Patrick Mahomes isn't expecting a warm welcome to Western New York on Sunday afternoon when the Kansas City Chiefs take on the Buffalo Bills in a matchup of AFC heavyweights.
"They don't like us. They do not like the Chiefs," Mahomes said this week. "It is a cool environment. I love playing in historic stadiums and that stadium has had so many great players play in it. Who knows, it might be the last time that we get the opportunity to play there. It will be a great challenge for us, and they're loud, and that's what you want -- you want to go in and be in a hostile environment.
"I think it's cool, honestly. Just because you have to bond together as a team. You do that at Arrowhead [Stadium], but you have the crowd behind you and whenever stuff isn't going well, you can feed off the crowd and stuff like that. Whereas when you're on the road, you just have your teammates. You have your teammates and your coaches and you kind of have to bond together, and there's going to be adversity, and it's how you can bond together and come out on the other side of that and come out on the right way with a win."
The Bills have won four straight regular-season games against the Chiefs but have lost four straight playoff games against Kansas City (KC eliminated BUF in 2020, 2021, 2023, 2024). The Bills are 2-5 all-time in the playoffs vs. the Chiefs (0-3 on the road).
Mahomes doesn't have a take on the oddity.
"I don't know, honestly," Mahomes said. "All the games come down to like one [play] -- other than like two games that we've played against each other. Every single game comes down to like one play here or there that someone has to make, if that's offense, defense, whatever it is. I think it comes down to players making plays in big moments and that's worked out for us in the playoffs and worked out for them in other times. To me, it's just about the next time. It's about going out there and playing against a great football team and knowing that it's not -- we can think that's going to happen, you have to go out there and play with your best ability that next time you get the opportunity to."
In five regular-season games against Buffalo, Mahomes has completed 64.8 percent of his passes for 1,302 yards with 10 touchdowns, seven interceptions and one lost fumble. In two road games in Buffalo, the Chiefs have averaged 23.5 points per game with Mahomes at the helm (1-1).
Since 2019, the Chiefs lead the NFL with 83 wins and the Bills rank second with 76.
