The Kansas City Chiefs are back in the AFC Championship Game after an incredible 42-36 overtime shootout against the Buffalo Bills. The Chiefs only saved themselves in overtime with a last second field goal.
Superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes ended a memorable divisional game against the Buffalo Bills at Arrowhead Stadium with an 8-yard touchdown pass to tight end Travis Kelce on the first drive of overtime. The Chiefs will host the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC Championship Game next Sunday.
The Bills got the ball first and seemed eager to put an exclamation mark straight away. They scored a touchdown through Devin Singletary after an impressive opening drive after 13 plays and played two 4th downs along the way, including a touchdown from the 1-yard line.
The Chiefs’ response was no less impressive, however. They equalized after eleven plays with a dive into the end zone by Patrick Mahomes, who had previously scrambled for 1st downs and gained more space against the Bills’ deep zones.
Several punts followed from both sides before the Chiefs put in another long drive late in the first half. Mahomes finally found a touchdown while running backwards in the end zone after a couple of spectacular shots against a blitz wide receiver Byron Pringle.
There was still 1:52 left on the clock, enough for Josh Allen (27/37, 329 YDS, 4 TD / 11 CAR, 68 YDS) and Co. to hit back quickly. After just seven plays, Allen finally found Gabriel Davis for an 18-yard touchdown. In the final seconds of the first half, Mahomes even brought his own within field goal range again, but kicker Harrison Butker missed from 50 yards.
The Chiefs then opened the second half with an almost eight-minute drive, which ended with a field goal from 39 yards.
Chiefs vs. Bills: Offensive fireworks to the end
And after a 3-and-out by the Bills, the Chiefs followed suit: just five plays later, wide receiver Mecole Hardman turned a jet sweep into a 25-yard touchdown. However, Butker then put the PAT on the upright and the lead remained nine points.
Buffalo wasted no time and came right back. Allen fired a 75-yard touchdown pass at Davis, increasing the pressure on the home side, who then struggled and punted. However, the Bills did the same a little later – to Tyreek Hill as a returner, even twice, since a penalty against both teams annulled the first play. The second try was doomed to the guests, as Hill carried the ball 45 yards to the 16-yard line. After all, the Bills defense held and only allowed a short field goal to 26:21 with almost 9 minutes on the clock.
The Bills then marched to the edge of the red zone in a long drive (17 plays), but then faced a 4th and 13. No problem for Allen, however, who found a wide-open Davis for a 27-yard touchdown in the end zone. Allen then scrambled spectacularly past oncoming defenders and threw a pass for another 2 points to Stefon Diggs in the end zone. 29:26 to play Buffalo with 1:54 minutes and all three timeouts on the account.
And that was more than enough time for Mahomes, as he soon found Hill, who after his catch ran ahead of everyone for a 64-yard touchdown catch with a minute left. Allen was allowed to get the ball again with all the timeouts. And he wasn’t deterred either and whipped his team into the red zone again and found Davis for a fourth touchdown, this time from 19 yards. But he still left too much time on the clock – 13 seconds to be exact. A 25-yard pass to Travis Kelce put the Chiefs back in position, and Butker finally struck from 39 yards to equalize again with the clock running out. Overtime!
The Chiefs won the coin toss and got the ball first. Kansas City marched down the field and finally completed their drive with said pass to Kelce. Josh Allen couldn’t get his hands on the ball again.
NFL Divisional Playoffs: Kansas City Chiefs vs. Buffalo Bills
Result: 42:36 OT (7:7, 7:7, 9:7, 13:15, 6:0) BOXSCORE
Chiefs vs. Bills – the most important statistics
- Mahomes already had a touchdown pass and a rushing touchdown before the break. This is his fourth time in a playoff game. That’s the third most Rushing TD and Pass TD games in playoff history. That puts him level with John Elway and Donovan McNabb. Only Steve Young (7) and Tom Brady (5) are ahead of him.
- Allen’s 75-yard touchdown pass to Davis covered 57.1 air yards, according to Next Gen Stats, making it Allen’s longest TD pass of his career. He had a completion probability of 31.7 percent.
- Gabriel Davis (8 REC, 201 YDS) is the first player ever to catch 4 touchdowns in a playoff game.
The Star of the Game: Patrick Mahomes (Quarterback, Chiefs)
An incredible shootout always includes two incredible quarterbacks. And Mahomes came off the field as the winner here and was a big influence on that. Despite being under constant pressure – the Bills had 13 pressures and 2 sacks – he kept his cool and took what he could get. That was a total of 370 yards (32/43) through the air and 69 on the ground. Including three total touchdowns and the field goal before the end of regular time. Mahomes and this offense are hard to stop in this form.
The Flop of the Game: In-Game Management (Bills)
The Bills put on an equally impressive game and also put pinpricks defensively, while they were simply unstoppable offensively. But one has to criticize that they left too much time on the clock at the end – it should be known that Mahomes hardly needs any time to get into scoring distance. That was understandable with the first lead just before the end, because a 4th and 13 had to be overcome, but a little more patience would have made sense with the second drive. Sean McDermott also has to question himself about one or the other punt decision. And in the defense, a lot also went wrong in the final phase.
Analysis: Chiefs vs. Bills – the tactics board
-
As in the first duel between the two teams earlier in the season, the Bills started with 2-high looks and switched to zone coverage without blitzing. In addition, attempts were made to double cover Hill and Kelce as often as possible on their crossing routes. This made it difficult for Mahomes to find deep shots. But it also left room for himself to run. And he consistently took advantage of that.
-
The Bills rarely blitzed, but before the Pringle touchdown, they sent a zero blitz toward Mahomes. And he used the free space in the middle for a spectacular pass into the end zone.
-
Bills head coach Sean McDermott caused astonishment with his decisions during the game. After being extremely aggressive in the first drive and playing two 4th downs, he became very conservative after the break. So he punters on 4th and 1 of his own 34 in the first Bills drive of the second aid. A Chiefs touchdown followed. If you want to play to win, you should see it through to the end.
- Both teams sometimes overdid it with their creativity in attacking play-calling after the break. The Bills, for example, attempted an outside run after singletary’s jet motion on 3rd and 2 instead of running through the middle. The result was a stoppage by the Chiefs. KC attempted a wildcat formation on 3rd and 1 with tight end Blake Bell under center, who then tossed the ball to running back Jerick McKinnon. And that one was stopped for loss of space. A field goal followed…