The AFC’s best matchup during the past six seasons has been the Kansas City Chiefs against the Buffalo Bills.
Quarterbacks Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen provide plenty of star power. The two teams have met in the playoffs four times in the past six seasons, with fantastic finishes galore.
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This season, the Chiefs and Bills will close a feast of football on Thanksgiving Day. NFL reporter Jordan Schultz reported NBC will televise Kansas City vs. Buffalo on Thanksgiving Night.
The NFL will release the full 2026 regular-season schedule at 8 p.m. Thursday, May 14 (ESPN2, NFL Network).
Early Thursday, NFL.com announced the first game of Thanksgiving Day will feature an NFC North grudge match between the Detroit Lions and Chicago Bears in Detroit. That game begins at 1 p.m. ET in Detroit and will be televised by CBS and Paramount+.
The second game of the day, as announced Monday by NFL.com, will be the Philadelphia Eagles at the Dallas Cowboys, a traditional NFC East showdown. Fox and the Fox Sports app will have the game at 4:30 p.m. ET on Thanksgiving.
Chiefs and Bills clash
The Chiefs and Bills have met 10 times since the start of the 2020 season. Buffalo enjoys a 5-1 mark during the regular-season matchups, but Kansas City is 4-0 against the Bills in the playoffs.
The postseason games are memorable. During the 2022 AFC divisional playoffs, Buffalo took at 36-33 lead with just 13 seconds on the clock, only to watch Mahomes lead the Chiefs into field-goal range. Kansas City tied the game and won it, 42-36, in overtime.
Then, in the 2025 AFC Championship Game, a controversial fourth-down sneak by Allen came up short and cost the Bills during a tight 32-29 Kansas City triumph.
The Chiefs are trying to bounce back from a 6-11 season that saw Mahomes suffer ACL and LCL tears in his left knee. He is hoping to return for the season opener but definitely should be back by Thanksgiving.
Meanwhile, the Bills are coming off a 12-5 regular season in 2025. They advanced to the divisional playoffs before dropping a 33-30 overtime thriller against the Denver Broncos.
