Sunday Shootout? I Don't Think So

Bills vs. Chiefs, 4:25 ET

When the schedule first came out there were a ton of games this week that looked like they would be absolute bangers. That happens a lot with division-rival games, but sometimes we get the matchups between two good teams from the previous years or the ones that they want the two quarterbacks to face each other to help with ratings. That's the case tonight as we get a great matchup between Josh Allen and the Bills vs. Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs.

The Bills have to be one of the biggest disappointments in all of football this season. They are just 6-6 on the season and have a 1-4 record away from home. I was willing to overlook some of their early season issues, but at this point, as the saying goes, you are what your record says you are. Now they are not only dealing with issues with their football effectiveness, they are dealing with off-field stuff from one of their better players. Distractions can kill a team very quickly. With three losses in their past four games, they are not playing focused football and in serious jeopardy of not making the playoffs. They beat the Jets, which isn't a very significant thing to do, but that was sandwiched by losses to the Bengals, Broncos, and Eagles. The Eagles and Bengals games were somewhat understandable as they were both on the road and Joe Burrow was at least still playing for the Bengals. The Eagles game seemed to reinvigorate them as they were able to get the game to overtime. The defense couldn't get the stop they needed. Maybe they can get stops against the Chiefs because this Chiefs offense is not what we've seen in the past either.

I need to be very clear here: the Chiefs offense sucks, but it is not Mahomes fault. I'm not trying to avoid placing blame on him, because there are certainly some throws he wishes he could have again or get back. But, his receivers are absolute trash. There are currently nine receivers in football with 1,000 yards. The highest receiver on the Chiefs has 591 yards. I'm not talking about Travis Kelce. He is in the top-20 for receiving yards, but at this point, teams are stopping him and daring the mediocre receivers to see if they can get open. The answer is they can't. The crazy thing is they are wasting a great defensive season from their team. The Chiefs offense was winning despite the defensive performance before and now the defense is carrying the team while the offense struggles. The Bills are middle of the pack overall but top 10 against the pass. They aren't great against the run, but the Chiefs aren't that good on the ground. This should be interesting to see how they attack the Bills.

The NFL wants a shootout in this game, but I don't think we are going to get that. I think the Bills will have a tough time scoring against the Chiefs, and the Chiefs are having a tough time scoring against everyone right now. As far as a winner, it is hard to pick the Chiefs to lose two games in a row, and the Bills have been so bad on the road. It goes against my better judgment, especially with these two gunslingers, but I'll take the under 48.5 in this game.

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