Mahomes out-duels Allen, propels Chiefs to third-straight Super Bowl

The Kansas City Chiefs (15-2) advance to the Super Bowl after defeating the Buffalo Bills (13-4) with key fourth quarter moments by both the offense and the defense.

On February 9th the Kansas City Chiefs will have a chance to rewrite history. They are a win over the Philadelphia Eagles, away from being the first team to win back-to-back Lombardi’s in 59 NFL seasons.

The Buffalo Bills are currently just a footnote in this story as Josh Allen and company move to 0-4 against Patrick Mahomes in the playoffs during this stretch of three Super Bowls and counting in six years. That is not a slight to Buffalo as much as it is heaping praise to head coach Andy Reid’s squad. The Bills may end up being the toughest opponent along the path but in the end, one clutch play by the defense and then the offense in the final two minutes of the game was enough to walk away with a 32-29 victory in the AFC Championship Game to win the Lamar Hunt Trophy for the fifth time in six seasons, this time in front of the hometown fans.

“It's just so hard to get to the Super Bowl and I don't take it for granted and to be able to do it again at Arrowhead was special,” quarterback Patrick Mahomes said. “I mean, last year it was awesome. You get there and you win it but you're at a different stadium and then being able to win it at Arrowhead and then you get that trophy on that stage you look around and there's not a seat empty. It is a special place and I'm glad that I get to be a part of Chief Kingdom and here in Kansas City because these are moments that I'll have for the rest of my life.”

The Chiefs overcame many myths in the game too. Many were saying they had to win the turnover battle. They lost the turnover battle. Many were saying the Bills offensive line would fare much better in this matchup. A Joe Thuney at left tackle-led offensive line allowed two sacks and seven quarterback hits. The dominant Bills offensive line, who allowed just 14 all season, allowed two today and eight quarterback hits. Many were saying the Bills’ run game would get after the Chiefs' defense. While James Cook did rush for 85 yards on just 13 carries, Mahomes out-rushed Allen on the same amount of carries. Many were saying Kelce would have to be the savior for Mahomes in the passing game. Like the matchup in November, Kelce only had two catches.

Last but not least, this game was a race to over 30, which was an amount that Kansas City had not reached in their first 18 games of the season. Well, four touchdowns and a go-ahead field goal with just over three and a half minutes to go in the game got them there against a defense the Chiefs were ultimately able to exploit.

“I'd like to take my hat off here to the Buffalo Bills and the great job that (Bills head coach Sean McDermott’s) done with that group and his coaches and players,” head coach Andy Reid said. “Every time we play him it's one to store away and in the history books. It's just they're great phenomenal games and it's great for the fans, it's great for the league.”

With Allen having plenty of time left after Harrison Butker’s field goal to put them up three, Arrowhead was ready to roar to bring home the trophy named after the man who brought the team to Kansas City. The drive only lasted six plays after a fourth and five attempt was disrupted by pressure from defensive end George Karlaftis. Allen very accurately heaved up a ball for tight end Dalton Kincaid in desperation, but it slipped through his hands, giving the ball back to Kansas City with one minute and 54 seconds to go. It was the second time in three drives that ended in a turnover on downs after Nick Bolton sniffed out a quarterback sneak on a fourth and one previously on a very close call, but both stops are what led the Chiefs to victory.

“This came right down to an inch, literally,” Reid said. “I mean that's what the stop was and so it was back and forth. It was going to be back and forth. Whoever had the ball last was probably going to come out in the lead.”

Buffalo still had three timeouts left, so Kansas City still had to have a first down or two to seal the deal. Every run was getting stuffed along the way, so Reid dialed up a couple of passes, putting the ball in Mahomes’ hands to ensure a win. On the first set of downs, running back Isiah Pacheco caught a ball in the flats and darted upfield for a first, but he was knocked out of bounds, saving Buffalo a timeout. After two runs gained one yard, Kansas City was stuck with a third and nine with one minute and 35 seconds to go with all of the Bills timeouts emptied. Mahomes wound up finding another running back in the flats, but this time it was Samaje Perine and this time he gained 17 yards and stayed in bounds, allowing Mahomes to kneel it out twice to put the Championship on ice.

