Bills-Chiefs claim Thurman Thomas will be motivated by Ravens

Thurman Thomas is convinced Buffalo Bills can win Kansas City Chiefs in the playoffs. The Hall of Famer is best known for his 12 years with the Bills, winning the NFL MVP in 1991 and helping lead the franchise to a record four consecutive Super Bowl appearances.

While the Bills will obviously have to worry about winning first Baltimore Ravens in Divisional round of the playoffs on Sunday, Thomas thinks they “can do it” and beat the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game.

“I think with the Bills coming in, I think they can do it,” Thomas says in a one-on-one interview about a potential AFC Championship game with the Chiefs. “I really think that team has given the Kansas City Chiefs trouble in the playoffs the last couple of years. I know we lost a couple of games to them, but it was all close. One play there, it could have gone our way.”

Bills-Chiefs have much more recent history

The Josh Allen-led Bills have gone 0-3 against the Patrick Mahomes-led Chiefs in recent years in the playoffs. That includes an AFC Championship Game loss during the 2020 season and two one-possession losses to Kansas City in the Divisional Round during the 2021 and 2023 seasons.

If there’s any saving grace for the Bills, though, it’s that they showed the ability to beat the Chiefs, handing Kansas City their only real loss this season with their starters in the lineup. Furthermore, the Allen-era Bills beat the Chiefs 4-1 in the regular season. In other words, Buffalo beat Kansas City in the regular season, just not when it mattered most in the playoffs.

“They’ve matched them three previous times in the playoffs,” Thomas says. “I think I’ve always wanted to give them the edge, whenever the Bills go up against Kansas City.” They did a great job when it came to the regular season. They have beaten the Kansas City Chiefs several times over the last few years.

“But Patrick Mahomes was built for the postseason,” Thomas continues. “They don’t look good doing it this year, but they’re winning close football games.”

As Thomas mentions, the Chiefs may not be impressive in their wins, but they still win basically every game. In fact, Kansas City broke an NFL record this season with 16 consecutive one-possession wins and 11 overall during the 2024 season.

Once again, the The bosses were not impressive in a win over the Houston Texans as they were outgained in every major yardage category. However, they still won 23-14 to advance to their seventh straight AFC Championship Game with Mahomes.

While Thomas admits an Allen-Mahomes matchup would likely result in another shootout — they’ve averaged nearly 64 points per game over the past three postseasons — he says the Bills should have “more confidence” this time around against the Chiefs if they end up beating the Ravens.

“I think when Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes get together, it’s always going to be a nice matchup,” Thomas says. “It will be a nice game. I think the Laws are capable of going into that area and beating the Chiefs. The Bills will have more confidence in Kansas City. I think they have a good chance to win.”

The Bills will host the Ravens at 6:30 PM ET on Sunday night. Victory over Lamar Jackson and Co. would set up another playoff showdown at Arrowhead Stadium next week.