Chiefs Reap Rewards of Epic Playoff Game - Advance to AFC Championship
The Chiefs closed out one of the craziest games you’ll ever see with an overtime touchdown to give them a 42-36 win over the Buffalo Bills in the Divisional Round.
The final two minutes of the game saw four lead changes — and the Chiefs tied the game to run out the clock. Bills quarterback Josh Allen called tails on the coin toss and lost both, that and the game.
The Chiefs will host the AFC Championship Game against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday at 2pm CST.
Play Of The Game
“When it’s grim, be the grim reaper and go get it.” That was Andy Reid’s message for Patrick Mahomes when things weren’t looking great for the Chiefs. Baby Yaga, the Boogeyman, or the Grim Reaper, you can call Patrick Lavon Mahomes whatever you want but at the end of the day he’s just the best there is.
You could literally take a dart and launch it blindfolded at an offensive play log and land on a play of the game. For simplistic purposes, I am going with the actual game-winning Touchdown because I think it’s brilliance got lost in the hustle and bustle of the rest of the game.
There was little doubt once the Chiefs won the coin toss that they were about to win the game but they still had to do it. After a masterful drive starting 5/5, Mahomes and the Chiefs found themselves in the red zone looking at a first and goal from the 8 yard line.
The Chiefs put Travis Kelce outside of Tyreek Hill and then short motioned him to the inside of a stacked alignment. This put a linebacker in coverage on Kelce and the Chiefs knew Hill running a vertical route would pull both the corner and safety with him.
As Hill pulled the coverage, Kelce ran an Out-and-Up vs a linebacker with inside leverage. Mahomes pump-faked the “Out” route and despite pretty good coverage by the Bills, delivered an absolutely perfect pass to the back shoulder. Kelce did the rest by stacking his defender, not reacting to the ball until it was nearby, and completing an excellent catch along the sideline.
Ball game.
Here are 10 observations from Chiefs-Bills.
Game For the Ages
We just witnessed one of the greatest games in NFL history — an instant classic between the top two quarterbacks in the league. One was just better — and it just so happened to be the best player in the world.
You’re Dealing With Lavon
You could see how locked in Mahomes was in this game. He was processing quickly, moving a step faster than anyone, making good choices run and pass, and putting points on the board. He was perfect for sixty-plus minutes of football.
Bills Aggressive Early
Buffalo scored on their first drive of the game, but it took two fourth down conversions to make it happen. The 13-play, 71 yard drive took nearly seven minutes off the clock and a fourth and goal run by Devin Singletary finally put the ball in the endzone.
Mahomes Uses Legs
Patrick Mahomes managed only 11 passing yards in the opening drive, but he used his legs to extend plays. Mahomes had 3 carries for 49 yards and finished the drive in the end zone on a diving run. His feel and pocket management was outstanding. He finished the night with 69 yards — one more than Allen.
Mathieu Injury Hurts Defense
You could see the entire game how impactful the absence of Tyrann Mathieu was. Wide receiver Gabriel Davis feasted in the middle of the field — and the Chiefs had several coverage busts, miscommunications, and blown assignments in the area Mathieu normally plays.
Bills Score Late in Half
The Chiefs took a 14-7 lead with 1:52 remaining in the half. The Bills answered quickly — driving down in 75 seconds on 7 plays.
Missed Field Goal Ends Half
Mahomes had only 37 seconds to work with, but got the Chiefs down the field and into field goal range to close the first half. Butker missed a 50 yard attempt, and the teams entered the break tied.
9-0 Run for Chiefs
The Chiefs opened the second half on a 9-0 run. They took the lead with a Butker field goal, forced a punt by the Bills, and then went on a 60 yard touchdown drive that was highlighted by a Mecole Hardman jet sweep for a touchdown.
