KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Stefon Diggs walked off the field inside Arrowhead Stadium back in October with two very distinct feelings: elation that his Bills had avenged an AFC title game loss to the Chiefs and the conviction that they would meet again.

ORCHARD PARK — Coming off the excitement of a playoff win, while focused on prepping to interview for the Miami Dolphins’ head coaching vacancy, Bills defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier couldn’t leave his office before sending a congratulatory text to safety Micah Hyde early Sunday morning.

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Willie Gay was charged with misdemeanor criminal damage to property after he broke a vacuum and other items during an argument, putting his status for Sunday's divisional round playoff game against the Buffalo Bills in question.

ORCHARD PARK — A second consecutive postseason matchup pitting Buffalo’s Josh Allen against Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes seemed almost inevitable after two of the NFL’s top young quarterbacks met in last year’s AFC championship game.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Chiefs had to learn to dink and dunk their way through this entire season, contrary to every instinct of go for broke quarterback Patrick Mahomes, as opposing defenses simply refused to let themselves get beaten deep.

I watched excitement from Bills fans percolating from afar the last few years, and moving back to Western New York five months ago, one of the perks was to see how Buffalo fans threw themselves into the franchise.

It was an amazing night, one that summoned fond memories of the Super Bowl years. At one point in the second quarter, when the Bills were having their way with the Patriots, I texted Darryl Talley and said it reminded me of 51-3.

ORCHARD PARK — The lingering sting of being embarrassed on home turf by the New England Patriots didn’t sit well with defensive end Jerry Hughes and the Buffalo Bills.

NEW YORK — Buffalo Bills safety Jordan Poyer was honored with a spot on The Associated Press 2021 NFL All-Pro Team, which was announced Friday.

Of course he’ll be there. Seriously, do you think Darryl Talley would miss this? A chance for his beloved Buffalo Bills to host an NFL playoff game in front of a full house for the first time in a quarter century?

ORCHARD PARK — Having played with both Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen, Mitch Morse knows a thing or two about a pass-happy offense.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Throughout his first NFL season, Mac Jones has been a walking billboard for “The Patriot Way” — keeping his head down, working hard and trying only to do what’s asked of him to avoid self-inflicted mistakes.

With the NFL playoffs underway this weekend, enthusiasm in Buffalo runs wild. A Super Bowl run has not felt this possible in almost 30 years. A similar optimism reigns in Kansas City as the Chiefs look to make their third consecutive trip to the Super Bowl. As of today, both Buffalo and Kans…

Tony Roman was ecstatic leaving the gates of Highmark Stadium with his 8-year-old son Ayden in tow Sunday.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The Patriots have talked about needing to summon a heightened sense of urgency since having their seven-game win streak ended during a mistaken-laden loss at Indianapolis last month.

ORCHARD PARK — Still stung after being overlooked in the Pro Bowl voting, and seven weeks after one of their lowest moments of the season following a 14-10 loss to New England, Buffalo safeties Jordan Poyer and Micah Hyde decided to get in the last laugh.

The moment the Bills have been waiting 20 years for has arrived.

There will be plenty of opportunities to sift through the particulars of a wild regular season, ample time for post-season analysis. But with the events of Sunday’s finale still fresh in the air, we should take a moment to celebrate the obvious:

ORCHARD PARK — Safety Jordan Poyer and the Buffalo Bills persevered through a bumpy season to put themselves in a position to win their second consecutive AFC East title.

ORCHARD PARK — If not for the sheer fact of being bald, Bills coach Sean McDermott acknowledges what hair he could grow would have turned grayer during a season in which Buffalo teetered on the brink of collapse before clinching a third consecutive playoff berth.

Maybe this time the Buffalo Bills have finally learned their lesson on the importance of running the ball.

A quarterback throwing three interceptions is usually a death knell. Instead, the Buffalo Bills beat the Atlanta Falcons by two touchdowns Sunday.

