Allen, Diggs lead Bills attack into Kansas City
After taking it down to the wire against the Cleveland Browns last week, the Kansas City Chiefs are feeling good about where they are.
“Not a better place to be in the whole entire world at this particular point,” Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy said. “We get an opportunity to defend home field and pursue our goals.”
This Sunday, the Chiefs welcome the AFC East champion Buffalo Bills to Arrowhead Stadium for the AFC Championship game.
This is the third-straight AFC Championship appearance for the Chiefs, but the Bills haven’t been since 1994, coincidently, when they beat the Chiefs to go to Super Bowl XXVIII.
This year’s Bills are much improved from the ones this generation of football fans have come to know. The Bills finished their season with a 13-3 record, tied for the most regular season wins in franchise history. It’s the first time they’ve reached the 13-win mark since they did it in back-to-back seasons in 1990 and 1991.
Buffalo is led by third-year quarterback Josh Allen. The Wyoming product is in the midst of the best season of his young career, throwing for 4,544 yards and 37 touchdowns through the air. He does damage with more
than just his arm, rushing for over 400 yards and 8 touchdowns.
Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo said Allen has been tough to prepare for as a defense.
“Highly efficient. Very confident. See a real confident football player. He’s not afraid to make any throw from any spot,” Spagnuolo said. “This is an athletic quarterback that’s big, he’s tough to tackle, and I think he’s functioning in the offense that Brian has him in very, very well.”
Along with Allen, his top target has been giving defenses fits all fall. Wide receiver Stefon Diggs was an offseason acquisition from Minnesota, and he put up stellar numbers in his first season with the Bills. The sixth-year man out of Maryland led the league with 1,535 receiving yards and 127 catches. His eight touchdown catches were best for 15th in the league.
Spagnuolo said Diggs will be a tough cover for the Chiefs secondary.
“Our guys get up there and press as much as we can, but he finds ways to beat that,” Spagnuolo said. “But we won’t change too much of what we do.”
What the Chiefs did during Week 6 worked, as Kansas City defeated the Bills in Buffalo during their lone regular season meeting. But Bieniemy noted the improvements the Bills made over the second half of the season.
“Our guys came out and played some good ball, but I’ve seen a huge difference in their approach and how they’re handling things,” Bieniemy said. “Our guys understand that we got to set the tone and we got to start it early and often.”
And Spagnuolo said the Chiefs will expect much more from the Bills this weekend.
“We certainly expect the level of their play to certainly go way up,” Spagnuolo said. “We’re fully expecting our most difficult task of the season.”
When the Chiefs meet the Bills again in Sunday’s AFC Championship, it’ll be 27 years and one day since they fell to Buffalo with a chance to go to the Super Bowl. This time around, the Chiefs hope they have what it takes to prevail.
“We just want to make sure we’re putting our guys in the best situation to go out there and play as hard and as fast as they can,” Bieniemy said, “and then when it’s all said and done with, we can end up celebrating and going to pursue our goal in Tampa.”