CBS Sports’ Jim Nantz says Chiefs vs. Bills is a ‘generational rivalry’ in NFL
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Jim Nantz labels Chiefs-Bills a generational rivalry shaping NFL narratives.
- Mahomes and Allen renew playoff-caliber matchups that define division races.
- CBS will keep documenting the rivalry as both quarterbacks likely play into 2035.
For a sports fan, Jim Nantz has a dream job.
Nantz is the play-by-play announcer for CBS Sports’ top NFL broadcast team, and he’s called seven Super Bowls in his career. For more than three decades, Nantz called the men’s Final Four and NCAA Tournament championship game. And as part of his golf duties, Nantz has been behind the microphone for The Masters since 1988.
Despite all the amazing sports moments Nantz has called, he’s still excited about the gig he’ll have this weekend. Nantz, Tony Romo and Tracy Wolfson will be calling the Chiefs-Bills game, which kicks off Sunday at 3:25 p.m. from Orchard Park, New York.
“To me, it’s the rivalry of this time. And I don’t even think it’s close,” Nantz said in a phone interview. “I think it has the makings for going on for many, many years. And I’m saying that from someone who’s been blessed enough to have documented the most matchups between Peyton Manning and Tom Brady. Of course, a lot of it has to do with the fact that CBS is the AFC network, and Peyton and Tom resided in the AFC just like these teams do.
“So it’s one of those things that’s just fortuitous that we’ve had them in our conference, and I’ve had the chance to be able to try to document them as best I can.”
‘Feels like a playoff game’
This will be the 10th meeting between the Chiefs and Bills since 2020. Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes has a 5-4 edge over Josh Allen, his Buffalo counterpart, in those games.
Allen is 4-1 against the Chiefs in the regular season, but Mahomes has won all four playoff meetings.
Although it’s still the regular season, Nantz believes Sunday’s game has a playoff feel given the teams’ history. Sunday’s winner could have a leg-up in playoff seeding.
“It’s such an interesting tale of regular season and postseason,” Nantz said. “Of course, we’ve seen all the postseason matchups with Kansas City knocking them out of the postseason for the last five years. But even still, these regular season games feel gigantic. They feel like a playoff game right in the heart of the regular season.”
‘Generational rivalry’
There is no reason to believe the Mahomes-Allen matchups won’t continue beyond Sunday’s game.
Brady and Manning faced each other 17 times, and the record for quarterback matchups is held by former Saints star Drew Brees and ex-Falcons QB Matt Ryan. They met 23 times, per Sportster.
To Nantz, Chiefs-Bills is the NFL rivalry that will be remembered long after Mahomes and Allen are done playing.
“Patrick just turned 30 in September. Josh is 29 years old. I saw Peyton and Tom clash into their 40s. So I’m going to take another decade of this, that’s for sure,” Nantz said. “But it has all the makings of a kind of generational rivalry that’s influencing a lot of people. Kids that are growing up with the NFL now at this point, this is all they know. This to them is what Staubach and Bradshaw were to me, or any number of matchups you could go with like Montana and Aikman, whatever it might be this.
“For this particular generation, taking the torch from Tom and Peyton. This is the matchup that everybody wants to see. And we’ve had, in many cases, two times a year to see it. You look at all these division titles that they both won in a row, nine straight for Kansas City, five straight AFC East for Buffalo. They just keep going at it again and again because they have the first-place schedules. It repeats itself every year.”
Sunday’s Chiefs-Bills game comes 280 days after Kansas City won the AFC Championship Game, and who knows? With this rivalry being played on repeat, they could meet again in the playoffs.
This story was originally published October 30, 2025 at 10:01 AM with the headline "CBS Sports’ Jim Nantz says Chiefs vs. Bills is a ‘generational rivalry’ in NFL."
