Would the Buffalo Bills rather face the Chiefs or Browns in the AFC Championship Game?

The Buffalo Bills punched their ticket to the AFC Championship Game on Saturday with a win over the Ravens and now will face either the Chiefs or Browns for a Super Bowl berth. 

It’s been a long time coming but the Buffalo Bills not only have a playoff win now but they have a pair and Sean McDermott‘s club has punched their ticket to the AFC Championship Game. Granted, the 17-3 win over Baltimore wasn’t necessarily pretty but Josh Allen and the Bills defense came up with enough plays to get the win.

With the Bills playing in the first AFC Divisional Round matchup of the weekend, though, they now have the anxious task of watching the second game on Sunday as the upstart Cleveland Browns visit the reigning Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs to see which team they’ll face with a trip to Super Bow LV on the line.

While it may seem obvious, there are reasons as to why Buffalo would be rooting for either team to win in terms of the prospective matchups. So with that, let’s break down who the Bills would rather face in the AFC Championship Game.

Why the Buffalo Bills would rather face the Chiefs in the AFC Championship

Any team asking to play the Kansas City Chiefs in the NFL Playoffs might seem like a fool’s errand but, at the same, there are reasons to think that Buffalo would be able to have some success against the reigning Super Bowl champions.

For starters, the Bills offense has proven that they are more than capable of putting up points on anyone. And for as good as the Chiefs have been and as opportunistic as that defense has been, Buffalo could really come after them and put a big number on the scoreboard — even if Kansas City could possibly match that.

Moreover, the Chiefs have looked vulnerable at times this season. Maybe they were saving an extra gear for the playoffs, which we’ll find out in the playoffs. But on the chance that it’s not, that would make them an intriguing matchup for Buffalo given how well they’re playing this year.

Why the Buffalo Bills would rather face the Browns in the AFC Championship

The Steelers learned the hard way that we’re not dealing with the “same old Browns” on Wild Card Weekend. So any argument that the Bills would rather face Cleveland based on their tumultuous history is unfounded. And the Browns offense is constructed to actually have some success against Buffalo.

Having said that, one of the big kickers for Buffalo would be the fact that they would get to play at home in the AFC Championship Game rather than going on the road to Arrowhead Stadium. Though attendance will be limited, that would be a huge advantage for the Bills to play in front of a raucous fan base.

Moreover, Allen and the offense match up quite well with Cleveland. The Browns have struggled a bit both with deep passing attacks and mobile quarterbacks, challenges that the Bills can levy against them. Throwing in the fact that the Browns simply haven’t been in this spot, they would not be able to hold that same level of experience advantage that the Chiefs would.

Buffalo Bills preferred AFC title matchup

Though there is a case to be made on both sides of the coin, the Bills would undoubtedly rather see the Browns next Sunday. Cleveland is not an easy matchup by any stretch as they can present some problems for Buffalo, which you’d expect for any team making it to the conference championship.

When you consider that the Bills would get to be at home once again, would be facing a defense that they could take advantage of, and would be up against a team with far less experience at this point of the playoffs, it’s hard to think that Buffalo won’t be rooting for Cleveland in the second AFC Divisional Round clash of the weekend.