BillsVERSUSChiefs

Buffalo had lost the previous season's AFC Championship Game in Kansas City, then returned with the league's top-ranked scoring defense and a more complete Josh Allen. The Chiefs were trying to host a fourth consecutive conference title game, making the rematch an early struggle for control of the AFC's next era.

• Allen and Patrick Mahomes had become the conference's defining young quarterbacks, but Mahomes already owned a championship and a postseason victory in the matchup.
• Buffalo had won convincingly at Arrowhead during the regular season, proving it could beat Kansas City without resolving the larger playoff question.
• The winner would host Cincinnati in the AFC Championship Game, while the loser would carry a particularly consequential missed opportunity into the offseason.

Sources: NFL divisional-round recap · Bills: Gabriel Davis history