The Kansas City Chiefs epic 42-36 overtime win over the Buffalo Bills might just be the greatest football game that I have ever seen. The game was a rollercoaster of emotions for both teams. As I am sitting down to write this, the game has been over for a little over an hour and I am still having a hard time focusing. I am guessing that I won’t be the only Chiefs fan (or Bills fan for that matter) that will have trouble sleeping after that game.
The Chiefs have played in a lot of exciting games in their history. Just in the past four seasons with Patrick Mahomes as their quarterback, they have played in numerous fantastic games. The 54-51 loss to the Los Angeles Rams game from 2018 comes to mind, but the stakes of that game weren’t as high and you can argue that the defenses in that game played much worse. The Chiefs Super Bowl win over the San Francisco 49ers was obviously more important, but that game didn’t come down to the wire like this game did and certainly didn’t feature a quarterback duel like this one.
Just this weekend alone there were three other playoff games that came right down to the final seconds, but none of them had the epic performances that this game did. I’m sure we could come up with a list of equally impressive games as those for other teams as well, but as I sit here writing this I simply can’t think of another game that equaled this game. In fact, I’ve got six specific reasons why I believe this might have been the greatest game I’ve ever seen.
Let’s start with what was at stake.
The Stakes
While a game can be fantastic and exciting to watch without anything big on the line, having huge stakes adds intensity and energy that just can’t be matched by some random regular-season game. So right off the bat, I would argue that 99% of regular-season games are out of the running for being a better game than this one was because of stakes alone. Even if you can find games with equally impressive performances on both sides, the stakes of this one would elevate it. The one exception for a regular-season game would be if it was the regular-season finale and a playoff spot was on the line for both teams, but I can’t think of a game like that that had such epic performances in it right now.
So what was at stake in this game? Well obviously since it’s the playoffs it is win-or-go-home, but this was even bigger than that. When the Tennessee Titans squandered away home-field advantage by losing to the Cincinnati Bengals on Saturday that meant that the winner of this game suddenly would be hosting the AFC Championship Game and thus would be the clear favorite to make the Super Bowl. Plus, with both the Green Bay Packers and the defending champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers losing this weekend, the path to a Super Bowl win is now easier as well. Bottom line: the winner of this game was going to be seen as the favorite to win it all.
In addition to that, there was a power struggle for being seen as “the team” in the AFC. These teams met in the AFC Championship Game last season (which obviously the Chiefs won). Then earlier this season the Bills beat the Chiefs comfortably. So if the Bills were able to go into Arrowhead and beat the Chiefs again they would have moved ahead of the Chiefs in the minds of most NFL fans as the top team in the AFC moving forward. Short of an actual Super Bowl match-up, I just don’t know if you can have any bigger stakes than this game did.
Next up: the execution by both teams.
Neither Team Deserved To Lose
While the Chiefs came away with the win in this one, you can make a strong case that the Buffalo Bills didn’t really do anything to lose this game. Yes, they allowed the Chiefs to tie the game up and send it into overtime and then allowed the Chiefs to score on the opening overtime drive to end the game, but were those more about the Bills failing or the Chiefs’ greatness? I would argue that not only were those drives more about the greatness of Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs but that all game long the game was more about both teams making great plays than it was about one team making mistakes.
We’ll talk about the brilliance of both quarterbacks in a minute, but big picture wise I just felt like both teams played great. Yes, there were times I was upset that the Chiefs couldn’t get a stop on defense, but that was almost always due to fantastic plays by the Bills offense. I think the same can be said for when the Chiefs’ offense made plays on the Bills’ defense. Buffalo’s defense didn’t play badly, the Chiefs’ offense was just better.
I think the only thing execution-wise I’d complain about for the Chiefs was the missed field goal and extra point by Harrison Butker (although he’d redeem himself on the last play of regulation). You can also make a case that the play calling for KC was a mess after Tyreek Hill’s long punt return where the Chiefs took the ball out of Patrick Mahomes’ hands completely, including a Blake Bell pitch out on third down that left everyone scratching their heads. That was about it though. Everything else was either great by the Chiefs or you had to tip your cap to Buffalo for a great play.
While I’m on cloud nine after that win, I can’t imagine how hard that loss had to be for Bills fans. Whew…
Next up, the back and forth lead changes down the stretch.
The Lead Changes
Part of what made this game so great was how much it went back and forth late in the game. The way that both teams made what felt like multiple game-winning drives was unlike anything I can remember. Let’s recap just the fourth quarter and overtime scoring:
- The Chiefs kicked a field goal with around 9 minutes left in the game to extend their lead to 26-21.
- The Bills then went on a 7-minute touchdown drive, complete with a two-point conversion to take a 29-26 lead with about two minutes to go.
