In what has already been regarded to as one of the greatest postseason finishes of all time, the Kansas City Chiefs sealed a 42-36 win over the Buffalo Bills in overtime.
QB Patrick Mahomes; 8-yard pass to TE Travis Kelce put the final stamp on what was an absolute must-watch.
According to a stat reported by ESPN, the Bills and Chiefs combined for 25 points in the final two minutes of the fourth quarter; that’s the second-most among any game in the Super Bowl era.
“To be in this moment in this game against that team, to make a play to walk off a game at Arrowhead, I’ll remember this game for the rest of my life,” Mahomes said.
“It was definitely special to win a game like this at Arrowhead. Obviously the Super Bowl was probably No. 1 for me but this one is right up there. To be able to come back a couple of times, get points when we needed to get points, score touchdowns, get in field goal range, I’ll remember it forever.”
Prior to the game-winning TD pass to Kelce, Mahomes found Tyreek Hill for a 64-yard touchdown with just 1:02 remaining.
“I always have faith that each and every time I step on the field, I am going to score,” Hill said. “Sometimes it may not happen, but that time it was two-man coverage, the safety was very deep, the corner was inside leveraging. That is just Pat, you know, knowing exactly when I was going to break. Perfect timing, perfect execution, perfect play call and the rest is history. I was able to use my speed getting into the end zone.”
25 points in the final minute and 54 seconds. That’s what the Chiefs did to pull off this triller of a win.
“The game came down to, pretty much, 13 seconds,” Bills coach Sean McDermott said.
“I think they all feel the same way I do; we’re all sick to (our) stomach and it hurts. We worked really hard to get here. I know the fans are disappointed. I wish I could take that off of them, take it off the team. But we can’t.”
Bills QB Josh Allen finished the night having completed 27 of 37 passes for 329 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions. Mahomes completed 33 of 44 passes for 378 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions.
“It hurts,” Allen said. “You don’t like feeling like this, especially back-to-back years at the same place. So you got to find a way to get better and come back next year. We just gotta use this as fuel for the fire.”
Allen’s Bills lost on the road against Kansas City in the AFC Championship game last season.
Kansas City will now host the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC Championship on 30 January. Chiefs opened up as +120 favorites in most books.