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Buffalo Bills (13-4, 2-0 postseason)
Kansas City Chiefs 32, Buffalo Bills 29
It's really unfortunate that the Bills of this era will likely only be remembered for falling short in the postseason, specifically to the Chiefs. Each of the games was at least decently competitive, and the last three postseason clashes between these two teams were very competitive.
Yet somehow, they all went in favor of the same team, the Kansas City Chiefs.
Statistically, you could not get a much closer contest than this one. Buffalo held onto the ball for 30:32, compared to 29:28 for KC. Buffalo's offense produced 374 yards and 22 first downs, to 368 yards and 28 first downs by the Chiefs. There was one turnover, and it was committed by KC. Fittingly, it was tied late in the fourth quarter, and overtime was a very real possibility.
But it was KC who managed to get a field goal drive in the final minutes to break a 29-29 deadlock to take the lead. And when it mattered most on fourth down just after the two-minute warning, Josh Allen received heavy pressure from the KC defense. Yet he still managed to get a decent pass up, and which was surprisingly accurate. It would have given the Bills a fresh set of downs, and in decent field goal position, at the very least.
Unfortunately, the ball went in and out of the hands of Buffalo tight end Dalton Kincaid.
Ball game.
And so a close game which could have gone either way went in KC's favor. Again. It was the third straight postseason meeting between these two teams which felt actually incredibly close, and seemed to be anybody's game.
Yet what people will remember - perhaps really the only thing that people will remember - is that each of those postseason contests between the Chiefs and Bills of this era (the era of Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes for KC, and of Sean McDermott and Josh Allen for Buffalo) ultimately went in favor of Kansas City.
Unfortunately, people are already noting the comparison between these Bills, who lost to the same team four straight times in the postseason, to the Buffalo Bills who went to four straight Super Bowls in the nineties, but lost each time.
The Chiefs first defeated the Bills in the AFC Championship in 2020 to advance to what was then a second straight Super Bowl for KC. Then, the Chiefs won under seemingly impossible and hopeless circumstances when the game seemed over and it appeared that the Bills had iced the win in what has come to be known as the "13 seconds" game. Last year, KC only just outplayed Buffalo for most of the game up at Orchard Park, and then officially clinched the win when a field goal attempt by Buffalo placekicker Tyler Bass for a tie, and quite possibly (likely, even) would have forced overtime instead was no good, and has come to be know as "wide right 2."
Now, the dropped pass which, otherwise, would have given the Bills a fresh set of downs in decent field goal position, and with still some chances to possibly get the touchdown.
It is only the latest heartbreak for a fanbase that has been defined by them. This is such a talented Buffalo Bills squad. Yet, they kept running into the Kansas City Chiefs, and could not get past them.
Josh Allen completed 22 of 34 passes for 227 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran 11 times for an additional 39 yards. James Cook added 85 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries. Allen spread the wealth on offense, as he completed passes to nine different players. Yet, all for naught, as the Bills felt just short.
Patrick Mahomes completed 18 of 26 passes for 245 yards and one touchdown. He also scrambled 11 times for an additional 43 yards and two touchdowns. Kareem Hunt added 64 yards on 17 carries and a touchdown. Xavier Worthy proved to be Mahomes' favorite target in this game, catching six passes for 85 yards and one touchdown.
All of those statistics would make it difficult, on their own, to determine who exactly won this game.
Unfortunately for the Bills, it feels like another giveaway. More questions will haunt them over a long offseason, and there is never certainty as to what will happen in the future. I hope that the Bills remain talented and driven as they were this season. That they will get another opportunity next season, and might hopefully finally prove just how good and worthy they are.
For now, however, it is the Chiefs who are the team of the moment. They were pursuing the fabled "three-peat," and became the first team in the Super Bowl era to win back-to-back Super Bowl titles and return to the biggest game for a third straight time, with a chance to clinch a historical third straight title. Now, they will play in New Orleans to face the NFC Champion Philadelphia Eagles, and a chance at history. If they are successful, it will surely immortalize these Kansas City Chiefs as one of the most successful dynasties in NFL history, and really even recent sports history.
Let's see what happens.
My pick: Inaccurate
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