ORCHARD PARK, NY – There are several reasons why Josh Allen spent much of Wednesday referring to the AFC East-leading Bills’ much-hyped matchup against Patrick Mahomes and the undefeated Chiefs on Sunday as just a regular season game between 17.

Outside the practice facility, a long line of CBS transport trucks pulled into the Bills parking lot to set up headquarters for their national TV broadcast as the buzz grew if taylor swift could come to town amid a break in her six-show tour near Toronto.

Inside, Allen indirectly shed light on his thought process, just another game, when asked to reflect on how his and Mahomes’ numbers are remarkably similar over their previous seven meetings, including the playoffs- hate.

“Well, I know we didn’t beat them in the playoffs,” Allen said. “So that’s the only thing that matters.”

And therein lies the rub.

Although Allen has directed Buffalo to win three consecutive regular-season meetings since losing the first in 2020, the Bills they are 0-3 in the playoffs over the last four years.

And that includes a 27-24 loss in January, decided when Buffalo’s tight end stalled at the Chiefs 26, Allen threw two incompletions, followed by kicker Tyler Bass missing a 44-yard field goal attempt to the right with 1 :43 left.

With the season not on the line Sunday for two teams in the driver’s seat to clinch playoff berths, Allen’s focus is less on making noise and more on holding on complementary “everybody eats” approach. which makes Buffalo (8-2) enjoying its best 10-game record since 1993.

“I know the media and fan perception is what this game is all about. But for us, it’s just Week 11,” Allen said. “Just keep trusting the process, don’t change anything because you don’t need to.” … It’s gotten us to 8-2 so far.”

Allen is enjoying his most efficient season, even if his production has dipped considerably compared to his 10-game numbers in each of the past four seasons.

The 2,281 yards and 17 touchdowns are Allen’s fewest since his sophomore year in 2019. Also, Allen’s four interceptions are down significantly after going 11 to 10 last season.

This could also be Allen’s most complete season in terms of how he’s adjusted to the offense’s shortcomings, such as injuries — rookie Keon Coleman will miss a second straight game, while recent trade acquisition Amari Cooper has missed two games and is questionable to play Sunday. And this is an offense that opened the season with a receiving group that included just one player, Khalil Shakir, who had previously caught a pass from Allen following the offseason departures of Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis.

And yet, Allen has the Bills riding a five-game winning streak, their magic number to win their fifth consecutive AFC East title, up to three.

“It’s hard to put a number on it. He just keeps getting better,” backup quarterback mitch Trubisky. “And that’s what we challenge every week. Go on, like how far can you push this thing? How good can you be?”

Trubisky, who returned to Buffalo this year after spending the last two in Pittsburgh, has credited the work Allen puts in each offseason to address his weaknesses in making him a more complete player.

“When you really work on your weaknesses and maybe even take them out of the game, it’s like what do you do against these guys?” Trubisky said. “Like, they really don’t have any weaknesses. You could probably say the same for Josh and Pat (Mahomes).”

There are many similarities between the two.

As of 2019, Mahomes has a league-leading 181 touchdowns to Allen’s 174.

In seven combined meetingsMahomes has 2,243 scrimmage yards (2,024 passing), 16 TDs (15 passing) with 5 interceptions, while Allen has 2,194 scrimmage yards (1,801 passing), 20 TDs ( 16 passes) and three interceptions.

There remain some notable differences, Allen said of Mahomes being a three-time Super Bowl champion. The closest the Allen-led Bills came to making a Super Bowl appearance was losing the 2020 AFC Championship Game to who else? — Kansas City.

“To be mentioned with him is really cool from a football standpoint,” Allen said, referring to Mahomes. “But I don’t get too caught up in it. I’m just trying to focus on what I can do for the Buffalo Bills.”

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