Patrick Mahomes threw a walk-off touchdown to Travis Kelce in overtime to see the Kansas City Chiefs finally overcome the Buffalo Bills 42-36 after an epic quarterback battle between himself and Josh Allen played out at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday night.
Story of the Game
Mahomes passed for 378 yards and three touchdowns, while he also accounted for a further 69 yards and a score on the ground. Allen, meanwhile, had 329 yards passing and four TDs, while also finishing as his team's leading rusher with 68 yards.
In a bonkers final two minutes of regulation alone, Allen threw two touchdown passes to Gabriel Davis (and found Stefon Diggs for a successful two-point conversion after the first), while Mahomes also fired a 64-yard touchdown to Tyreek Hill and Harrison Butker kicked a 49-yard field goal as time expired to take the game to overtime.
Allen's second scoring strike to Davis, and fourth overall - seeing the Buffalo receiver set a new NFL playoff record - came with only 13 seconds left on the clock, seemingly winning the game for the Bills and booking their AFC Championship meeting with the Cincinnati Bengals.
But no, incredibly, back came Mahomes and the Chiefs, with their quarterback firing completions of 19 and 25 yards to Hill and Kelce, respectively, to move the team into field goal range where Butker did the rest. The Chiefs then won the toss, ensuring they possessed the ball first in overtime and Mahomes would never let Allen get his hands on it as his eight-yard TD to Kelce ended a remarkable encounter.
What's Next?
The Chiefs now host a fourth AFC Championship game in as many years when they welcome the Cincinnati Bengals to Arrowhead Stadium - live on Sky Sports NFL from 8pm, Sunday.
The Bengals overcame the AFC No 1 seeds, the Tennessee Titans, on Saturday night and are the only team to have beaten the Chiefs since October 24 (Week Seven) this season, as they triumphed 34-31 in a Week 17 matchup in Cincinnati.
Stats Leaders
Bills
- Passing: Josh Allen, 27/37, 329 yards, 4 TDs
- Rushing: Josh Allen, 11 carries, 68 yards
- Devin Singletary, 10 carries, 26 yards
- Receiving: Gabriel Davis, eight catches, 201 yards, 4 TDs
Chiefs
- Passing: Patrick Mahomes, 33/44, 378 yards, 3 TDs
- Rushing: Patrick Mahomes, seven carries, 69 yards, 1 TD
- Clyde Edwards-Helaire, seven carries, 60 yards
- Receiving: Tyreek Hill, 11 catches, 150 yards, 1 TD
Scoring Summary
Key Moments
In an early indication of the high-scoring drama that was to follow, both teams immediately came out firing on offense, with the Bills opening the scoring as Devin Singletary capped a 13-play, 71-yard drive with a goal-line TD, and the Chiefs answering back with Mahomes putting the finishing touches on an 11-play, 74-yard possession from eight yards out.
With the two defenses beginning to feel their way into the game, the score would be locked at 14-14 heading into half-time as Mahomes first found Byron Pringle for a two-yard TD and then Allen answered back with his first scoring strike to Davis. Kansas City had the chance to inch ahead before the break but Butker missed with his 50-yard field goal try that doinked off the upright.
Butker made amends by eventually seeing the Chiefs into that three-point lead with a 39-yarder to open the second half, while KC stretched further ahead as Mecole Hardman rumbled in for a 25-yard rushing touchdown later in the third quarter.
Allen and the Bills immediately answered back as, from the very next play from scrimmage, the Buffalo QB hit Davis in stride with the perfect deep ball and the receiver ran clear for a stunning 75-yard touchdown.
A further Butker field goal gave the Chiefs a five-point advantage with just under nine minutes left in the contest, but the Bills seemingly had destiny in their own hands as they launched into an impressive 17-play, 75-yard drive that used up seven minutes of the clock and was capped with both Davis' third touchdown reception, but also a successful two-point conversion to put Buffalo up by three inside the final two minutes of the game.
That was more than enough time for plenty more drama in this playoff classic, however, as Mahomes answered back with a stunning 64-yard deep-ball TD to Hill with a minute to go, only for Allen to again answer the call and put his team up with only 13 seconds remaining as he once more found Davis free in the endzone.
But those final few seconds ultimately proved to be more than enough for Mahomes to pull off some more magic, as he set up Butker's game-tying field goal, seeing the game into overtime where he'd have the final say with his eight-yard TD toss to Kelce to cap an incredible win.
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