Bills vs Chiefs: Buffalo brings confidence, surprise players to battle Kansas City

The NFL has a loaded slate this weekend. The Baltimore Ravens face the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Philadelphia Eagles host the Washington Commanders. Major contests abound, but none of them can match the hype and star power of the Kansas City Chiefs' visit to Orchard Park to face the Buffalo Bills.

At stake in this battle is a further chapter in the Patrick Mahomes-Josh Allen rivalry. It's also possible the Chiefs basically lock up the AFC's top seed or come crashing down from the ranks of the unbeaten.

Both teams are missing numerous playmakers to injury but plenty of familiar faces remain available. This will be a tremendous matchup to watch in Week 11 which is why our own writers are split as to what to expect in the end.

Given the clamor, we reached out to Brandon Ray from our sister site Buffalowdown to tell us more about the home team's side of things as KC comes to town.

The two losses on the schedule have come against the two most formidable teams. What do you take from those losses and what does that mean for this Bills roster and what they can handle?

Buffalo’s two losses were certainly tough ones to watch for fans. They were simply outplayed by Baltimore and they dug themselves into a hole early on against Houston and couldn’t get themselves back up in time to get a win. However, injuries played a major factor in those losses.

Overall, Buffalo hit a bump in the road but they cruising now heading into Week 11. The roster has shown that they can hold their end up as long as their teammates do the same thing. Buffalo has played better disciplined football and they need to be nearly perfect against the Chiefs.

What's the feeling among Bills fans about the timing and the talent of this visiting Chiefs team?

It feels like Bills Mafia is feeling very confident heading into this matchup. Buffalo has ripped off five consecutive wins and they look like they could be the team that gives the Chiefs their first loss of the season. While Kansas City has always been the big brother to Buffalo since Mahomes and Allen squared off against each other, Bills fans are still always going to believe.

If you look back at the game and realize the Bills were somehow sucker punched by K.C., what would be the culprit—the "we should have realized that this could have been a real issue"?

Oh, that’s easy: the run defense. Buffalo has been horrendous at defending the run all season long and there’s not a single back in the league that wouldn’t have a nice couple of runs against this unit.

Ed Oliver has been a disappointment this season and DaQuan Jones has been quiet. The Bills did bring back DTs Jordan Phillips and Quinton Jefferson post-trade deadline but until they prove their worth, this unit will be the team’s Achilles heel.

What might surprise Chiefs fans who haven't paid close attention to Buffalo this season?

There are lots of things to choose from, but the emergence of rookie running back Ray Davis will catch Chiefs fans by surprise. Going back to Week 6 against the Jets, Davis has stepped up big time time for the Bills offense. He runs vertically and he is not afraid of contract whatsoever. In addition, he proved that he can take a simple dump off pass to him and turn it into a long TD-run. Pairing him with James Cook creates a nice duo in the backfield behind Josh Allen.

Got a final prediction for us?

Much like it always does, it will come down to the wire. The Bills are still looking for that big statement win this year and they get the job done on Sunday. Buffalo wins 20-17 and ends K.C.'s undefeated streak