Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills had a situation that they would have been happy with to start Sunday night’s AFC championship game.
They trailed the Kansas City Chiefs by three points, but with the ball and 3:33 to work with. It’s the type of situation that turns quarterbacks into legends and teams into champions.
There’s a reason, however, the Chiefs are a dynasty. At so many points over this era they’ve been in a situation with the game on the line, and almost every time they come up with enough plays to win.
The Chiefs’ quest for a historic Super Bowl 3-peat is still alive. The defense got the one stop it needed inside of the two-minute warning and Kansas City held on for a memorable 32-29 win.
A Kansas City blitz on fourth down forced Allen into hurrying a fourth-down throw, it fell incomplete to tight end Dalton Kincaid and the Chiefs took over on downs.
The Chiefs will face the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LIX on Feb. 9 in New Orleans.
It was another classic playoff matchup between the Chiefs and Bills. There haven’t been many great games in this postseason, but the AFC championship game provided one. To the chagrin of everyone hoping for someone to end the Chiefs’ seemingly never-ending run of success, Kansas City did what it usually does and made just enough plays to get them over the finish line and back to the Super Bowl.
KC’s offense comes through in 1st half
The Chiefs’ offense has Mahomes but hasn’t been elite for a couple of seasons. Kansas City didn’t score more than 30 points in a game all season.
It wasn’t too hard for the Chiefs in the first half though. They had 21 points before halftime. They had a great drive to start the game, with Kareem Hunt scoring to give Kansas City an early 7-0 lead. The Bills rallied to take back the lead, but the Chiefs scored 14 points in a row after that. A huge play by Xavier Worthy, taking a ball away from a defender in the air, got the Chiefs to the 3-yard line and Mahomes ran it in on third-and-goal for a 21-10 Chiefs lead.
The Bills needed points before halftime and got them. Allen and Mack Hollins hooked up on a pretty 34-yard touchdown, with Hollins hauling in the pass as he was being interfered with on the play. The Bills went for the 2-point conversion after a penalty on the extra point got them closer to the goal line, but Allen’s quarterback sneak was stopped.
Still, a 21-16 deficit at halftime seemed manageable. As with most Bills-Chiefs games the past few seasons, it was setting up a tense, great second-half finish between two fantastic teams.
A thrilling 4th quarter
The third quarter turned into a defensive battle, and the Bills took the lead on a great play. On a fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line James Cook was hit short of the goal line, but he kept himself off the ground and stretched the ball over the goal line for a touchdown. The Bills led 22-21. That drive included another fourth-down conversion, on a fourth-down keeper by Allen. Bills head coach Sean McDermott hasn’t always been aggressive on fourth downs in big games, but his boldness paid off with a Bills lead going into the fourth quarter.
A fourth-down attempt in the fourth quarter wasn’t as successful. The Bills had trouble converting quarterback sneaks, and Allen was stood up when he tried for one on a fourth-and-inches. Allen was ruled short, the spot was reviewed and even though it was very close, the call stood. Buffalo turned it over on downs.
The Chiefs often take advantage of opportunities like that and did after Allen was called short. They drove downfield and Mahomes had a 10-yard touchdown run. A 2-point conversion gave Kansas City a 29-22 lead.
Then it was the Bills’ turn. Buffalo went for it on fourth-and-goal and Allen found Curtis Samuel in the back of the end zone for a touchdown. The game was tied again with 6:15 left to go.
It’s not like Mahomes and the Chiefs are nervous in that or any other situation. They drove quickly into Bills territory, helped by an obvious facemask penalty on linebacker Matt Milano. Worthy made another big play to get the Chiefs to the 10-yard line. A huge sack on first down set the Chiefs back, however. They had second-and-goal at the 17-yard line. Two incompletions later and the Chiefs had to settle for a field goal. They led 32-29, but with 3:33 left the door was open for Allen and the Bills to steal a win.
But the drive stalled near midfield, and instead the Chiefs were celebrating another AFC title.
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