On Sunday night, the Chiefs and the Bills gave fans one of the most exciting, nerve-wracking and thrilling games in NFL playoff history.
In the last 1 minute and 54 seconds, the teams combined to score 25 points.
That doesn’t just happen.
It was so exciting that most fans are probably both exhausted and hyped and feel like they actually played in the game themselves.
Their game was a perfect way to end one of the most ridiculous NFL Playoff weekends that I can ever remember, one where the road team won three out of the four games. The lone home team to emerge victorious was the Chiefs.
In addition, three out of the four games ended with a last-second field goal, while the Chiefs kicked a last-second field goal to send the game into overtime, where Travis Kelce scored the game’s walk-off TD on the Chiefs’ first possession and Kansas City won 42-36.
There were big time performances from each team’s receivers.
The Chiefs’ Tyreek Hill blazed his way to 11 receptions for 150 yards and 1 TD, including what appeared to be the go-ahead 64-yard touchdown that put the Chiefs up 32-29.
The Bills’ Gabriel Davis hauled in 8 receptions for 201 yards and 4 TDs. He also became the first player to have 4 TD receptions in a single game in NFL postseason history. His last TD reception, a 19-yard grab with :19 seconds remaining, looked to be the game-winner until the Chiefs’ Harrison Buckner booted a 48-yard field goal to send the game into overtime.
But the real story of the game was the two young quarterbacks, Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen.
Not only did they both lead their teams up and down the field, making big plays with both their arms, they also led their teams in rushing.
They used their legs to extend drives, evade defenders and fight for crucial yards down the stretch. It was a stark contrast from the fleet of foot-challenged quarterbacks we witnessed earlier in Tom Brady and Matt Stafford.
When you watched Mahomes and Allen, you watched athletes. Not the pocket-passing quarterbacks of the old NFL. No, this was the NFL,s future. Athletic quarterbacks who could pass, run, lead and straight ball.
And their performances were almost identical.
Josh Allen threw for 329 yards and 4 TDs. He also had 68 yards rushing on 11 attempts, hard-fought rushing yards that helped the Bills secure what most thought would be the game-winning drive in regulation.
Patrick Mahomes threw for 379 yards and 3 TDs. He also added 69 yards on the ground and 1 rushing TD. Mahomes surgically carved up the Bills with key passes to Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce towards the end of the game, the latter catching both the pass to set up the field goal to send the game into overtime and the final 8-yard TD pass in overtime that ended the game.
Watching these two young QBs will their teams to score was an exciting experience. If you missed the game, you missed something special because they gave us what ESPN used to call an “Instant Classic.”
It’s rare that you see two teams battle to the very end by scoring that many points in under two minutes. Both fought for every yard and used up every second on the game clock in their quest for the win. Ultimately, the Chiefs had a little something left in the tank and won the coin toss in overtime.
This weekend football fans were treated to not one, not two, but FOUR games in which kickers saved the day.
But the icing on the cake was the duel between Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen. It’s a shame that someone had to lose because, while the game was heart-stopping, their jaw-dropping performances thrilled all who watched.
If this becomes an annual playoff duel, then we’re asking the NFL to make the Bills vs. Chiefs a best of seven series.
I hope only our hearts can take it.
