1. Super Bowl Champs are heading to Buffalo
The 2019 Super Bowl Champions are heading to Buffalo to wrap up Week 6 play with an early Monday Night Football matchup. The game was originally scheduled to be a Thursday Night Football contest, but due to the Week 5 Titans game being moved to Tuesday because of their COVID-19 outbreak, the game was bumped to Monday.
The Kansas City Chiefs were crowned the Super Bowl Champs after beating the San Francisco 49ers 31-20 on February 2, 2020. Going into the 2020 season, Kansas City returned several important pieces on offense and defense. The continuity on their team from last year to this year is a big reason why the Chiefs are 4-1 heading into Week 6.
It'll also be a matchup of two 4-1 teams who left Week 5 with a bad taste in their mouth. The Chiefs lost to the Raiders 40-32, and the Bills lost to the Titans 42-16. Both teams enter Week 6 hungry and ready for revenge. The Chiefs rank eighth averaging 29.8 points per game, while the Bills rank 11th averaging 27.8 points per game. Their offenses are both top five in the league. It's a big stage and opportunity for the Bills to bounce back against a talented Chiefs team.
"They're a good opponent, obviously the world champions," Bills head coach Sean McDermott said. "Extremely talented on offense with all the weapons starting with the quarterback and all the way through their offensive line to the tight ends, receivers and the [running] backs now with Clyde [Edwards-Helaire] there. A very talented offense that only got stronger through their draft this year, and they've put up a lot of points. They're well coached as we know with Andy [Reid], so they'll be ready."
2. A coaching tree matchup
Bills head coach Sean McDermott is very familiar Chiefs head coach Andy Reid because McDermott comes from Reid's coaching tree. Monday's game will be McDermott's second time coaching against Reid as a head coach. The two coached against each other in 2017 for a Week 12 matchup that resulted in a Bills 16-10 win. McDermott has a chance to remain undefeated against his mentor.
McDermott started working for the Eagles in 1999 during Reid's first year as Philadelphia's head coach. He started as a scouting administrative coordinator and worked his way up to defensive coordinator in 2009. McDermott spent 1999 to 2010 as a part of the Eagles staff. Reid was Philadelphia's head coach from 1999 to 2012. McDermott said he could take up a lot of time explaining everything he's learned from Reid.
"I mean he's probably my biggest, professionally, mentor in the business," McDermott said. "I think the biggest thing I learned from Andy [Reid] is when he got the job in Philadelphia he had a plan and a vision. A lot of people have a vision for where they want to go, but the day-to-day, week-to-week, month-to-month plan to accomplish that vision I think was probably the biggest thing, how to execute that and adjust as need be. And just overall what they've done building a world champion football team and continuing to add to it. I think that speaks for itself."
3. Josh Allen vs. Patrick Mahomes
We've got a battle of impressive arm talent from two young quarterbacks on Monday night. One has won a Super Bowl and was the MVP in 2018, and one is taking steps in the right direction to hopefully make it there. Bills quarterback Josh Allen and Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes were drafted a year apart, but they share a type of athleticism many quarterbacks don't have and have earned their way onto record books at a young age. Allen joined Mahomes, Peyton Manning and Aaron Rodgers this year as the only quarterbacks who have thrown for 12 or more touchdowns and fewer than two interceptions in the first four weeks of a season.
Allen and Mahomes are two quarterbacks who have shown they can make something out of nothing by using their feet to extend plays and drives. The two have also made some highlight reel throws that leave you scratching your head wondering how it's humanly possible. Allen has flexed his deep ball muscle this season connecting on passes of more than 20 yards on multiple occasions in tight windows. Mahomes has his signature no look, side arm throw that no one can mimic or defend. The two have had impressive starts to their careers in several different ways. They rank third (Allen: 1,589) and fourth (Mahomes: 1,474) in passing yards through five weeks of play.
Another thing they share is arm strength. Allen and Mahomes have talked about doing a throw-off challenge to see who has the strongest arm. The two were supposed to meet up over the offseason to do it, but COVID-19 wouldn't allow it. Whenever it happens, Allen is ready.
"I'd love to finally settle this and figure it out," Allen said. "We'll have to make sure, whatever the case may be, it's going to a good cause and make sure that there is some charity involved. I know he's got his 15 and the Mahomies charity and foundation. So we'll figure out a way where we can do this for sure."
4. LSU's lockdown DBs on display
Many believe LSU is the real DBU (Defensive Back University). If you look at the talented corners and safeties who come from LSU, it's not an off-the-wall claim. Two of their former players who helped LSU live up to that standard will play each other on Monday night. Kansas City safety Tyrann Mathieu and Buffalo cornerback Tre'Davious White both played collegiately for the Tigers.
Mathieu played for LSU from 2010 to 2011, and White played for the Tigers from 2013 to 2016. Mathieu was drafted by the Cardinals in the third round of the 2013 NFL Draft. White was drafted in the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft. White did not play in Week 5 against the Titans because he was dealing with a back injury. If both are healthy enough to play, we'll see if they can live up to the DBU standard.
5. Bills center Mitch Morse faces former team
Bills center Mitch Morse will face his former team on Monday night. Morse played for the Chiefs from 2015 to 2018 and was drafted by Kansas City in the second round of the 2015 NFL Draft. The center also played collegiately in Missouri for the University of Missouri.
In Morse's last season with the Chiefs, 2018, they won the division and lost in the conference championship against the New England Patriots. That year Patrick Mahomes won MVP with Morse as his center. The following year, Morse's first year with the Bills, Kansas City won the Super Bowl. After their win Morse said he was happy for his former teammates, but understands the focus is winning with his current team.
"I have some really good friends on that team, and I was happy for them," Morse said. "But I'm in the place I'm meant to be. I couldn't be happier where I'm at. Watching that game, I was happy for my friends. I know all the work they had put in and couldn't be happier for them, but I couldn't care less at the same time because I know where I was and I'm happy to be there."
