Buffalo Bills make statement, show Kansas City Chiefs where AFC playoff picture belongs

The AFC runs through Buffalo.

The Bills made that statement on Sunday, showing the Kansas City Chiefs that even in a season with a couple of ugly early losses by Josh Allen’s squad, there’s reason to believe that this can be the Bills’ year.

On the same day the conference-leading Indianapolis Colts lost in one-sided fashion to the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Bills didn’t have any such slip up.

Skeptics will remind that the Bills have done this in the regular season before. Buffalo has no problem beating the Chiefs in October or November or December. It’s January that is the problem.

But it’s the way the Bills did this that feels different.

This time, they kept Patrick Mahomes contained.

In a season that Mahomes has run more than ever before, he didn’t have any rushing yards until the fourth quarter, when it didn’t matter all that much anymore.

Everywhere Mahomes looked, there was a guy in a blue shirt. The Bills had him caught in a labyrinth, unable to escape.

That left the Bills plenty of time for their slow-starting offense to get rolling. They finally put together drives, starting with a touchdown to star tight end Dalton Kincaid. Josh Allen finished a couple of short runs into the end zone, and Ty Johnson got himself a TD, too, and the Bills had Highmark Stadium rocking all night long.

Sure, the Chiefs mounted a comeback. There was an annoying fourth-and-17 conversion, the kind that it seems only Mahomes can pull off.

But even that didn’t break the Bills’ will. On the biggest play of the game to that point, rookie cornerback Maxwell Hairston undercut a deep ball and picked it off. Hairston, new to this rivalry, proved he belonged out there.

And even then, it wasn't over. A Matt Prater missed field goal added more suspense and yet another chance for Mahomes magic.

But on this day, one more time, the Bills had the answer. Two knocked down throws into the end zone, and Allen ran onto the field for a victorious hug with Mahomes.

MORE: Josh Allen has some highly entertaining commercials

The cynics won’t want to read too much into this win, and that’s fine. Let the cynics be cynics and the skeptics be skeptics.

The Bills, too, will downplay this. “Just another game” will be the refrain of the day.

But that’s not how it works these days. When the Bills and Chiefs meet in the Allen and Mahomes Era, it’s like when Tom Brady and Peyton Manning used to clash. The AFC is ruled by these two foes, and everyone else is playing catch up.

There are eight weeks still to play in the regular season. But it’s already certain that these will be the two teams favored to meet in the AFC title game.

Whether they get there or not will depend on health, and matchups, and a little good fortune.

But the Bills have fired the biggest salvo of the regular season once again.

This time, they look ready to do it again in January, too.

More NFL news:

• The $113 million reason the Titans should trade for Tyreek Hill
• Bills' WR trade need for a guy like A.J. Brown has a bad Amari Cooper precedent
• Why the 7-1 Indianapolis Colts need to trade for a quarterback
• Packers have 'one clear liability' to fix before NFL trade deadline
• Patriots have 3 reasons to trade for a RB