Buffalo Bills vs Kansas City Chiefs (NFL AFC Championship Playoffs)
1ST QUARTER
14:01 ON THE CLOCK: The Kansas City opening drive begins on the 10 yard line. Solid catches from Hollywood Brown, Xavier Worthy and Juju Smith-Schuster bring consecutive first downs to the 20 yard line. A 1st & 10 from the 12 yard line is handed off to Kareem Hunt. He goes through the Bills defense, pushing through a tackle in the last couple of yards for the touchdown. The Chiefs lead 7-0.
7:29 ON THE CLOCK: The Bills have their opening drive on a 3rd & 3 on the 37 yard line. Josh Allen throws to Khalil Shakir who travels with the ball to make a gain of over 10 yards for the first down. A 2nd & 10 follows with Amari Cooper being stopped just short of the first down by the Chiefs defenders. Shakir with another reception on 3rd & 9 but is well short of the first down with more good defending from the Chiefs defense. The 53 yard field goal is good from Tyler Bass to narrow the gap to 3-7.
3:32 ON THE CLOCK: Patrick Mahomes with the 2nd & 10 near the 30 yard line. He runs with the ball picking up 12 yards on the play for the first down. The next play is handed to Kareem Hunt who does well to push through the tackles from the Bills to drive all the way for consecutive first downs. Xavier Worthy runs the next play for more first downs as the Chiefs advance forward. The Chiefs have a 2nd & 2 near the 25 yard line as a miscommunication between Mahomes and Isiah Pacheco gets the ball loose on the ground. The Bills are fastest to react and dive on the ball to force the turnover as the ball goes back to Josh Allen.
2ND QUARTER
15:00 ON THE CLOCK: Buffalo starts the second quarter due to the turnover, with Josh Allen throwing to James Cook who runs well with help from good blocking by his teammate for the first down. Difficulty on the next part of the drive with a 3rd & 9, but Josh Allen is quick to throw to Amari Cooper who gets the much needed first down. Another 3rd down follows, this time 13 yards needed, which Josh Allen makes up with a pinpoint pass to Shakir. He catches and adds more yardage to put the Bills in 1st & GOAL range. The ball is handed to Cook again who manages to “find the opening” as commentary says to sneak into the endzone. The Bills lead 10-7.
8:29 ON THE CLOCK: Kansas City looks in trouble on their next drive with a 4th & 1 near their 40 yard line. Mahomes runs the ball himself making it to around the 35 yard line for the first down. Worthy catches the pass a few plays later to set up another first down for the Chiefs in Bills territory. More consecutive first downs follow as DeAndre Hopkins gets his first catch of the game. 1st & 10 from the 11 is fired into the hands of Worthy who uses his pace and dives into the pilon at the end of the endzone for the touchdown. Kansas City retakes the lead 10-14.
3:50 ON THE CLOCK: The ball is punted back to the Chiefs as Buffalo can’t get their drive started. Nikko Remigio collects the ball on the 25 yard line, he shakes off tackles and takes advantage of all of the possible space he has to get the ball near the 35 yard line. A great return from the Wide Receiver to get the Chiefs in great position for their next drive.
3:13 ON THE CLOCK: Mahomes is pressured on 3rd & 5 to throw long with a great catch from Worthy again. He manages to keep the ball in his hands despite pressure from a Bills defender inside the 5. 3rd & GOAL from the 1 has Mahomes looking for his teammates but the space opens up for him to make his way into the endzone himself. 10-21 to the Chiefs.
1:23 ON THE CLOCK: Less than 90 seconds remain as the Bills need to make quick work of this drive to get any points. Amari Cooper gets consecutive first downs to start the drive off well. 2nd & 6 is thrown and caught well by Josh Allen and Keon Coleman, but a mention of 2 “get out of bounds” by the commentary team shows the time pressure the Bills are under. The 2nd & 10 is thrown from the 34 yard line by Allen, who looks long. An inch perfect throw and incredible catch from Mack Hollins gives the Bills a much needed touchdown before halftime. Although, a 2-point attempt is unsuccessful despite the best efforts of the Bills Offensive Line and Josh Allen. The Bills end the half 5 points behind the Chiefs.
