Chiefs Steal One on the Road, Advances to AFC Championship Game
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The Kansas City Chiefs keep the streak of appearing in the AFC Championship Game going after defeating the Buffalo Bills 27-24, which makes the Chiefs 3-0 against the Bills in the playoffs since 2020.
This was a true team game as quarterback Patrick Mahomes didn’t have his usual stellar offensive performance due to only having 215 passing yards, going 17/23 with 19 rushing yards to add on with that. Mahomes relied on a good rushing performance from running back Isiah Pacheco, having 15 carries for 97 yards with a rushing touchdown to accumulate to that.
Tight end Travis Kelce finally got back into his playoff form being the main target for Mahomes, having 5 receptions in 6 targets for 75 yards and had 2 touchdowns that were in very crucial moments in the 2nd half of the game.
The Bills once again choke and at the time they finally had a home game in the playoffs against the Chiefs and did not perform to their full capability at all. Josh Allen only had 186 passing yards going 26/39 with 72 rushing yards to add with that and 3 total touchdowns, 2 rushing, and 1 passing.
The Bills seemed to have won the running game with running backs James Cook, and Ty Johnson with Cook having 18 carries for 61 yards and Johnson had 7 carries for 40 yards rushing and played a good rotational role as a two back that’s hardly used efficiently.
Josh Allen was targeting all his wide receivers, with his two best targets in the game were tight end Dalton Kincaid having 5 receptions for 45 yards, and wide receiver Khalil Shakir having 7 receptions for 44 yards and had a receiving touchdown to add onto that as well.
The two most impactful people, both good and bad, were the kickers. Chiefs Harrison Butker went 2/2 on field goals and also had 3 extra points while Bills Tyler Bass matched Butker with 3 extra points but went 1/2 on field goals which the missed field goal happened during the last two minutes of the game which made the Bills not tie the game and gave the Chiefs an opportunity to end the game and which they did to move on to the AFC Championship Game for a 6th year in a row.
The Bills need to hit the offseason hard and acquire some defensive assets in the box, either linebackers or defensive tackles, to add more strength up front off the ball. Even with defense in mind, the Bills should trade for picks to acquire big playmaker rookies offensively to give Josh Allen a better chance and to get rid of some players that may have grown out of their prime.
The Chiefs will now be on the road for a second straight week in Baltimore to face off against the Baltimore Ravens. The Chiefs defensively will have to step up and do way better than what they did this week against the run game facing the triple threat run attack with quarterback Lamar Jackson, and running backs Gus Edwards, and Justice Hill which they dominated the second half against the Texans outscoring the 2nd half of that game 24-0 winning the game 34-10. The Chiefs have never been on the road in the AFC Championship Game with Mahomes at QB, but after performing well on the road for the first time with Mahomes, this will be a great game to watch on Jan. 28.