CBS is pulling out all the stops for the most anticipated NFL game of the season, as the network is shipping off the gang at The NFL Today to Orchard Park for a rare on-site broadcast of the long-running studio show.

The network formally announced the Highmark Stadium road trip with a 30-second teaser that aired during Sunday’s pregame show.

Analyst Nate Burleson greeted the news with a primal scream (“Yeaaahhhhhh!!! Can’t wait to go to Buffalo!”), while J.J. Watt joked that he’d been given the green light to toss Bill Cowher through a folding table, a nod to the chaotic tailgating tradition made famous by the Bills Mafia crowd.

If Watt is as good as his word, it won’t be the first time Cowher will have used his body to destroy a piece of furniture; the former Steelers head coach executed a table-smashing bellyflop at Studio 43 in New York after picking Buffalo to upset Jacksonville in the 2018 AFC Wild Card round.

Landing the eighth meeting between Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen was CBS’ top priority in the offseason, and while the NFL’s other media partners all put in a bid for the Chiefs-Bills game, the Eye Network was deemed the best fit.

Consistency often plays a key role in how these decisions shake out, and CBS has hosted the last four showdowns between these two rivals, drawing monster ratings at every turn.

Most recently, CBS’ broadcast of the Jan. 21 Divisional Round game between the Chiefs and Bills averaged a staggering 50.4 million viewers, while the network’s previous regular-season presentation of the AFC air war scared up more than 26 million viewers last December.

Two years ago, Buffalo’s 24-20 win over KC at Arrowhead averaged 25.4 million viewers in Week 6.

CBS’ longstanding affiliation with the AFC also helped tilt the scales in its favor. According to Mike North, the NFL’s VP of broadcast planning, the fact that CBS is contractually ensured a minimum number of Chiefs and Bills games worked out in the network’s favor.

“You put a Bills-Chiefs game on CBS, that checks two boxes for us, knowing we’ve got to get to our minimums for Buffalo and Kansas City,”

North said during an April appearance on the It’s Always Gameday in Buffalo podcast.

And while he acknowledged that the rivalry “should be in the mix” for every national NFL window, placing this year’s game on CBS amounts to the “best use” of the asset.

That said, every season brings with it a host of specific challenges, and CBS won’t automatically walk away with every forthcoming installment of the big rivalry.

As North reminded the podcast hosts, the tremendous popularity of the 15-year Tom Brady-Peyton Manning duel effectively led the NFL to rotate their games among the networks.

According to media buyers, advertisers who bought time in CBS’ Week 11 window during the spring upfront bazaar paid around $925,000 per each 30-second in-game unit, the network’s highest rate this side of its Thanksgiving Day Bears-Lions broadcast. If CBS manages to avoid another 4:25 p.m.

ET blowout—last week’s national window was blighted by the Eagles’ 34-6 dismantling of the Cowboys—its deliveries could approach the 30-million viewer mark, as the Chiefs-Bills game will air in 100% of the network’s affiliate markets.

If the prospect of another memorable battle between Mahomes and Allen isn’t enough to move the needle, the playoff implications alone are worth a click of the remote.

KC may not be firing on all cylinders, but it heads to Western New York with a perfect 9-0 record, while the Bills are cruising along atop the AFC East at 8-2.

If precedent is any guide, these two teams will be slugging it out until the final seconds, as their last three games were decided by an average margin of 3.3 points.

Also working in CBS’ favor is the national fascination with the Chiefs, which have appeared in three of this season’s top four most-watched NFL broadcasts, including NBC’s Sept. 5 opener against the Ravens (29.2 million viewers). KC is currently the league’s top draw, averaging 24.9 million viewers per game in six national appearances.

Since their first pairing on Oct. 19, 2020, Allen enjoys a 3-1 advantage over Mahomes in regular-season play, while KC in the same stretch has gone 3-0 against Buffalo during the playoffs.

The Bills are currently listed as 2.5-point favorites.

In a sense, the rivalry between these two young QBs began long before they first matched wits four years ago. KC snapped up Mahomes in the 2017 NFL Draft after the Bills traded their No. 10 overall pick for the Chiefs’ first-round choice in 2018, whereupon Buffalo snapped up Allen as their top selection.

Burleson, Watt, Cowher and the rest of the NFL Today crew will set up shop in Lot 6, kitty-korner to the combination Tim Hortons/team store.

The on-site broadcast will kick off at noon local time, leading into CBS’ slate of five regional games. Fox will counter in the late window with Seahawks-Saints and Falcons-Broncos.