Reid took a very balanced approach in this one, as Kansas City rushed the ball 35 times with Mahomes only attempting 26 passes. It worked to perfection though because Mahomes averaged 9.4 yards per attempt, his highest mark since week one against the Baltimore Ravens. Most of Mahomes' 11 rush attempts were scrambles after dropping back, but this was still one of the most balanced and efficient games Reid called all season. It paid off for the Chiefs bellcow tonight too, as Kareem Hunt gained 64 yards on 17 carries and a touchdown.

This game was all about the Mahomes Magic. Not only did he have an efficient night passing, as I said earlier, he out-gained Allen on the ground, but he also scrambled in for two touchdown rushes. He looked like a man who was not going to be denied a chance at rewriting the history books, seemingly always making the right read and the right play and executing it to perfection, other than the fumble when attempting a read-option with Pacheco that wound up in the hands of Buffalo. Mahomes spoke about what prompted him to run when necessary, throughout the game.

“They always give me options to kind of pull the ball and run it and they were playing man coverage a lot of the day and they were putting a lot of attention on (Kelce) and so with them kind of that pushing that safety and pushing extra linebackers to Travis it opened up different lanes for me to run and I was able to run the football,” Mahomes said. “I pulled some of those reads that I've had all season long, just because it's playoffs and you have to make sure that the defense is true to to what their rules are.”

That one touchdown pass was thrown to rookie wide receiver Xavier Worthy, who had a career-high 85 yards on six catches, further cementing himself as wide receiver-one, similar to how Rashee Rice did last season. The touchdown was his 10th total including the playoffs and it was his now signature shallow crosser, using that speed to quickly get upfield and dive into the endzone.

JuJu Smith-Schuster was the team's second-leading receiver on just two catches, but one was for 31 yards and the other was for 29, displaying Rice-esque YAC ability. He was just another example of a post-training camp addition that has proved to be more valuable than ever imagined, along with Hunt, Perine and DeAndre Hopkins. This year's free agency splash signing, Hollywood Brown was third on the Chiefs in receiving with three catches for 35 yards on five targets.

As far as the defense goes, it was never going to be about defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo coming up with a plan to completely shut down an Allen-led offense. It was going to be about shutting them down in key moments, and that is just what they did. The Bills were three for three in the red zone, which is something Kansas City will have to clean up against Saquon Barkley, A.J. Brown and company, but the Chiefs ended four of Buffalo’s nine drives with a punt or turnover on downs.

After winning the coin toss and choosing to defer, Kansas City applied pressure from the jump, forcing the Bills to punt on the game's opening drive. It was a quick three and out where two of Allen’s passes slipped right through the Kansas City defender's hands. A turnover would have been good to see but the punt was enough to allow the Chiefs to jump into a 7-0 lead less than seven minutes into the game.

It is not that Allen did not play well, he played a great game. It is just that fact that Spagnuolo and his defense made them earn every single one of the 374 yards they put up. Allen accounted for 276 total yards and two touchdowns, but the Chiefs eliminated key fixtures such as holding Khalil Shakir to six catches for 46 yards and Amari Cooper to four for 33. Speaking of the coverage, both Nazeeh Johnson and Chamarri Conner recorded better coverage grades from PFF than Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson. Whatever the plan was, it worked for Spagnuolo.

The defensive line had Allen pressured in key moments with Tershawn Wharton and Mike Danna coming up with sacks. Allen was also sacked on a two-point conversion that would have put the Bills up three late in the third quarter. PFF counted a whopping 26 pressures compared to just the 14 the Bills applied against the Chiefs offensive line. Chris Jones had eight total, with Danna and George Karlaftis each registering four. Spags also called for well-timed blitzes with six of the pressures coming from Leo Chenal, Nick Bolton, Conner and Justin Reid.

To finish off the three-peat, Spagnuolo and Reid will have to be in their bag again going up against the eighth-best team in total offense and the best in total defense. It will be all about slowing down Barkley, the newest member of the 2,000-yard rushing club. Kansas City opened up as a 1.5-point favorite in the betting markets, regardless. Super Bowl 59 will kick off in New Orleans at 5:30 CDT on February 9th, 2025. For the Chiefs, they feel honored to be in this position and realize there is more left to do.

“To have the Lamar Hunt trophy back in our hand here in Kansas City is a real treat to be a part of that,” Reid said. “Appreciate all that Clark and his family have done for us to allow us to have the players we have and the equipment and everything that goes with that and then this beautiful stadium with our fans. It’s incredible. What a great experience but we're not done. We got another game against a real good Philadelphia Eagles team.”