Bills at Chiefs: Playoff OT Thriller

 

I've seen Chiefs-Rams in 2018 where both teams lit up the scoreboard for 105 points. 

I've seen Chiefs-Broncos in 2016 that ended with a doink in overtime. 

And now I've seen Chiefs-Bills in the 2022 playoffs.

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With 11 minutes to go in the game, the Chiefs were up 23-21 and had a drive starting at the Bills 16 following a great punt return from Hill. 

The path to victory is to score a touchdown, make it a two-possession game. On 3rd and 1, the Chiefs run a cute option play but the Bill sniff it out. A little too cute. Chiefs settle for a field goal and now the Bills get the ball with 8:55 to go, down 21-26. 

A Bills touchdown here feels inevitable. My only concern is getting the ball back so that Mahomes has a chance. With 9 minutes to go, it seems like a certainty. But the Bills play this drive patiently. Convert 3rd and 3, 3rd and 4, 3rd and 1. All of a sudden there are only 4 minutes remaining. I'm freaking out. Just blitz so you can get the ball back. 

There's a 4th and 4 with 2:48 where Josh Allen is a hero. 

And then 4th and 13 at the two minute warning. For a second it actually looks like the Chiefs could win the game on a defensive stop. Hahaha.

Allen converts this one by throwing it to Davis wide open in the end zone. Davis had already caught two touchdowns at this point, but sure he's wide open in the end zone. 

But whatever. The Chiefs get the ball back with 1:54. At least Mahomes gets a chance. I'm thinking the Bills scored too soon. 

And then the Chiefs did something really silly. They scored too soon. 

Earlier this year, I wrote about scoring too soon. Your goal is not to score. You have to score and consider the clock. 

Tyreek scores from 64 yards out with 1:02 remaining. If he slides down inside the 5, could have tried to let some clock run or force the Bills to use timeouts. If the refs had whistled Tyreek for taunting, it would have been 15 yards from the 15. Honestly I think that helps the Chiefs' chances of winning. 

The Chiefs' secondary was banged up and had no chance of stopping the Bills with a full minute remaining and three timeouts. The Chiefs couldn't even force a third down on that drive. My family came in to watch at this point and I told them before the Bills had crossed midfield that the Chiefs were going to lose on a touchdown. 

Sure enough with 13 seconds left, Davis catches his 4th touchdown of the night. A playoff record!

The announcers are talking about everything that Allen did to win the game. The Bills kick the xp and kick it deep. No squib. 

Mahomes get the ball at his 25. Pass to Hill gets 19 yards in 5 seconds. Pass to Kelce gets 25 yards in 5 seconds. Butker 49 yarder to tie at the buzzer. 

The Bills scored with 13 seconds left and it was too much time for Mahomes. 

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Whoever won the coin toss was going to win this game. 

As the road team, the Bills got to call the coin toss. Allen called tails. It was heads. 

The only 3rd down the Chiefs faced in OT was a 3rd and 1. 

Mahomes 4 tds, 378 passing yards, 69 rushing yards
Allen 4 tds, 329 passing yards, 68 rushing yards

If this game had college OT rules, it could have gone to 7 OT. 

I saw a Bills fan tweet that Mahomes wasn't better than Allen, he was just luckier because the Chiefs won the coin toss. The thing is...he's not wrong. Allen would have gone down and scored, 100%. And the current OT rules make the coin toss more valuable than they should be. The Chiefs got screwed in the 2019 AFC Championship game when Mahomes didn't touch the ball in OT. And now Allen got screwed tonight by the same rules. 

By the way, if the Bills had won one more game in the regular season, this game would have been in Buffalo. And if it went to OT, Allen wouldn't have been able to call tails. 

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The theme of the year was Never Count Out The Chiefs. It started in Week One when KC came back against Cleveland. 

In the middle of the season KC lost to the Bills and Titans and everyone started counting them out.

It came back in Week 15 when the Chiefs came back vs the Chargers that would help get them homefield.

I think most people counted them out with 13 seconds left. But turns out, that wasn't necessary. 

Earlier in the week, I had saved screenshots of everyone picking the Bills and Buffalo fans talking trash. I wasn't convinced that Allen-Mahomes was a rivalry yet. But after winning like this, Bills fans don't deserve my chirping. If it couldn't be the Chiefs, the fans of Buffalo and Cincinnati would be very deserving. 

Oh and one more thing: the Chiefs drive to get a field goal following a touchback took less time than Dak's run last week.