Just run it back. Again.
Another thrilling showdown on Sunday that pitted the Kansas City Chiefs against the Buffalo Bills was probably just an appetizer.
Josh Allen one-upped Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs’ perfect record was spoiled. Yet for all of that, there still seems to be some unfinished business. It was over but it wasn’t.
OK, rhetorical question: What are the chances these teams meet again in the playoffs?
“A hundred percent,” Bills edge rusher Von Miller said in the aftermath of the 30-21 conquest. “In some form or fashion, whether it’s at our place, their place, we’re going to see the Chiefs again. Whether it’s the divisional round, the AFC championship, or whatever it may be, we’re going to see the Chiefs again, for sure.”
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Imagine the buzz. When they met in the AFC divisional playoff in Buffalo in January, CBS averaged more than 50 million viewers – more than for any NFL broadcast outside of a Super Bowl or conference championship game. The numbers from Sunday’s game will undoubtedly be impressive in their own right.
So, it would be fitting, even if these teams met in a gravel parking lot. The intensity, drama and competition has been that good. So often, highly anticipated sporting events fail to live up to the hype. Not with Chiefs-Bills.
It’s always something. Last January, a Bills field goal attempt that would have tied the game in the final minutes sailed wide right. In another divisional playoff a couple years before, Mahomes led a game-tying field goal drive in the final 13 seconds of the fourth quarter, which set the stage for Kansas City to snag victory in overtime.
On Sunday, Allen left the defining mark with a 26-yard touchdown run that essentially shut the door on the possibility of another Chiefs comeback.
Of course, Allen also knows: They’ll see the Chiefs again. The Bills are 0-for-3 in playoff matchups against Mahomes and the Chiefs. So, to realize their mission for Super Bowl glory, it seems likely that they’ll have to beat the Chiefs again. Or else.
“Given our history, we tend to meet in the playoffs,” Allen said.
Then again, Allen is not quite ready to jump into that anticipation.
“We’re not there yet,” he said. “We’ll focus on that when we get there.”
And the football universe will be waiting. Eagerly.