National Football League

Dion Dawkins: 'Good luck' to Patrick Mahomes in front of Bills' home crowd

Published Jan. 19, 2024 3:07 p.m. ET

It appears to be a yearly tradition for the Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills to cross paths in the AFC playoffs, which they'll do for the third time in four years in the divisional round Sunday (6:30 p.m. ET).

It'll be the first time Patrick Mahomes will play in front of a crowd at Highmark Stadium, however. K.C. played there in 2020, but no fans were in attendance due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

That said, Bills left tackle Dion Dawkins thinks Mahomes is in store for a long night in Buffalo.

"[Mahomes has] only been here once, so he's never been here — simple as that," Dawkins told ESPN on Thursday. "Pat has never been to the Bills stadium in full. ... The environment will be different, and not to say it's in our favor, but stadium is our favor. Stadium is us. That helps us. I don't care what nobody says.

"This is the most dopest feeling I've ever had. We're having two back-to-back playoff games [at] home. Come on now, like we get to leave and go eat wings. It's cool. So good luck."

The high-stakes battle will be the first road playoff start of Mahomes' career since becoming a full-time starter in 2018.

The Bills, which are a combined 8-1 at home this season, have beaten the Chiefs in Arrowhead Stadium in the regular season in each of the past three years, including a 20-17 win in Week 14 of this season. They also lost at the same venue in the 2020 and 2021 playoffs. Home teams are 97-101-4 against the spread (ATS) and 126-76 straight up (SU) in the playoffs since the 2004 NFL season, according to FOX Sports Research.

Both teams are coming off convincing double-digit wild-card victories; Buffalo beat Pittsburgh, 31-17, and Kansas City handled Miami, 26-7. The wins each came in frigid conditions, as the Chiefs won with the temperature -4 degrees at kickoff in the fourth-coldest game in NFL history, and Bills fans literally watched surrounded by snow after the game was pushed two days due to a winter storm.

The Bills won five consecutive games to close out the regular season and win the AFC East at 11-6, while the Chiefs, also 11-6, squeaked through a late-season slump to win the AFC West. Mahomes is having a down season, throwing for a career-high 14 interceptions and posting a career-low 92.6 passer rating as a starter in the regular season. He'll face a Buffalo defense that surrendered just 196.6 passing yards (seventh in the NFL), 110.6 rushing yards (15th), 307.2 total yards (ninth) and 18.3 points (fourth) per game in the regular season.

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