The Kansas City Chiefs are advancing to their sixth straight AFC Championship Game and they did it by once again beating the Buffalo Bills when it mattered most. The Chiefs are now 3-0 against the Bills in the playoffs since Patrick Mahomes arrived in Kansas City.
The funniest thing about all of this is that the Bills only have themselves to blame for Mahomes breaking their hearts in the playoffs every other year. Try to think back to a time when the Chiefs didn't have the best quarterback in football. In 2017, when the team decided they were finally ready to try drafting a quarterback in the first round again, they moved from the 28th pick to the 10th overall pick, swapping spots with the Bills to draft—you guessed it—Mahomes.
Do you think it hurts Bills fans more knowing they did this to themselves pic.twitter.com/DX6ERdRliX
— Cody Tapp (@codybtapp) January 22, 2024
The Bills only have themselves to blame for Mahomes dominating them in playoffs.
The Chiefs and Bills swapped picks in the 2017 draft and Buffalo did go on to get some very good players out of the trade. Tre'Davious White, the team's greatest asset from the deal, was an impact corner even as a rookie and went on to make two Pro Bowls. Tremaine Edmunds also made two Pro Bowls as a linebacker before leaving in free agency for the Bears. Defensive back Siran Neal is still a contributor on special teams, and wideout Zay Jones had limited value.
Still, Patrick Mahomes has been the best player in the league over the past several seasons—a record-setting quarterback rewriting the league's record books. He's also the one who has ended Buffalo's season in three of their last five playoff runs. Had Buffalo not done this trade with KC, this might not be the case.
Now, of course, this trade would look even worse if the Bills hadn't selected Josh Allen in the first round a year later. Bills fans adore Allen and realize that he's the reason they have a shot at winning a Super Bowl in any given year. Could you imagine how much this trade would have destroyed them if they hadn't found their franchise quarterback a year later?
This really was one of those trades in which there weren't necessarily losers but in times like these (that is, times when Mahomes ends Buffalo's season), it probably doesn't help Bills fans knowing they aided the Chiefs in getting the quarterback who keeps breaking their hearts.