On Sunday, Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, and the Kansas City Chiefs met up with the Buffalo Bills in upstate New York for an NFL divisional-round playoff game that lived up to its billing. It was the third time in the last four seasons the two squads had met in the postseason, and it was something of a rematch of the 2021 divisional round when the Chiefs handed the Bills a gut-wrenching 42-36 overtime loss.
This time, the script was a little different, but the overall outcome was the same, as Patrick Mahomes and company outlasted Josh Allen’s crew 27-24. The Bills’ Tyler Bass missed a potential game-tying field goal with 1:47 left, which, for long-time fans, brought to mind Scott Norwood’s missed field goal in Super Bowl XXV that would’ve won the team its first world championship.
Afterward, Mahomes delivered a brief but fiery speech to his teammates in the locker room while reminding him there’s still work to do.
Star tight end Travis Kelce and head coach Andy Reid chimed in as well.
NFL News & Rumors: Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, Kansas City Chiefs Updates
It has been a year of transition for the Chiefs, as star wide receiver Tyreek Hill is a distant memory and JuJu Smith-Schuster, who had 933 receiving yards for them last year when they won it all, is now with the New England Patriots.
Their lack of a consistently reliable wideout has put lots of pressure on Kelce, who saw his numbers drop in the regular season and had his lowest yards per game average since 2015. As a result, Mahomes, who was last year’s MVP in both the regular season and the Super Bowl, also saw a dip in his production.
But against Buffalo, Mahomes completed 17 of 23 pass attempts and threw two touchdown passes, both of which went to Kelce, who had five catches for 75 yards. It was the team’s first road playoff game of the Mahomes era.
The Chiefs now move on to the AFC Championship Game, where it will face off against likely regular season MVP Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens. The Ravens are slight favorites, but against the Bills, Mahomes reminded everyone why it isn’t a good idea to pick his team to lose.
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