- The Chiefs then scored on a 64-yard touchdown pass to Tyreek Hill to take a 33-29 lead but left just over a minute on the clock for the Bills to work with.
- The Bills then drove 75 yards in 49 seconds to score what everyone thought would be the game-winning drive to go up 36-33.
- The Chiefs then managed to go 44 yards and kick a game-tying field goal in just 13 seconds (more on that in a minute).
- The Chiefs then won the game by scoring a touchdown to start overtime and win it 42-36.
So there were three lead changes and an overtime forcing field goal in just a little over the last two minutes of regulation. That’s crazy. Both quarterbacks seemed determined not to lose this game, the Chiefs just had the last laugh, but let’s talk a little more about that game-tying field goal drive.
13 Seconds
I make it a habit to never count Patrick Mahomes out, but I have to admit that I thought the game was over when Buffalo took the lead with just 13 seconds to go. While the back and forth of this game made it an all-time great game, to really set things above the rest you need something unbelievable to happen. That was the 13-second drive.
The Chiefs were probably lucky that the Bills didn’t risk a kick return and KC was able to take the touchback without taking any time off the clock, but even then it seemed unrealistic for the Chiefs to be able to pick up the 30-40 yards needed to get even a long field goal attempt with that little time left. The Chiefs needed either one really long play, or two very fast 15-20 yard plays. They got the latter.
The Chiefs got a quick 19-yard completion to Tyreek Hill on the first play that only took 5 seconds off the clock. They then followed that up with a 25-yard completion to Kelce to put them in field goal range with just a few seconds left. The Chiefs’ biggest players all came through in perfect fashion and allowed Harrison Butker to redeem his earlier misses and kick a 49 yarder to force overtime.
When we look back at the Legend of Patrick Mahomes that 13-second drive will be one that we remember forever. It was that special and is absolutely part of why this was an all-time great game.
Now we need to take a second to acknowledge just how great Josh Allen was in this game.
Josh Allen (and Gabriel Davis)
Perhaps the top thing on the list of what made this game great was just how fantastic both the quarterbacks were. While Patrick Mahomes was magical (more on that in a second), Josh Allen was also playing out of his mind. Allen had already proven that last season was not a fluke and that he was here to stay as one of the NFL’s best quarterbacks, but his performance in these playoffs showed the world that he is nipping at Mahomes heels when it comes to who is the best quarterback in all of football.
Allen ended the day 27 of 37 for 329 yards, 4 touchdowns, no interceptions, and 11 carries for 68 rushing yards. He was unstoppable down the stretch and did everything in his power to win that game. He made clutch plays with his arms and legs. He stayed cool under pressure and escaped the K.C. pass rush on numerous occasions and was the leader his team needed all game long. I have nothing but respect for Allen and how well he played in this game.
It would also be wrong not to mention how fantastic Gabriel Davis was in this game. While the K.C. secondary was banged up and without Tyrann Mathieu, Davis was a big play machine. He caught 8 passes for 201 yards and an NFL playoff record of 4 touchdown receptions. Not only did he catch everything thrown his way, but he also burnt the Chiefs deep on a 75-yard deep ball and put such a nasty move on Mike Hughes on another touchdown that Hughes literally fell down. He was great.
Frankly, I’m having a hard time thinking of a better performance by a quarterback and receiver in a playoff loss (or any loss for that matter). The performances of Allen and Davis would have been enough to beat any other quarterback in the NFL on this night, but not Patrick Lavon Mahomes II.
Patrick Mahomes (and Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce)
We should be used to the greatness of Patrick Mahomes by this point, but somehow he just keeps amazing us. Whether it was leading KC’s opening touchdown drive by picking up numerous first downs with his legs, leading the epic 13-second game-tying drive, or throwing the game-winner in overtime, Mahomes was all-time great in this game. Period.
Mahomes ended the game 33 of 44 for 378 yards, 3 touchdowns, 0 interceptions, and 7 rushes for 69 yards and a touchdown. I’m not sure what else to say about him at this point. He’s the best quarterback I’ve ever watched. He doesn’t have the resume of someone like Tom Brady or the career stats to match other QBs who have many more years on him, but the eye test tells me Mahomes is as good or better than anyone I’ve ever seen. He’s a freak in the best way possible.
The Chiefs’ two big weapons also came up huge in this game. Tyreek Hill finished with 11 receptions for 150 yards and a touchdown and Travis Kelce had 8 receptions for 96 yards and the game-winning touchdown. The Chiefs’ biggest stars all came through in the biggest game of the season and rose to the seemingly unbeatable challenge that the Bills presented them with. It was amazing to watch.
So what do you think KC fans? Do you agree that this might have been the best game you’ve ever seen? Am I overselling it in the excitement of this game’s aftermath or was it truly that special? I’d love to read your thoughts in the comments below.