The Kansas City Chiefs took a frustrating five decades to make their second Super Bowl appearance. Now, defending champions are going there for the second year in a row.
Showing no persistent effect of a concussion, Patrick Mahomes cut Buffalo’s secondary with relentless efficiency as the Chiefs achieved a 38-24 victory over Josh Allen and the Bills in the AFC championship game on Sunday night. Mahomes pitched for 325 yards and three touchdowns, with most of the attention focused on his favorite targets Travis Kelce and Tyreek Hill.
The Chiefs will face a well-known opponent, Tom Brady, and NFC Buccaneers champion in two weeks in Tampa, Florida.
Kelce ended with 13 receptions for 118 yards and two touchdowns, and Hill added nine receptions for 172 yards, becoming the first pair in NFL history with consecutive games of at least 100 yards receiving each in a single postseason.
Clyde Edwards-Helaire and Darrel Williams added TD short races for the Chiefs, who will try to become the eighth franchise and the first team since the New England Patriots led by Brady in 2003 and 2004 to defend the Lombardi Trophy.
Allen, who had his worst game of the season in a week 6 loss to the Chiefs, again struggled against Kansas City’s strong defense. He finished 287 yards with two touchdowns and an interception, but a large part of his numbers came when Bills tried to recover from a 38-15 deficit in the final minutes.
His frustration spilled over with 3:19 left, when Allen was being fired by Tanoh Kpassagnon. Alex Okafor finished the tackle and Allen threw the ball in his face in retaliation. Strikers Jon Feliciano and Dion Dawkins stepped up and tied Okafor, resulting in a flood of compensatory penalties for personal fouls.
This crowned a bitter defeat for Bills, who had won their first AFC title game since defeating Kansas City at home on January 1, 1994. They had won 11 out of 12 since losing to the Chiefs earlier this season. season, and had not lost in the second half since Week 8, and were confident that this could finally be the championship year.
Instead, after finally winning the Patriots at AFC East, the Bills have a new hurdle for the Super Bowl.
The Chiefs really saw the Bills as a 9-0 lead, largely thanks to Mecole Hardman’s dull kick within his five that gave Buffalo a touchdown. But the reigning champions were hardly shaken; the Chiefs, after all, recovered from double digits in each of their postseason wins last season, including the Super Bowl triumph over San Francisco.
Mahomes and Kelce soon found their rhythm. And the rest of the Chief’s offense followed suit.