ORCHARD PARK — With Josh Allen throwing one interception after another, the Buffalo Bills turned to Devin Singletary and their once-neglected running attack.

A bet made John Lang one of the most famous Buffalo Bills fans in the world. Thirty years later, he’s using his platform to recognize the work of local artists.

ORCHARD PARK — Don’t look now, but receiver Stefon Diggs is starting to get the sense the Buffalo Bills have regained their swagger.

ORCHARD PARK — Isaiah McKenzie has never lacked for confidence.

ORCHARD PARK — For three weeks, safety Jordan Poyer and the Buffalo Bills had to live under the cloud of being embarrassed by Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots on national TV.

Embarrassed. Soft. Undisciplined.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — With their season on the brink and several key players unavailable, the Buffalo Bills trudged into Sunday's pivotal matchup against the New England Patriots needing somebody to step up.

That, folks, is why they wrote him the big check. That extraordinary performance you witnessed Sunday afternoon at Gillette Stadium is why the Bills gave Josh Allen the $258 million contract extension last August.

ORCHARD PARK — The Buffalo Bills placed Gabriel Davis on their reserve/COVID-19 list Friday, leaving them without another key receiving threat for Sunday’s big game against the New England Patriots.

When fans turn their AM radio dial to 550 each Sunday to hear the Buffalo Bills broadcast, they hear the finished product, the culmination of hours upon hours of work in the week leading up.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — In successive weeks last season, the Buffalo Bills ended the Patriots’ run of 11 consecutive AFC East titles and put a cap on their first season sweep of New England in more than a decade.

ORCHARD PARK — Bring on the Patriots.

ORCHARD PARK — New York governor Kathy Hochul on Monday expressed confidence she can reach a deal involving hundreds of millions of dollars in public funding to build a new stadium for the Buffalo Bills in time to be included on the state’s budget due in April.

For all the Bills’ defiant talk following the Dec. 6 loss to the Patriots and all the chatter from fans about overtaking New England after two decades of dominance in the AFC East, Sunday’s game comes down to one thing — just win, baby.

ORCHARD PARK — Former Bills linebacker Harry Jacobs, who was a key member of Buffalo's 1964 and '65 AFL champion teams, died on Friday. He was 84.

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — Josh Allen says his sprained left foot felt fine — still, he was grateful for how his Buffalo teammates helped carry the load.

Brandon Beane has received warranted criticism in recent weeks for some of his underachieving high draft picks. But no one is bound to have any quarrel with the wide receiver the Bills snatched in the fourth round in 2020.

In the late 1990s, then-NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue initiated meetings with minority assistant coaches throughout the league. Tagliabue sought input on why so few of them were being considered for head coaching and even coordinator positions.

ORCHARD PARK — Dion Dawkins interjected before the question regarding the Bills’ two-month stretch of inconsistencies could be completed.

BUFFALO — So long as he can walk, Josh Allen has no intention of letting a sprained left foot prevent him from playing against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, and with the Bills' late-season playoff push needing a jolt.

LAS VEGAS — O.J. Simpson is a free man.

ORCHARD PARK — The mere sight of Josh Allen limping into the post-game interview room with his left foot in a protective boot cast an ominous cloud over the Bills’ hopes of remaining in the playoff picture in the final four weeks of the season.

Once social media relents on late-game officiating and Sean McDermott’s lackluster fourth-down decisions, the fact still remains: the Bills consistently come up short in critical situations.

TAMPA, Fla. — A change of uniforms hasn't affected Tom Brady's mastery of the Buffalo Bills.

Once the frazzled fans in Bills Mafia were finished complaining about the officiating and Sean McDermott’s punting obsession, I can imagine they were asking themselves, “What the hell is it about this football team?”

ORCHARD PARK — Josh Allen provided a series of mixed messages when assessing the yo-yo-ing state of the Buffalo Bills offense on Thursday.