Bills vs. Chiefs: AFC Championship 2021 Odds and Over/Under Predictions

Football fans will be hoping to be treated to a duel between two young gunslingers in Sunday's AFC Championship Game.

The Kansas City Chiefs outlasted the Cleveland Browns in the divisional round, while the Buffalo Bills smothered the Baltimore Ravens. This should set up a quarterback head-to-head between Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes, though the latter is in the concussion protocol.

Even if Mahomes cannot play, it would be unwise to write the Chiefs off here. They have a very capable backup in Chad Henne, won with him playing most of the second half last weekend and survived for a stretch without Mahomes back in 2019.

Kansas City is still loaded on both sides of the ball and will make this game interesting, regardless of who is under center—though an Allen-Henne matchup doesn't have the same drawing power as an Allen-Mahomes battle.

This marks the third-straight appearance by Kansas City in the AFC title game, and it will be the Chiefs' second-straight Super Bowl if they're victorious. Meanwhile, Buffalo hasn't appeared in the AFC Championship Game since the 1993 season, when it beat the Chiefs but went on to lose Super Bowl XXVIII.

Here's everything you need to know about the 2021 AFC Championship Game.

AFC Championship Game Info

Date: Sunday, January 24

Time: 6:40 p.m. ET

TV and Live Stream: CBS, CBS All Access

Line*: Kansas City -3

Over/Under*: 53.5

Prediction: Buffalo 27, Kansas City 26

*From DraftKings Sportsbook

Charlie Riedel/Associated Press

The biggest storyline heading into this game is the health of Mahomes. He suffered a concussion in the third quarter against Cleveland and remains in the protocol. The good news, though, is that he cleared some steps to return on Monday, and the Chiefs are optimistic he will play.

According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, there is "hope and optimism" and the 25-year-old could practice as early as Wednesday. He also suffered a toe injury against the Browns, though Kansas City is less concerned with that injury.

"Yeah, I think he'll be OK there for right now with the toe part," Chiefs coach Andy Reid said, per ESPN.

A bigger concern for Kansas City might be a Buffalo defense that has been playing tremendously over the past couple of months. The Bills held the Ravens to just three points in the divisional round and have held seven of their last eight opponents below 25 points.

If Buffalo can pressure Mahomes without the aid of the blitz—something Cleveland struggled to do—it could make this one very interesting.

Offensively, the Bills have the firepower to keep pace with the Chiefs. Allen, 24, is a dangerous dual-threat quarterback, and he has an elite wide receiver in Stefon Diggs plus some fine complementary pieces.

While matching points with Mahomes, Tyreek Hill, Travis Kelce and the rest of Kansas City offense is never easy, Buffalo—which ranked second in both total offense and scoring offense—won't have to completely shut down the Chiefs offense to win here.

Still, this game is likely to be decided by the turnover battle and whichever defense makes the most timely stops. There will be some tremendous individual matchups to watch, such as Tre'Davious White against Hill and Charvarius Ward against Diggs.

The Chiefs did enough to escape the Cleveland game with Mahomes on the sideline, but the Bills have been making huge defensive plays with consistency. Expect such a play to either steal this game or seal it late.

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