KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Patrick Mahomes threw for 245 yards and a touchdown and ran through Buffalo’s defense for two more scores, relying on the defense at key points to give Kansas City a run for its money. He helped the Chiefs defeat the Bills 32-29. Sunday night, they will advance to the Super Bowl for the third consecutive season.
Now, the AFC champions will try to do something no other NFL team has ever done: win all three.
The Chiefs will be gaining a familiar foe in the Eagles, whom they beat for their first title two years ago. Philadelphia defeated the Washington Commanders 55-23 early Sunday to earn a spot in the Champions League on February 9th in New Orleans.
This is the fourth time since January 2021 that the Chiefs have ended the Bills’ season in the playoffs. And like the others, this one came after a heavyweight battle between the top two teams in the AFC. That game was tied at 29-all after Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen found Curtis Samuel in the back of the end zone to set him up a bit more. Drama at Arrowhead Stadium.
But Mahomes was completely unfazed. He completed four consecutive passes on the ensuing possession, setting up Harrison Butker’s go-ahead field goal with 3:33 left and putting the Bills in another do-or-die situation in Kansas City.
Allen gained momentum by running for a first down, but his next two throws hit the line of scrimmage and fell incomplete. He hit Amari Cooper on third down for a short gain, the Bills went for it – the Bills were 4/5 on fourth down at that point – and Kansas City’s blitz led to Allen was forced to pray no match for Dalton Kincaid. catch.
The Chiefs took over, got some first downs, and started celebrating again.
Kareem Hunt had a touchdown run and Xavier Worthy had six catches for 85 yards and one score for Kansas City, which won nine straight playoff games and became the fourth team to reach the Super Bowl for the third year in a row. .
Allen threw for 237 yards and two scores for Buffalo. James Cook ran for 85 yards and two touchdowns of his own.
The Bills have yet to appear in a Super Bowl since winning four in a row from 1990-93.
The Bills and Chiefs have been friends for years, having met seven times since Kansas City defeated Buffalo in exactly the same situation (the AFC title game at Arrowhead Stadium) to advance to the Super Bowl in January 2021. There is.
Buffalo had won all four regular season games. Kansas City won three important postseason games.
And that familiarity became clear as the game progressed, along with the fact that Bills coach Sean McDermott once worked for his Chiefs counterpart, Andy Reid. The Bills refused to let Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce beat them like they did against the Texans in the divisional round, but Kansas City was prepared for Allen’s tendency to take off and run the bases.
After a turbulent first half, the Chiefs returned to the locker room with a 21-16 lead.
Mahomes and Hunt looked to score, and Worthy had a touchdown reception as both teams traded leads. Cook reached Buffalo’s end zone and Mack Hollins made a spectacular touchdown catch just before halftime to keep the Bills in the game.
In the second half, the battle continued to be within inches of each other. Cook narrowly crossed the goal line for a touchdown, the Chiefs stopped Allen inches short of his marker on fourth down, Mahomes bulldozed into the end zone for a score, and the Bills responded. On a 70-yard drive, the MVP-candidate quarterback scored Samuel for his fourth and tied the game at 29-all.
53 minutes and 45 seconds has become meaningless. It all came down to the final 6 minutes and 45 seconds of the game.
injury
Bills cornerback Christian Benford was ejected in the first quarter and was ruled out with a concussion. He spent the week in concussion protocol and was cleared to play Sunday.
to the next
The Chiefs head to the Big Easy to face the Eagles in their second Super Bowl in three years. In the first game, Butker rallied from a 24-14 halftime deficit to win 38-35 with a 27-yard field goal.
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