Jason Wolf: Bills have steamrolled three backup QBs. Here comes Patrick Mahomes

They’ve outscored their last three opponents 118-21.

The offense has rolled up more than 40 points in consecutive games for the first time since 1990.

The defense has pitched a shutout in two of the last three contests, becoming just the third group in 30 years to accomplish that feat in the first four weeks of a season, joining the 2000 Baltimore Ravens and 1991 Washington Football Team, both of which went on to win the Super Bowl.

But they’ve reached the quarter mark of the season with a 3-1 record, dropping a disappointing home opener to Pittsburgh before steamrolling three consecutive teams playing backup quarterbacks.

The Bills don’t make the schedule. And they’ll make no apologies for handling their business against Jacoby Brissett, Taylor Heinicke and Davis Mills, the rookie who made his first career road start for Houston and peeled himself off the soggy turf after a 40-0 shellacking on Sunday at Highmark Stadium.

Nor should they. But they’re not kidding themselves, either.

“We really ain’t prove nothing,” defensive tackle Ed Oliver said. “It don’t matter until you get into them later months and then the playoffs. That’s what I done found out. In this league, it don’t matter what you do right now. It’s about how you play then. But we’re building up to play well then. So we’re just putting the reps in, getting the work in, so we know what time it is when we get there.”

Of course, it does matter what the Bills do right now.

It matters a great deal. Because whatever happens this week will go a long way in determining whether “there” is in Kansas City or Orchard Park.

The Bills travel to face the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday night for a nationally televised rematch of last season’s AFC championship game: Chiefs 38, Bills 24, in case you forgot.

It ended with Stefon Diggs, hands on hips, watching Patrick Mahomes and the reigning Super Bowl champions dance through confetti.

Round 2 is much more than an early season NFL game. It’s much more than a measuring stick after an offseason of questions about whether the Bills had closed the gap. Everyone, including the Bills, know the Bills are a legitimate Super Bowl contender. But a victory against the Chiefs on Sunday could help ensure the road to Super Bowl LVI winds through Western New York.

The Bills are 2-0 in the playoffs at home under Sean McDermott and 0-3 on the road. 

“I think you guys are going to make a big deal out of it,” Josh Allen said to a roomful of reporters after completing 20 of 29 passes for 248 yards and a pair of touchdowns to Dawson Knox. “But it’s one game. It’s the biggest game that we’ve got because it’s the next game. But we won’t turn our attention toward them really until (Monday). We’ve got to get in and watch the film from this one … ”

Sunday’s glorified scrimmage against the Houston junior varsity team changed nothing, aside from Matt Milano’s potential availability next week.

The weakside linebacker had been playing at an All-Pro level through the first month of the season until leaving in the first half with yet another hamstring injury. He didn’t return.

The Bills will need him to match up against tight end Travis Kelce.

They’ll also need a healthy Jordan Poyer, who sat this one out with an ankle injury after being listed as day-to-day all week. The same goes for Taron Johnson. The slot corner was listed as questionable with a groin injury this week and didn’t play.

Good.

The Bills didn’t need to be at full strength to mop the floor with Houston, making wholesale substitutions early in the fourth quarter.

And their depth benefited from the experience.

The defense forced five turnovers. And four players who rarely see the field outside of special teams contributed to the onslaught: Jaquan Johnson and Tyler Matakevich both snared interceptions, along with Tremaine Edmunds and Micah Hyde. And A.J. Klein recovered a fumble punched loose by University at Buffalo product Cam Lewis, who was called up from the practice squad Saturday.

“We’ve got a D-line that can get after the quarterback. We’ve got linebackers that can play sideline-to-sideline. We’ve got DBs that can cover and tackle and make plays on the football,” Hyde said. “So we know what we have. We’ve just got to go out there and execute each and every game.”

The defense limited Houston to a measly 109 yards of total offense and allowed just 1 of 9 conversions on third down.

Mills completed 11 of 21 passes for 87 yards, four picks and a 23.4 rating.

Mahomes, he is not.

The 2018 NFL MVP and Super Bowl LIV champion on Sunday became the fifth player in league history with at least three touchdown passes in each of his team’s first four games of a season, joining Tom Brady, Steve Young, Dan Marino and Kurt Warner.

The Chiefs are 2-2 and need this next game just as much, if not more than the Bills.

“We’ve got a lot of respect for them,” McDermott said. “Andy Reid always has his team ready to go.”

Buffalo scored 16 points in the first half Sunday against Houston, at which point the Bills had converted just 1 of 7 third downs.

“Not good enough,” McDermott said, a sign of just how high the bar is set.

They had 19 points entering the fourth quarter.

That won’t cut it in Kansas City.

“We’ve got to continue to work,” Edmunds said. “There’s a lot of room we have left to grow. We can still be a lot better, and that’s what makes me happy, to know there’s still a lot of meat left on the bone.”