The Buffalo Bills’ torment continued Sunday night in the AFC Championship, as they fell 32-29 to the Kansas City Chiefs for the fourth time in four playoff meetings. Despite another stellar performance from Josh Allen, who passed for 237 yards and two touchdowns, missed opportunities on key fourth-down plays sealed the Bills’ fate, sending Kansas City to its third straight Super Bowl.
“We can talk about what could have been, but at the end of the day, we didn’t get it done,” Allen said, acknowledging the two critical turnovers on downs.
With Buffalo leading 22-21 in the fourth quarter, Allen was stopped short on a fourth-and-1 play at the Kansas City 41-yard line. The call was controversial, as replays appeared to show Allen had gained the necessary yardage, but the officials upheld the initial ruling. That missed conversion led directly to a Chiefs touchdown and two-point conversion.
The Bills got one more shot at redemption with the game still within reach, but with under two minutes to go, another fourth-down misfire effectively ended their hopes. Josh Allen’s desperate pass to tight end Dalton Kincaid was dropped, and the Chiefs were able to run out the clock.
“It’s the nature of the game,” said Allen. “You either get it done, or you don’t. We didn’t.”
The loss caps a painful streak for Buffalo, having now lost to the Chiefs in four consecutive playoff encounters. From the 2020 AFC Championship Game to Sunday’s defeat, it’s been the same story: close, but not close enough.
“I don’t think anyone’s proud of the way we finished today,” said defensive coordinator Sean McDermott. “We’ve got to keep working to get over that hump.”
With the Buffalo Bills’ Super Bowl window still open but increasingly narrowing, the team is left to ponder what it will take to finally get past the Kansas City Chiefs and end the agony of a playoff rivalry that has continued to haunt them.
