Patrick Mahomes led the Kansas City Chiefs to a 38-24 win over the Buffalo Bills on Sunday night in the AFC Championship game. The Chiefs will now return to the Super Bowl for a second-straight year in Florida, hoping to become the first team to repeat as world champions since the New England Patriots following the 2003 and 2004 seasons.
The Patriots were led back then by Tom Brady. Who's standing in the way of Kansas City to repeat? Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Kansas City advances to Super Bowl LV to face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who defeated the Green Bay Packers, 31-26, Sunday afternoon in the NFC Championship game at Lambeau Field in Green Bay. Tom Brady, in his first year with the Buccaneers, will play in his 10th Super Bowl, extending his personal record for the most appearances in the big game.
Super Bowl LV will be Sunday, February 7 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers will become the first team to ever play a Super Bowl in its home stadium.
The Chiefs defeated the San Francisco 49ers, 31-20, at Super Bowl LIV last year in Miami, Florida. Kansas City was the top seed in the AFC this postseason.
Buffalo on Sunday took the opening kickoff down the field in 10 plays, and Tyler Bass booted a 51-yard field goal to give the Bills a 3-0 lead. It was the longest field goal ever made in a playoff game at Arrowhead Stadium.
The teams traded possessions, and on a Buffalo punt, Chiefs returner Mecole Hardman muffed it and the Bills recovered it at the Chiefs 3-yard line. Josh Allen then completed pass to Dawson Knox for a touchdown on the next play. The extra point was no good, giving Buffalo a 9-0 lead.
Mahomes drove the Chiefs downfield in TK plays, picking up a crucial 4th-and-1 at the Bills' 23-yard line. The drive was capped early in the second quarter with a 3-yard pass from Mahomes to Hardman, cutting the Bills' lead to 9-7.
Kansas City took its first lead of the game after a five-play, 82-yard drive that ended with Darrel Williams 6-yard rushing score for a 14-7 Chiefs lead. The potent offense struck for their third touchdown in the second quarter just minutes later when rookie running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire ran it in from 1 yard to give them a 21-9 lead. Buffalo got a late field goal to trim Kansas City's halftime lead to 21-12.
The Kansas City defense held the stout Bills offense twice in the red zone, allowing just a field goal each of those times. The other Bills red zone appearance came after the Hardman fumble, in which the Bills needed just one play for a 3-yard score.
Mahomes threw for 325 yards and three touchdowns on 29-of-38 passing. Travis Kelce had 118 receiving yards and three touchdowns on 13 catches, and Tyreek Hill had nine receptions for 172 yards.
Buffalo, playing its first AFC Championship game since 1993, got 287 passing yards and a pair of touchdowns from Allen, who tossed his first-ever playoff interception. The Bills scored the first nine points in the game and the final nine points, but they were postcard 38-6 in between that time.
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