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“They had it” – Chiefs luck continues? | 01:25
The two teams are locked in for Super Bowl LIX, with the Kansas City Chiefs booking their ticket to New Orleans with a 32-29 win over the Buffalo Bills on Monday.
It is a rematch of Super Bowl LVII, which the Chiefs won 38-35, with the Philadelphia Eagles meeting Kansas City in the final game of the season for the second time in three years.
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The Chiefs will now have a chance to become the first time in NFL history to win three Super Bowls in a row, while the Eagles will be looking to lift the Vince Lombardi Trophy for the first time since 2018.
As for Buffalo, it is heartbreak for Josh Allen and the Bills, who have made the playoffs six straight seasons but have continued to fall just short of a shot at their first ever Super Bowl win.
The Bills will come to rue a shaky start to Monday’s game, where they strangely went away from establishing the run despite being one of the best rushing teams in the league, particularly in the post-season.
Although, Buffalo was still able to put itself in a position to win the AFC Championship game before a controversial call turned momentum back in Kansas City’s favour.
The Bills led 22-21 with 13 minutes left in the fourth quarter and looked to have picked up the first down on a 4th-and-1 Allen sneak but were ruled to have come up just short, handing the ball over to the Chiefs who then scored on the ensuing drive to take the lead.
Former NFL quarterback Dan Orlovsky described it as an “absolutely horrible” call, writing on X that the ball was “clearly” past the line.
FULL GAME RECAP:
With so much on the line, Allen was feeling the pressure early – both figuratively and literally.
Kansas City game-wrecker Chris Jones was able to get around the Buffalo offensive line to force Allen into a mistimed throw towards Mack Hollins, with the Bills quarterback lucky not to be picked off.
The same was true on 3rd-and-6 as Allen looked to keep the opening drive going, but instead once again had the ball bounce off the hands of Chiefs defenders.
It was a nervy start for Allen and the Buffalo offence, but unsurprisingly it was the opposite from Mahomes and the two-time champions as Kansas City marched up the field with ease.
A 31-yard completion to Juju Smith-Schuster eventually set up Kareem Hunt for the early go-ahead score as he rumbled into the end zone, capping off a nine-play, 90-yard drive from Kansas City.
It was an ominous start from the Chiefs and while the Bills were able to somewhat settle down on their next drive, with Tyler Bass kicking a 53-yard field goal, Allen still didn’t look like his usual composed self.
Despite the 7-3 scoreline, Kansas City clearly looked the far better team early on and to make matters worse for Buffalo, top cornerback Christian Benford – who was a game-time decision after being in the concussion protocol all week – was then ruled out after suffering another head knock.
At that point it looked like the Chiefs were in cruise control and they were, until an uncharacteristic turnover off a botched exchange between Mahomes and Isiah Pachecho saw Kansas City throw away an opportunity to push further ahead on the scoreboard.
It was the Chiefs’ first giveaway since November 17, which was coincidentally against Buffalo when they suffered their first loss of the regular season.
Of course, the Bills still needed to capitalise on the takeaway and did just that after two key third-down conversions, including one 24-yard strike to Khalil Shakir which set up James Cook for the go-ahead touchdown.
Suddenly, Buffalo had opened up a 10-7 lead early in the second quarter and despite the ease in which Kansas City had worked its way up the field, the pressure was back on the defending champions to answer.
The Chiefs did just that through speedster Xavier Worthy, who they had taken 28th overall in the draft after traded with the Bills to move up.
Momentum had well and truly swung back in Kansas City’s favour after Buffalo went three-and-out on its drive before Nikki Remigio moved the Chiefs into scoring territory with a 41-yard punt return.
It didn’t take long for the Chiefs to make it a two-possession game with a Mahomes rushing touchdown, although there was a touch of drama after Worthy was controversially deemed to have come down with a pass that moved Kansas City to the five-yard line moments earlier.
Trailing 21-10, the Bills desperately need something before halftime and found it in the form of a monster Mack Hollins touchdown as the Buffalo receiver beat star Chiefs cornerback Trent McDuffie.
An offside penalty gifted Buffalo a two-point attempt to get within a field goal of Kansas City but the Bills were unsuccessful, leaving the score at 21-16 heading into halftime.
Buffalo carried that momentum into the third quarter, forcing Kansas City into its first punt of the game after Matt Milano sacked Mahomes, pushing the Chiefs out of field goal range.
That defensive stand seemed to settle the offence too, with the Bills starting to lean into the run after having just eight running back rushes in the opening half.
Buffalo’s ground game looked to be its biggest advantage entering Monday’s game, so it was puzzling the Bills didn’t go to it more in the first half but it certainly worked to open the third as Cook burst through a hole for a 33-yard gain.
James Cook had a big game. David Eulitt/Getty Images/AFPSource: AFPCook was then featured once again as he put Buffalo ahead 22-21 after an acrobatic leaping effort off an Allen pitch before a controversial call tipped the scales in Kansas City’s favour.
Having already picked up a first down on a 4th-and-1 earlier in the drive, Buffalo tried it again with the quarterback sneak but Allen was ruled just short.
Sideline angles and a birds eye view appeared to show the ball had just reached the 40-yard line while the two referees on each side of the field seemed to have different spots before agreeing it was short.
The close call saw the Chiefs take over on downs and capitalise, with Mahomes continuing to pull something out of his bag of tricks as he rushed for his second touchdown of the night.
It was the first game of Mahomes’ career with multiple rushing touchdowns.
While it would have been all too easy for Buffalo to unravel, Allen instead found Hollins for another big play to set up the Bills in scoring territory before a clutch throw on 4th-and-5 saw Curtis Samuel lock up the scores at 29-29.
A Harrison Butker field goal then put Kansas City ahead entering the final three minutes of the game, setting up the biggest drive of Allen’s career.
Harrison Butker celebrates a successful field goal. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)Source: Getty ImagesAllen looked to be in trouble on 4th-and-5 but somehow was able to get the ball in the vicinity of tight end Dalton Kincaid, who couldn’t come down with it.
“I can’t believe he gave them a chance. That should have been caught,” Tony Romo said in commentary.
The game was far from over at that point, with the Bills still capable of getting a stop to keep their Super Bowl dream alive, but the Chiefs picked up a first down through a bruising Isiah Pacheco run.
Samaje Perine then did the same on his first touch of the game in what Jim Nantz described as a “dagger to the heart” of the Bills, who fell just short again.
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