Special Teams Play Squandered
The Chiefs put Tyreek Hill back to return a key punt in the fourth quarter — and he delivered the Chiefs into the red zone. They took the ball out of Mahomes’ hands three straight plays — two runs and then a third won weak option with tight end Blake Bell taking a direct snap. They had to kick a field goal to go up 26-21.
A Wild Ending
The wildest two minutes plus overtime I’ve ever seen.
The Bills and Chiefs went back and forth to end the game. The Bills finished a long touchdown drive on the first play out of the two minute warning — a 4th and 13 pass to Gabriel Davis for a touchdown.
The Chiefs struck quickly with a Tyreek Hill touchdown catch with 1:02 left.
Josh Allen brought the Bills all the way down the field to score yet another Davis touchdown with 13 seconds left.
Mahomes got the Chiefs in field goal range in ten seconds before Butker redeemed himself with a game-tying field goal.
The Chiefs won the toss in overtime and drove down the field to win the game.
What a flurry of emotions.
13 Seconds.
Unbelievable.
Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs offense needed just two passes – and two timeouts – to traverse 44 yards down the field with thirteen seconds remaining. Harrison Butker nailed a 49 yard field goal to tie the game, the Chiefs won the coin toss in overtime, and they ended the game on a walk-off Travis Kelce touchdown from the 8-yard line a mere 4 minutes and 10 seconds later.
When thinking back on some of the greatest postseason finishes in history, they involve giving the ball back to some stellar quarterbacks, who dice up the defense to keep their team in the game. Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Eli Manning, Joe Montana, John Elway, and Johnny Unitas have made their reputations on terrific performances to close out postseason games – but none were able to do it with less than a minute on the clock, let alone less than 15 seconds.
96 - Travis Kelce Postseason receptions
What Travis Kelce has done in his eight years playing in Kansas City – the injury-missed rookie season excluded in this – is absolutely incredible. He’s been the most reliable target for one of the most prolific stretches of offense in NFL history under Andy Reid, and he’s regarded as one of the greatest regular season tight ends of all time. However, he’s not regarded as one of the greatest postseason performers of all time at tight end, as that designation goes to Rob Gronkowski.
We collectively need to start putting a helluva lot more respect on Kelce’s postseason performances.
Kelce has moved into fourth all time in receptions with 96, behind just Gronkowski (98), Julian Edelman (118), and Jerry Rice (151). He’s also fourth in receiving touchdowns (11) behind John Stallworth (12), Gronkowski (15), and Rice (22). Finally, he’s also vaulted all the way to 8th in postseason receiving yards as well. It is extremely feasible that Kelce catches Gronkowski in all three categories by the end of this postseason, which will be a minimum of 5 games less than Gronkowski has played. It’s time Kelce gets his due as not just an excellent regular season tight end, but also as one of the greatest receivers of all time in the postseason – ahead of Gronkowski.
4 - Converted fourth downs for the Buffalo Bills
The defense was hurting after Tyrann Mathieu was concussed – on the first Bills fourth down of the game, unfortunately – and they struggled to get aligned in some big moments on the day. Perhaps none were more important than the Bills four fourth down conversions – a 100% success rate on the day – that not only extended drives, but allowed a Devin Singletary and a Gabriel Davis touchdown.
The Chiefs were actually decent on third downs – holding Buffalo to just 43% conversion – but couldn’t get off the field or close out the fourth downs. One in particular was especially frustrating, as multiple Chiefs defenders had Josh Allen in their grasp for a sack, yet the defense allowed a 6 yard scramble and subsequent conversion. Yet another was a microcosm of the defense without Mathieu, as Davis ran a simple post route between the Chiefs’ two deep safeties, and the secondary was unable to adjust or communicate while missing the leader of the secondary.
With a tough matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals coming up – and a smart quarterback that can dissect the defense if they’re not on the same page – the hope is that Mathieu can return and help keep everyone on the same page. If not, let’s hope that the secondary can make the necessary adjustments, keep everybody together, and come up big in the moments they’re needed most.