The Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills have a unique history in playoff matchups.
Every 27 years, the Chiefs and Bills matchup in the playoffs or that’s what it seems like.
The first matchup was in the American Football League championship on New Year’s Day, 1967. The Chiefs traveled to Buffalo to take on the defending back-to-back champion Bills at War Memorial Stadium.
The Bills got to host the game since home field advantage alternated until the 1975 NFL season. After the first quarter ended tied 7-7, the Chiefs came alive and dominated the remainder of the game.
The Chiefs would outscore the Bills 24-0 over the next three quarters in a 31-7 rout. This was the second AFL championship won for the Chiefs franchise.
The 1966 Chiefs team capitalized off their more pass-heavy quarterback Len Dawson and a talented defensive. Hall of Famers Bobby Bell and Buck Buchanan helped to halt the Bills’ offense from scoring double figures.
That Chiefs team would go onto to lose 35-10 against the Green Bay Packers in the inaugural Super Bowl.
Now let’s fast forward to 1994, 27 years later, and the two will be matched up again in the AFC Championship game. This game featured the quarterback duel of Joe Montana and Jim Kelly.
Kelly had led his Bills team to three straight AFC titles going into the game. Rather than the quarterback matchup, Bills running back Thurman Thomas dominated and stole the show.
Thomas rushed for three touchdowns with 208 total yards, according to Pro Football Reference. With such a dominating performance, the Bills dominated the Chiefs 30-13 in route to a fourth straight Super Bowl appearance.
The Bills, of course, lost all four of their Super Bowl appearances.
Now, 27 years after that AFC Championship matchup, the Chiefs will host their third straight conference championship game, this time against the Bills. They are the first team to host three straight the Philadelphia Eagles in the 2000s, who were also led by former Eagles head coach Andy Reid.
The Chiefs are looking to go back-to-back and reclaim both the Lamar Hunt and the Lombardi trophy. While the Bills are looking for its first Super Bowl appearance since their victory in the AFC Championship over the Chiefs in 1994.
Whatever happens Sunday, just mark your calendars for 2048, where these two franchises may be matched up again in the postseason, if history repeats itself.
