There may be maybe no matchup on the NFL’s Week 11 schedule that warrants extra anticipation than, properly, the identical matchup that is captivated audiences for years: the Buffalo Payments聽towards the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs.
Of the previous six conferences between the AFC heavyweights, 5 have both been one-score contests, playoff matchups, or each. Of the postseason video games in that span, one was an AFC championship, one other went to additional time, and one other got here all the way down to a missed area aim.
In different phrases, once they sq. off, it is must-see TV. Which is why CBS Sports activities will function particular protection of this Sunday’s affair, airing “The NFL Right now” reside from Buffalo forward of the sport broadcast. Followers can be a part of the crew in Lot 6 at Highmark Stadium beginning at midday ET on Sunday, hours earlier than these two Tremendous Bowl hopefuls go face to face as soon as extra.
How will you tune in? Which gamers may very well be X-factors? And who’s truly primed to win? Here is our preview and sports activities betting prediction for the anticipated showdown:
Chiefs vs. Payments the place to look at
Date: Sunday, Nov. 17聽|聽Time: 4:25 p.m. ET
Location: Highmark Stadium (Orchard Park, New York)
TV: CBS |聽Stream: Paramount+
Observe: CBS Sports activities App
Odds: Payments -2.5, O/U 46.5 (FanDuel Sportsbook)
Key matchups
- Chiefs WR DeAndre Hopkins vs. Payments CB Rasul Douglas: JuJu Smith-Schuster may very well be again within the lineup for Kansas Metropolis, however Hopkins stays the trustiest outlet for Patrick Mahomes on the perimeter, accumulating 14 passes for greater than 140 yards in his final two video games as a Chief. Douglas, in the meantime, is Buffalo’s prime ballhawk, with 5 move breakups, although he is nonetheless trying to find his first choose of 2024.
- Payments TE Dalton Knox vs. Chiefs S Justin Reid: Buffalo may very well be down a number of of its prime large receivers resulting from damage, and prime tight finish Dalton Kincaid is out with a banged-up knee. Because of this, Knox figures to have a extra distinguished function as a security valve for Josh Allen. Reid is one in every of Ok.C.’s savvier defensive backs, and may very well be charged with blanketing the center.
- Chiefs OT Jawaan Taylor vs. Payments DE Greg Rousseau: Kansas Metropolis’s entrance will likely be underneath stress at left deal with, the place Wanya Morris is damage, however the larger problem may very well be off the correct facet, the place Taylor’s penalties proceed to spark dialog. Rousseau has loved a breakout as Buffalo’s prime rusher, racking up 16 quarterback hits and a career-high 12 tackles for loss in Yr 4.
Burning questions
- Payments: Can Josh Allen assault Steve Spagnuolo’s protection and not using a wholesome arsenal of weapons? Spagnuolo is as soon as once more overseeing a dominant “D” in Kansas Metropolis, with the Chiefs surrendering the fifth-fewest factors of any workforce and largely suffocating opposing run video games. Allen is as succesful as anybody of taking part in Superman, and he is additionally confirmed glorious towards the blitz, but when prime receivers like Amari Cooper聽aren’t obtainable or at full pace, and the James Cook dinner-led floor sport cannot break open, he may very well be hard-pressed for persistence.
- Chiefs: Can the Patrick Mahomes-led offense lastly hit a brand new gear? Once more, Ok.C.’s protection is not a lot of a priority. However Mahomes and Co. have gained virtually completely on the margins, counting on late-game conversions and defensive stands to remain unbeaten. The Payments, in the meantime, rank second in whole takeaways (19) this yr, and in addition register as a top-10 scoring protection. With beginning ball-carrier Isiah Pacheco nonetheless out, and star tight finish Travis Kelce functioning as a mere short-yardage outlet, head coach Andy Reid might have to get inventive to unlock splash performs.
Prediction
There’ll little question be a bodily edge to this one, and it will be a light stunner if it is not shut. There is a particular development associated to the matchups of the Allen-Mahomes period that is more likely to proceed, nonetheless: Whereas Mahomes is undefeated towards Allen and the Payments within the playoffs, it is Allen that has the decisive edge within the common season, proudly owning a 3-1 profession mark towards Kansas Metropolis. Sure, the Payments could also be shorthanded out large, and the Chiefs are, properly, the Chiefs. However Allen has achieved extra as a big-play quarterback in 2024, and Sean McDermott’s protection has held comparatively agency within the crimson zone, giving the house squad the sting.
Choose: Payments 24, Chiefs 23
