Bills feeding off Taylor Swift/Travis Kelce frenzy for Chiefs clash

What Taylor Swift-themed food would you try at Highmark Stadium during Chiefs-Bills?

Everyone wants to get on the Taylor Swift/Travis Kelce bandwagon, even opponents.

The folks at Highmark Stadium are offering fans some Swift-themed food items for sale on Sunday when the Kansas City Chiefs visit the Buffalo Bills in a Divisional Round clash.

So, what’s on the menu?

  • Bad Blood waffle fries — a 2-foot display of spiced waffle fries featuring each city’s culinary specialty – topped half with Buffalo chicken and blue cheese and half with Kansas City Cattleman’s BBQ pork, cole slaw and bread-and-butter pickles
  • Karma Quesadilla — chicken tenders, bacon and cilantro ranch in a triple-stacked quesadilla, topped with pork-belly chaser

One (potentially) fatal flaw for each remaining playoff team

Each team in the divisional round is good enough to get there, but they all have potentially fatal flaws… and here they are.

Divisional round weekend is often regarded as the best weekend in football. The best eight teams are in action to determine who will play for the respective conference championships, and usually promises four really quality football games.

Every team is in this spot for a reason, but they all have an achilles heel that, if exploited, could turn their next mistake into the final act of their season.

The Xs and Os with Greg Cosell: Previewing the divisional round of the playoffs

In this week’s “Xs and Os with Greg Cosell and Doug Farrar,” the guys preview all the big matchups in the NFL’s divisional round.

And then, there were eight! It’s time for the divisional round of the NFL playoffs. and Greg Cosell of NFL Films and ESPN’s NFL Matchup, and Doug Farrar of Touchdown Wire and the USA Today Sports Media Group, are here to get you ready for the most interesting matchups that could decide who advances to the conference championships.

Houston Texans at Baltimore Ravens: The Week 1 game between these two teams doesn’t mean a lot, because the Ravens were dealing with C.J. Stroud in his rookie debut, and Stroud is an alien at this point. The Ravens are aware, and here’s how they can counter the Texans’ outstanding defense. Also, both of these teams have a ton of great, underrated talent on defense.

Green Bay Packers at San Francisco 49ers: The Packers have seen desperately-needed defensive improvement over the last three weeks, but is that enough to stop Kyle Shanahan’s offense? And how will Jordan Love do against a San Francisco defense that doesn’t really have one type of staple coverage?

Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Detroit Lions: When these teams played in Week 6, Baker Mayfield had his worst game of the season. But this is a different Buccaneers team than it was then, and there are ways for Mayfield to engineer a different result. The problem for the Bucs is that Jared Goff has proven that he’s ready for whatever Todd Bowles throws at him.

Kansas City Chiefs at Buffalo Bills: The Bills have far too many injuries on defense, and Patrick Mahomes is finding winning concepts with at least one receiver, so this will have to be a Josh Allen game if the Bills are to advance.

You can watch this week’s episode of “The Xs and Os,” featuring all the most important matchups of the divisional round, right here:

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You can also listen and subscribe to “The Xs and Os” podcast on Spotify…

and on Apple Podcasts.

NFL divisional round power rankings: Ravens, 49ers up top, with challengers everywhere

Divisional round power rankings! It’s time to rank the remaining eight teams ahead of divisional round weekend.

It is the best weekend in football. The eight best teams in the NFL duking it out for a chance to make it to their respective conference championship games. As the field gets thinner, so too does the margin for error for the remaining playoff teams. Here is how they stack up heading into divisional round weekend.

Mike Tomlin walks off the podium when asked about his future with Steelers

Mike Tomlin wanted no part of any questions about his future following the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 31-17 wild-card loss to the Buffalo Bills.

Mike Tomlin’s 17th season as the Pittsburgh Steelers’ head coach ended abruptly on Monday when his team was beaten 31-17 by the Buffalo Bills in a game that wasn’t really that close. After the game, when Tomlin went to the podium to address the media, he got a question he really didn’t like.

At this time, Tomlin has one year left on his contract. The Steelers finished the 2023 season with a 10-8 record, and they haven’t won a playoff game since the 2016 season.

Khalil Shakir’s spectacular TD gives Bills breathing room

Khalil Shakir with a brilliant run after the pass from Josh Allen

The Pittsburgh Steelers never give up, the Buffalo Bills learned on Monday.

After the Steelers cut the deficit to 24-17 by scoring 17 of the game’s previous 20 points, Khalil Shakir came to Buffalo’s rescue.

He took a pass from Josh Allen and maneuvered his way to the end zone, breaking away from Minkah Fitzpatrick in the process.

After the PAT, the Bills led 31-17 with less than half of the fourth quarter remaining.

Raging Bills giving Steelers snow chance in hell

The Bills were romping in the first half against the Steelers

The Pittsburgh Steelers waited a day to play their AFC Wild-Card Game at Highmark Stadium.

Forgive them if they think the storm has not passed Orchard Park.

The Buffalo Bills scored three touchdowns in the first half of the game on Monday behind the stellar play of Josh Allen.

The quarterback had thrown a pair of touchdown passes before he took off on a 52-yard touchdown run midway through the second quarter.

It was the second-longest postseason TD run by a quarterback in postseason history. Colin Kaepernick had a 56-yard run.

Allen’s touchdown passes went to tight ends Dawson Knox and Dalton Kincaid.

If the Bills win, they will play host to the Kansas City Chiefs in the Divisional Round.

 

Bills ask perspective shovelers to abide by travel ban, stay home

The Bills want people to stay in place and shelter from the storm

The weather in Western Park is so bad the Buffalo Bills on Sunday had to rescind their request for people to come help shovel out Highmark Stadium from under the snow blanket.

The team had offered people $20 an hour to help clear the snow. However, a travel ban is in effect and Bills told people who wanted to help to stay home.

The Bills are still scheduled to play host to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday.

Wild weather scene at Buffalo Bills’ Highmark Stadium

The weather in Western New York is frightening

Anyone questioning the decision to postpone Sunday’s Pittsburgh Steelers-Buffalo Bills game until Monday needs to get a look at the video the AFC East champs tweeted.

Winds whipping, snow blowing and visibility near impossible.

Bills-Steelers wild-card game moved from Sunday to Monday due to freezing weather

The Bills-Steelers wild-card game has been moved from Sunday to Monday due to significant winter weather in the Buffalo area.

The wild-card game between the Buffalo Bills and Pittsburgh Steelers that was originally scheduled for 1:00 p.m. EST on Sunday has been moved to 4:30 p.m. EST on Monday due to a severe winter weather storm expected to hit the Buffalo area through the weekend.

From WIVB.com:

Near-whiteout conditions are expected in Orchard Park on Sunday, with high winds, frigid wind chills and blowing lake-effect snow all in play. States of Emergency in Western New York as well as Erie County are currently active as a result of the storm.

“It’s all part of our critical efforts to keep New Yorkers, motorists and fans safe from this wildly unpredictable storm,” Governor Kathy Hochul said Friday.

Hochul said that she consulted with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell about the decision, who “shares our concern that safety should be the top priority.”

The NFL issued a statement on Saturday.

Due to public safety concerns in light of the ongoing weather emergency in western New York, Sunday’s Steelers-Bills game has been rescheduled to Monday at 4:30 p.m. ET and will be televised by CBS.

The decision to move the game to Monday was made in consultation with New York Governor Kathy Hochul in the best interest of public safety, and with the Buffalo Bills and the Pittsburgh Steelers, as the region prepares for the storm.

Last season, the Bills had to play a home game against the Cleveland Browns in Detroit due to significant winter weather.