Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) runs the ball in the first half against the Las Vegas Raiders at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports

Bills vs. Chiefs preview: No Tyreek Hill becomes bigger problem for Mahomes, Chiefs

By Andrew Marshall | Last updated 10/15/22

The Buffalo Bills travel to Arrowhead to play the Kansas Chiefs Sunday. Unfortunately for Allen and company, there's a magician on the other sideline who happens to play quarterback.

Crosby swipes Wylie’s hand and swipes through. Mahomes with an awesome side arm throw to Valdes-Scantling. #JacobsEyeInTheSky #Chiefs pic.twitter.com/4OP8MrDhAB
— Nick Jacobs (@Jacobs71) October 12, 2022

It's an understatement to say these two teams have familiarity with one another. Kansas City is 3-1 against the Bills dating back to 2020. The Bills beat the Chiefs decisively in last year's regular season matchup 38-20 before losing the infamous '13 Seconds' game in the Divisional Round.

Gabe Davis catches his 4th (!!!) TD to give the Bills the lead… with just 13 seconds leftpic.twitter.com/0BPG4GAyjx
— NFL on CBS (@NFLonCBS) October 12, 2022

Buffalo re-tooled with an improved pass rush and continued their offensive ascent. Buffalo has the No.1 point differential in the league, outscoring opponents by 18.2 points per game on average. Their season-long point differential is 44 points better than the next-best teams (Eagles, 49ers) — a big reason they're road favorites for this game.

Kansas City owns the No.1 scoring offense in the league, but is far worse on the other side of the ball, allowing 25.0 points per game through five games.

Tyreek Hill not playing in this particular game feels like a huge deal. He was an awful matchup for Buffalo's zone-heavy defenders and had 322 yards on 20 catches in the last two playoff games. Buffalo couldn't situationally match up with him and he often affected outcomes even when the box scores stats were pedestrian.

Trying to give full thoughts: I'm not sure any one WR is worth the top end of that market at the moment. Tyreek might be one guy who is, because his impact goes further than just his production. That's something that really only Coach Reid would be able to quantify though.
— Mitchell Schwartz (@MitchSchwartz71) March 23, 2022

Betting against Mahomes, Kelce and Andy Reid is always nerve-racking. Buffalo had extra rest, playing early last Sunday while the Chiefs played Monday night.

Kansas City received five draft picks for Hill in a March trade with the Miami Dolphins, a trade which hasn't affected the win-loss column much, if at all. It should matter for this game.

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