EXCLUSIVE: Thurman Thomas' confident Bills-Chiefs claim will have Ravens motivated

Thurman Thomas thinks the Bills can beat the Chiefs, but they’ll have to beat the Ravens first.

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

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

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

Bills-Chiefs have a lot of recent history

Exclusive: Thurman Thomas' confident Bills-Chiefs claim will have Ravens motivated — Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

The Josh Allen-led Bills have gone 0-3 against the Patrick Mahomes-led Chiefs in the playoffs in recent years. 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.

However, if there’s a saving grace for the Bills it’s that they have shown the ability to beat the Chiefs, having handed Kansas City their one true loss this season with their starters in the lineup. Furthermore, the Allen-era Bills have gone 4-1 against the Chiefs in the regular season. In other words, Buffalo has defeated Kansas City in the regular season, just not when it matters most in the playoffs.

“They’ve matched up with them three prior times in the playoffs,” says Thomas. “I think anytime the Bills match up against Kansas City, I’ve always wanted to give them the edge. They’ve done a great job when it comes to the regular season. They’ve beaten the Kansas City Chiefs a couple of times in the past couple of years.

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

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

Once again, the Chiefs were not impressive in their win over the Houston Texans as they were outgained in every major yardage category. However, they still won 23-14 and advanced to their seventh consecutive AFC Championship Game with Mahomes.

While Thomas acknowledges that an Allen-Mahomes face-off would likely result in another shootout — the last three postseason games averaged nearly 64 points per game — he says that 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 shootout,” says Thomas. “It’s going to be a nice game. I do think that the Bills are capable of going in that area and beating the Chiefs. The Bills will have more confidence going into Kansas City. I think they have a good chance to win.”

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