On Sunday, the Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills will face off in the playoffs for the fourth time in five years. This will be the second time in recent memory that the two teams have met in the AFC Championship Game. Obviously, the Super Bowl is on the line for both of these teams, but it's also a game that both Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen want as they continue to establish their NFL legacies. So who will win this epic NFL matchup?
It's not surprising that here at Arrowhead Addict the writers are predicting a close Chiefs win, but does the national media feel the same way? Coming off their win over the Houston Texans the anti-Chiefs hysteria is reaching absolutely comical levels, but does that mean that the experts will actually pick against the Chiefs?
To answer that question I looked at the picks of 60 different NFL "experts" from 8 different sources. Those include ESPN, NFL.com, CBS Sports, The Athletic/NY Times, Bleacher Report, USA Today, plus the Pat McAfee Show and Rich Eisen Show. Here are the results.
NFL Expert Picks for Chiefs vs Bills
ESPN.com Expert Picks
ESPN had 10 experts on their panel pick the game. You can see who they are and which expert picked which team at the link above, but here are the totals.
- Chiefs picks - 4
- Bills picks - 6
NFL.com Expert Picks
NFL.com had 5 experts on their panel pick the game. You can see who they are and which expert picked which team at the link above, but here are the totals.
- Chiefs picks - 3
- Bills picks - 2
CBS Sports Staff Picks
CBS Sports had 12 staff members pick the game. You can see who they are and which expert picked which team at the link above, but here are the totals.
- Chiefs picks - 9
- Bills picks - 3
The Athletic/NY Times Insider Predictions
CBS Sports had 13 NFL insiders pick the game. You can see who they are and which expert picked which team at the link above, but here are the totals.
- Chiefs picks - 7
- Bills picks - 6
Bleacher Report Expert Picks
Bleacher Report had 8 experts on their panel pick the game. You can see who they are and which expert picked which team at the link above, but here are the totals.
- Chiefs picks - 5
- Bills picks - 3
USA Today Expert Picks
USA Today had 6 experts on their panel pick the game. You can see who they are and which expert picked which team at the link above, but here are the totals.
- Chiefs picks - 3
- Bills picks - 3
Pat McAfee Show Picks
Pat McAfee and his co-host A.J. Hawk picks the games each week. You can watch their picks and explanations on YouTube at the link above, but here are the results.
- Chiefs picks - 1
- Bills picks - 1
The Rich Eisen Show Picks
Rich Eisen and his co-hosts picks the game as well. You can watch their picks and explanations on YouTube at the link above, but here are the results.
- Chiefs picks - 3
- Bills picks - 1
The results of all 60 expert picks:
- Chiefs picks - 35 (58.3%)
- Bills picks - 25 (41.7%)
The Chiefs are the favorites of the experts in the examples provided above. Despite all the hand-wringing about how they win ugly and all the drama around how the officials call Chiefs games, more experts are still picking the Chiefs to continue their run. It's not a massive majority, but the 58.3% vs 41.7% split probably leans in favor of the Chiefs even slightly more than the -1.5 betting line for KC does.
So what do you think Chiefs fans? Are you surprised that more experts are picking the Chiefs in this matchup? Does that split of picks seem as reasonable to you as it does to me? Are you the superstitious type and don't like the fact that more experts are picking the Chiefs? I'd love to read your thoughts in the comments below.