to make a play bigger than it is," Bills safety Jordan Poyer said."It's a football game. We're going to wake up in the morning, ready to play, we're going to play the game. The clock is going to zero. One team is going to win, one team is going to lose, and you're going back to the test next week. So you never want to make a game bigger than it is."
However, having already stepped off this edge, it is large enough to avoid a Ned Rearson moment.
Contact JARTTTT BIN at jbell @ or follow at X: @jarrettbell
