Did we expect anything less than a thriller in this AFC Championship between these bitter rivals?
The Kansas City Chiefs held off the Buffalo Bills to win the AFC Championship Game, 32-29, in an absolute thriller at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday night.
The Chiefs will now have a shot at NFL history, as they can become the first team to ever win three straight Super Bowls if they can defeat the Philadelphia Eagles again.
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The Chiefs won Super Bowl LVII over the Eagles in Arizona, 38-35, during the 2022 season.
Meanwhile, Josh Allen and the Bills are now 0-4 against the Chiefs in the postseason despite giving them one of their two losses during the 2024 regular season.
But Buffalo’s offense found themselves where they wanted to in this game: late in the fourth quarter with the ball in their hands. The defense got a stop on Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs’ offense, forcing a field goal that Harrison Butker split the uprights with to take a 32-29 lead.
Allen, who has been clutch all season long, had a chance to at least tie the ball game, or better yet, have a game-winning touchdown drive with 3:33 left in the fourth quarter.
However, Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo dialed up the perfect play call on back-to-back plays, starting with a third-and-10 from the Buffalo 42-yard line where he sent an all-out blitz. It led to a five-yard gain for Amari Cooper, leaving Allen and the Bills with a fourth-and-5.
Then, another blitz was called, but it was a cornerback being sent to the pocket after the Chiefs disguised it with both linebackers at the line of scrimmage and dropping back into coverage instead.
Allen heaved a prayer to the middle of the field, and tight end Dalton Kincaid had a chance to make a chance, but it bounced off his chest and hit the turf.
That came after the two-minute warning, and Mahomes and the entire Chiefs sideline knew they needed a couple first downs to ice the game. In typical Chiefs fashion, they got what they needed as Isiah Pacheco picked up a first down on a 10-yard catch and Samaje Perine, on his only touch of the game, went for 17 yards with 1:35 left and no Bills timeouts to seal the victory.
The celebrating begun after a hard-fought Chiefs win that was a thriller right from the start.
Mahomes and the Chiefs were dialed from the first possession of the game, going 90 yards on just nine plays to see Kareem Hunt score on the ground from 12 yards out to take the early lead.
But this game went back and forth throughout, as Allen was able to take the lead early in the second quarter after orchestrating a 72-yard drive on 10 plays, capped by a James Cook six-yard rush.
The Chiefs, however, took their largest lead of the game after responding with 14 unanswered points as they scored back-to-back touchdown drives to end the first half. It was rookie Xavier Worthy once again finding the end zone from 11 yards away, while Mahomes himself scrambled from one yard out to make it 21-10.
Buffalo, however, wasn’t going away without a fight, cutting the lead to 21-16 before the end of the half after Mack Hollins hauled in a beautifully thrown deep ball from Allen for a 34-yard touchdown.
The Bills would eventually get their lead back in the second half after Cook scored his second touchdown of the game, and it came on fourth-and-goal and required him to leap over Chiefs defenders and stick his arm across the goal line to make it a 22-21 contest.
Perhaps the biggest turning point in this game, though, came on the next Bills drive after they forced a punt on the Chiefs. On fourth-and-1 from the Kansas City 41-yard line, the Bills elected to go for it with 13:01 left in the fourth quarter. Allen had a quarterback sneak, but after replay review, he was ruled short of the line to gain, giving the Chiefs the ball with great field position to get the ball back.
Mahomes wasted no time with the opportunity, needing just five plays to get downfield and finish off his drive with yet another rushing score for himself to make it 29-22.
If the suspense wasn’t enough, the Bills found themselves on the Chiefs’ four-yard line after Allen shot a pass to Hollins again deep downfield for 32 yards on third-and-8 on the ensuing drive. On fourth-and-goal, Curtis Samuel slipped free from coverage and kept two feet in the end zone as he hauled in the touchdown to tie it once again.
These two AFC juggernauts traded blows, but the victor remained the same and a rematch will be seen in New Orleans on Feb. 9 on Fox and streaming exclusively on Tubi for free.
Will it be the Chiefs making NFL history? Or will the Eagles get their Super Bowl revenge with Saquon Barkley leading the way in the backfield alongside Jalen Hurts & Co.?
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