Buffalo Bills

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Lore & Background

The Bills began competitive play in 1960 as a charter member of the American Football League led by head coach Buster Ramsey and joined the NFL as part of the AFL–NFL merger in 1970. In the first two seasons, the Bills went 5–8–1 and 6–8 under Ramsey. The Bills won two consecutive American Football League titles in 1964 and 1965 with quarterback Jack Kemp and coach Lou Saban, but the club has yet to win a league championship since. Once the AFL–NFL merger took effect, the Bills became the second NFL team to represent the city; they followed the Buffalo All-Americans, a charter member of the league. Buffalo had been left out of the league since the All-Americans (by that point renamed the Bisons) folded in 1929; the Bills were no less than the third professional non-NFL team to compete in the city before the merger, after the Indians/Tigers of the early 1940s and an earlier team named the Bills, originally the Bisons, in the late 1940s in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC). After the AFL–NFL merger, the Bills were generally mediocre in the 1970s but featured All-Pro running back O. J. Simpson. After being pushed to the brink of failure in the mid-1980s, the collapse of the United States Football League and a series of highly drafted players such as Jim Kelly (who initially played for the USFL instead of the Bills), Thurman Thomas, Bruce Smith and Darryl Talley allowed the Bills to rebuild into a perennial contender in the late 1980s through the mid-1990s under head coach Marv Levy, a period in which the team won four consecutive AFC Championships; the team nevertheless lost all four subsequent Super Bowls, records in both categories that still stand. The rise of the division rival New England Patriots under Bill Belichick and Tom Brady, along with numerous failed attempts at rebuilding in the 2000s and 2010s, helped prevent the Bills from reaching the playoffs in seventeen consecutive seasons between 2000 and 2016, a 17-year drought that was the longest active playoff drought in all major professional sports at the time. Mike Mularkey coached the Bills in the 2004 and 2005 seasons. He went 9–7 but missed the postseason in 2004 and 5–11 in 2005. He resigned from the team after the 2005 season. From 2006 to 2009, the Bills were coached by Dick Jauron. After three consecutive 7–9 seasons, Jauron was dismissed after a 3–6 start to his fourth season. Perry

In Their Own Story

The rivalry saw a resurgence between 1991 and 2000. In 1991, Kansas City defeated the defending AFC champion Bills 33–6 at Arrowhead Stadium, but Buffalo exacted revenge in the AFC Divisional Round with a 37–14 victory to reach another Super Bowl. The dynamic shifted when the Chiefs acquired Joe Montana and Marcus Allen prior to the 1993 season. In that year's regular-season meeting, Montana threw two touchdowns as Kansas City beat Buffalo 23–7 after Jim Kelly threw three interceptions. However, in the 1993 AFC Championship Game, the Bills won 30–13 for their fourth straight title. The game turned early in the third quarter when Montana suffered a concussion on a sack by Bruce Smith, Phil Hansen, and Jeff Wright, forcing backup Dave Krieg into action while Thurman Thomas rushed for 186 yards and three touchdowns.

Reader's Guide

For their first two seasons, the Bills wore uniforms based on those of the Detroit Lions at the time. Ralph Wilson had been a minority owner of the Lions before founding the Bills, and the Bills' predecessors in the AAFC had also worn blue and silver uniforms. The team's original colors were Honolulu blue, silver, and white, and the helmets were silver with no striping. There was no logo on the helmet, which displayed the players' numbers on each side. In 1962, the standing red bison was designated as the logo and took its place on a white helmet. In 1962, the team's colors also changed to red, white, and blue. The team switched to blue jerseys with red and white shoulder stripes, similar to the Buffalo Bisons AHL hockey team of the same era. The helmets were white with a red center stripe. The jerseys again saw a change in 1964 when the

Did You Know?

• The Bills are the only NFL team that plays home games in the state of New York.
• The Bills won two consecutive AFL titles in 1964 and 1965, the only major professional sports championships for a team representing Buffalo.
• The Bills appeared in a record four consecutive Super Bowls from 1990 to 1993, losing each one.
• The Bills endured the longest playoff drought in the four major North American professional sports, a 17-year span from 2000 to 2016.
• In 2024, the Bills became one of the first NFL teams to sell part of their franchise to outside private equity investors.

Origins and AFL Rivalry

The series started in 1960 when the Chiefs were known as the Dallas Texans, beating the Bills 45–28 at Buffalo. The teams met 19 times before the AFL–NFL merger, holding a tied record of 9–9–1. Their only tie occurred on September 22, 1963, ending 27–27. A key moment was the 1966 AFL Championship Game on January 1, 1967, where Kansas City defeated Buffalo 31–7 to advance to the first Super Bowl against the Green Bay Packers.

The Jim Kelly and Joe Montana Era

In 1991, the Chiefs defeated the Bills 33–6 at Arrowhead Stadium, but Buffalo won their rematch in the AFC Divisional Round 37–14. Prior to the 1993 season, Kansas City acquired quarterback Joe Montana and running back Marcus Allen. In a 1993 regular-season game, Montana threw two touchdowns as the Chiefs beat Buffalo 23–7 after Jim Kelly threw three interceptions. Later that year in the AFC Championship Game, the Bills won 30–13 to secure their fourth straight title. Montana suffered a concussion early in the third quarter on a sack by Bruce Smith, Phil Hansen, and Jeff Wright, forcing backup Dave Krieg into the game. Thurman Thomas rushed for 186 yards and three touchdowns.

Playoff Droughts and High-Scoring Thrillers

From 2002 to 2017, the Bills entered a 17-year playoff drought while Kansas City remained competitive but did not pass the Divisional Round. The teams played nine out of ten years from 2008 to 2017. In 2008, Buffalo won 54–31, the highest combined point total in series history; Trent Edwards threw for 273 yards and four touchdowns. This game marked the most points allowed by Kansas City in a single game until it was tied in 2018. The 2010 contest used all 75 minutes under then-overtime rules, ending when Ryan Succop kicked a 35-yard field goal as time expired after both teams missed earlier attempts.

The Mahomes-Allen Modern Rivalry

Since 2020, every meeting has featured Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes. The Chiefs selected Mahomes in the 2017 NFL draft by trading up with Buffalo for two first-round picks used to select Tre'Davious White, Tremaine Edmunds, and Dion Dawkins. In their first regular-season meeting in 2020, Kansas City won 26–17; Mahomes threw two touchdowns to Travis Kelce and Clyde Edwards-Helaire rushed for 161 yards. The Chiefs also won the AFC Championship Game that year, 38–24. In 2021, Buffalo defeated Kansas City 38–20 in the regular season, with Allen throwing three touchdowns and Micah Hyde returning an interception for a score. In the 2021 AFC Divisional Round, known as "13 Seconds," the Chiefs won 42–36 in overtime after Harrison Butker kicked a 49-yard field goal to tie regulation; this game led to NFL overtime rule changes for the postseason.