HALF TIME - BUFFALO BILLS 16 - 21 KANSAS CITY CHIEFS
3RD QUARTER
9:23 ON THE CLOCK: The Bills have the ball with Kansas City failing to make significant ground in the opening drive of the second half. James Cook runs from the 20 yard line to near the 40 yard line for a big gain. A great run as he makes it through tackles to get the Bills in Chiefs territory. Josh Allen then runs the 4th & 1 and pushes his way through tackles with the help of his Offensive Line for the first down. A 2nd & 2 is ran again by Allen who drives again using his strength to get the Bills a 1st & GOAL. The 4th & GOAL is handed again to James Cook, who makes it through 2 tackles before his outstretched arm just about makes it to the endzone for the touchdown. An incredible show of athleticism to get the 6 points from Cook. However, another 2-point attempt fails from the Bills as they only take a 1 point lead, 22-21.
4TH QUARTER
12:54 ON THE CLOCK: Two failed attempts at a tush push by the Bills on 4th & 1 give the ball back to the Chiefs. A 2nd & 3 following a good run by Mahomes is thrown accurately into the arms of Juju Smith-Schuster on the 40. He swivels the defender and gets more yardage before being forced out of play near the 20 yard line. The 2nd & 3 to follow is given to Hunt who drives through the defenders to make the 1st & GOAL. Mahomes again decides to run himself, with good blocks from the offense including Travis Kelce to open a gap for Mahomes. He pushes through tackles himself in order to make it for the touchdown. Arrowhead roar their approval as the Chiefs retake the lead in this to and fro game. Kansas City is then able to extend their lead further as they convert the 2-point attempt. The catch from Justin Watson makes it 22-29 in favour of the Chiefs.
10:13 ON THE CLOCK: A 1st & 10 on the 30 yard line for the Bills, the ball goes in the hands of Cook again for another first down. A couple of plays later, Cook gets the ball again for a gain of 20 on the play. A crucial 3rd & 8 as Allen gets the ball out quick and throws to Hollins who catches inside the 5. A 1st & GOAL for the Bills as they look to get maximum points from this drive. The Bills have a last chance gamble on 4th & GOAL with Allen throwing from the pocket as Wide Receiver Curtis Samuel is open in the back of the endzone. He manages to catch and lean whilst dragging his legs to ensure that he keeps his legs inbounds for the touchdown. The game is tied at 29-29.
5:49 ON THE CLOCK: Patrick Mahomes has the ball on the 47 yard line, he finds Travis Kelce who turns the defender and gets the first down. A 2nd & 7 for the Chiefs as Mahomes gets the ball out just in time to throw to Worthy who has space to get extra yardage on the play as well as the first down. A 1st & GOAL is not able to be taken advantage of as Buffalo’s defense stands strong and forces Kansas City to kick a field goal. Harrison Butker puts it “dead centre” for the 3 points, Buffalo 29-32 Kansas City.
2:55 ON THE CLOCK: The Bills need to make this drive count, with a field goal to tie the game or a touchdown to win. A 2nd & 11 as Josh Allen runs out of the pocket, then jolts from side to side to get past a defender for the first down. A 3rd & 10 follows on the Bills 42 yard line. Allen finds J. Brown before coming up short. The 4th down puts pressure on Josh Allen. This is combined with the Chiefs defense putting more pressure on Allen as he needs to get the ball out. He throws in the direction of Dalton Kincaid but he is unable to collect it in his hands. The game looks to be over.
1:50 ON THE CLOCK: The Chiefs look to ice the game near the 45 yard line as Mahomes gives it to Pacheco. He blasts through the Bills defender before getting the first down. A 3rd & 9 is thrown to an open Samaje Perine, he runs with the ball and gets the needed first down to send the Chiefs to the Super Bowl.
The game ends with the Kansas City Chiefs going to their third straight Super Bowl in New Orleans. They will meet the Philadelphia Eagles in a repeat of Super Bowl 57 where the Chiefs came out on top 38-35. A possible Super Bowl three-peat hangs in the balance for Kansas City at Caesars Superdome.
FINAL SCORE - BUFFALO BILLS 29 - 32 KANSAS CITY CHIEFS
