AFC Championship Recap: Chiefs Edge Bills, One Hurdle Remains for Super Bowl Threepeat

• The Kansas City Chiefs edged the Buffalo Bills 32-29 in the AFC Championship Game
• KC advances to Super Bowl LIX and a chance at a coveted threepeat
• Buffalo falls short in the playoffs for the sixth straight season with Josh Allen at QB

Outside of Chiefs Kingdom, NFL fans are sick of looking at, hearing about, and watching the Chiefs, Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, and the entire organization bask in what it has built. But there is no doubt that this is history in progress. A Chiefs Super Bowl threepeat would be a first in league history.

Few teams have won consecutive Super Bowls. Every team that sought a threepeat fell short. Putting aside the itch for something different, it’s better to appreciate the beauty and elegance before it’s gone.

Just remember: There are men in the world who grew tired of Shakira and Natalie Portman.

As KC prepares to face the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LIX, oddsmakers have installed them as 1.5-point favorites to win their third straight title.

The Bills Cannot Get Over That Hump

The reality for Buffalo is that their window is closing. For all of Josh Allen’s accomplishments, he’s inching toward Jim Kelly status, and not just because both quarterbacked the Bills. Kelly is in the Hall of Fame and is acknowledged as one of the game’s great leaders. But he never won a Super Bowl despite four consecutive trips to the Big Game.

Allen has yet to reach the Super Bowl and despite being 28, there are only so many chances he’ll get. He’s been on the precipice in the AFC Championship Game twice and lost to the Chiefs both times. From 2021 to 2023, they lost in the Divisional Round. Although they will be competitive as long as they have Allen and a reasonably good supporting cast, the sun is starting to set. Of course, they can hope their nemesis in KC to face the attrition and apathy that accompanies winning over and over again. Still, they are trapped in the same cage as the Ravens pushing, pounding, and kicking at the door with KC stalwart in its resistance.

That does not alter Buffalo’s missed opportunities. The Dalton Kincaid drop on Allen’s prayerful fourth-down heave was the difference between a trip to the Super Bowl and another long offseason of asking, “How do we beat this team?”

Statistically, the game was about as even as it can get. The teams were nearly identical in total yards, third-down conversions, and time of possession. The only turnover was when Mahomes fumbled. In a game this even, it comes down to the little things that the Chiefs have the experience and the discipline to do and their opponents don’t. If the roles were reversed at crunch time, Kelce would not drop the pass that Kincaid dropped.

The Chiefs Are the Unkillable Monster of the NFL

How do you beat this team?

The Bills and Ravens are the current teams that are asking that very question and despite great quarterbacks, deep supporting casts, smart coaching staffs, and innovative front offices, nobody has answered it with a clear blueprint for pulling it off.

The most glaring aspect of 2024-25 is that the Chiefs looked vulnerable through Week 14 of the regular season. They were winning, sure. But those wins were of the skin of their teeth variety, barely getting past Cincinnati, Atlanta, the LA Chargers, Las Vegas, Denver, and Carolina. They lost in Buffalo, their only loss of the season when they were trying to win. (None of their key players played in their season-ending loss to Denver.)

After Week 14, however, there they were at 12-1. Once December kicked in, so did they like a bell going off signaling that it was time to get serious.

And they did.

Statistically, 2024 was arguably Mahomes’ worst season since his first year as a starter with a 93.5 passer rate, a 67.6 QBR, and the most sacks in his career. He did not reach 4,000 yards passing for the first time. His touchdown percentage was tied for the lowest of his career, notably with 2023 when the Chiefs won their second straight title and third overall.

But his record as a starter this season is 17-1.

It’s time to recognize the Michael Jordan/Tom Brady/Wayne Gretzky-level of greatness occurring in progress. It’s difficult to fathom someone who still might have ten years left of productivity having cemented his place in NFL history before he turned 30, but that is what Mahomes has done.

Now come the narratives about Mahomes’ place in history; whether Travis Kelce will follow his brother Jason Kelce and walk off into the sunset of multimedia superstardom with Taylor Swift on his arm; whether Andy Reid will walk away; whether they can win their third straight title and create a linear dynasty.

The accolades are deserved. They take their opponents’ best shots, get up, throw a knockout punch, and win.

Again and again.

Super Bowl LIX is a Rematch of Super Bowl LVII

The Chiefs and the Eagles met in the Super Bowl two years ago with KC prevailing 38-35. But that was a very different Philadelphia team. This one has a megastar running back Saquon Barkley and a vastly improved defense.

Can the Chiefs pull the hat trick? They’re favored to do so and eventually, it might be accepted that betting against them is an exercise in futility as the only team that can stop the Chiefs Super Bowl threepeat is the Chiefs.

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