The Buffalo Bills have done plenty right through six weeks, but they still haven’t moved ahead of the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC conversation.
Buffalo pushed to 5-1 this week with a road win over the Las Vegas Raiders, continuing a strong opening run that has only really been interrupted by one bad outing against the rival New England Patriots. The Bills’ offense has been the engine, and Josh Allen has been operating at a high level as the team’s star quarterback.
Allen’s early-season form has him in the mix for another MVP award, though the bigger priority remains clear: team success. Buffalo has been knocking on the door in the AFC for years, only to come up short in the playoffs each season.
This year, there’s at least a different feel around the group with Joe Brady in his first season as head coach. Brady has brought new energy to the Bills, and that has fueled more belief that the playoffs could end differently this time around.
Still, the team standing in Buffalo’s way is the same one that has caused problems before. Kansas City has rebounded after missing the playoffs a year ago and has re-established itself as the Bills’ biggest obstacle. The Chiefs are 5-0 so far, and Patrick Mahomes looks back to his old self after last year’s injury.
The matchup history between these two sides speaks for itself. Buffalo and Kansas City have met multiple times in the playoffs, and the Chiefs have come out on top.
That’s part of why NFL analyst Marcus Spears is still giving Kansas City the edge in a possible showdown with Buffalo. Spears made that point while appearing on The Rich Eisen Show after Week 6.
The key separator, Spears suggested, is defense. Kansas City’s unit has been stronger, while Buffalo’s defensive issues have stood out as one of the team’s main concerns this season. Offensively, the two teams are close, with maybe a slight edge to the Bills, but the postseason usually comes down to which defense holds up better.
The Bills and Chiefs will have their next meeting later in the season when Buffalo hosts Kansas City on Thanksgiving Night. That game could go a long way toward showing where the Bills stand against their top AFC rival.
For now, Buffalo shifts into a bye week before turning its attention to a crucial Week 8 matchup with the Baltimore Ravens.
In Other News...
Josh Allen Keeps Saving The Bills As One Concern Lingers
The Bills have spent much of the 2026 season living on the edge, and Josh Allen has been the reason they keep walking away with wins. Buffalo has stacked up close games, most of them decided by a single score, while Allen and James Cook III have provided enough offense to keep the team from wasting strong stretches on the other side of the ball.
Cook has been a big part of that formula, and the defense has shown real progress under coordinator Jim Leonhard, with Christian Benford emerging as one of the more dependable pieces in the secondary. Even so, Buffalo still looks like a team searching for complete trust on that side of the ball, and the latest spotlight on Benford only adds to the sense that the Bills are improving without quite being finished. [Read more 🡒]
Bills Could Be Facing More Than An Ejection With C.J. Gardner-Johnson
C.J. Gardner-Johnsons night against the Raiders ended well before the game did, and it did not stop at a simple removal from the field. The veteran defensive back was ejected from the Bills matchup after an incident involving Brock Bowers, turning an already tense first half into an even bigger problem for Buffalo in a game where every possession mattered.
The fallout may extend beyond the ejection itself, too. Gardner-Johnson is now facing the possibility of additional NFL discipline, with the league able to hand down further punishment after reviewing the play, and the sequence even carried an immediate cost when the penalty helped set up a Raiders field goal before halftime. [Read more 🡒]
Bills Are 5-1 But One Familiar Problem Still Looks Dangerous
The Bills left Las Vegas with a win and a 5-1 record, enough to keep them on top of the AFC East as they head into their bye week. Josh Allen once again supplied the kind of playmaking that can carry this team through stretches when things get messy, but the broader picture from Sunday was less tidy. Buffalos penalty issues continued to show up, and the defense spent too much time fighting off third-down stress against a Raiders offense that found ways to stay on the field.
Buffalo has earned a little breathing room before Week 8 brings Baltimore to town, and that pause arrives at a useful moment. The Bills are winning, but they are also carrying a familiar problem that can get exposed quickly against sharper opponents. If the penalties keep piling up and the third-down defense remains shaky, the record will not hide it for long. [Read more 🡒]