Bills rally to beat Chiefs 24-20 in playoff rematch

Published Oct. 16, 2022 7:45 p.m. ET

Associated Press

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Josh Allen threw for 329 yards and three touchdowns, including the go-ahead toss to Dawson Knox with 1:04 remaining, and the Buffalo Bills beat the Kansas City Chiefs 24-20 on Sunday to exact a small measure of revenge for their epic overtime loss in last year's playoffs.

Stefon Diggs had 10 catches for 148 yards and a touchdown, and Gabe Davis also had a TD catch after torching Kansas City for four of them in January, as the Bills (5-1) finally walked out of Arrowhead Stadium a winner.

Along with last year's divisional loss, the Bills had their season end against Kansas City in the previous AFC title game.

Patrick Mahomes had one last chance to rally the Chiefs (4-2) in the final minute. But after an incomplete pass, Buffalo cornerback Taron Johnson jumped Mahomes' pass to Skyy Moore, picking him off with 51 seconds left to effectively end the game.

Mahomes finished with 338 yards passing to go with two touchdowns and two interceptions, including one in the end zone early in the game. JuJu Smith-Schuster had five catches for 113 yards and a touchdown.

The down-to-the-wire nail-biter was a fitting follow-up to their playoff game, when the teams combined to score 25 points in the final two minutes of regulation, and the Chiefs won the game on the first possession of overtime.

The teams combined to score on their final six possessions that January night, and they picked up Sunday right where they left off — with a caveat. The Bills and Chiefs both marched the length of the field in the first quarter, chewing up defenses that looked downright lost, only to turn the ball over when they reached the red zone.

Then the similarities to their incredible divisional playoff game really began.

Mahomes, improvising once again, stayed alive long enough in a collapsing pocket to find Smith-Schuster for a 42-yard TD reception. And after the Bills blew another red-zone opportunity, when Allen threw incomplete on fourth-and-goal at the Kansas City 3, Buffalo answered with a frantic touchdown drive in the final minute of the half.

Backed up to its own 1-yard line, Allen threw a dart to Davis for a first down. He hit Dawson Knox, Stefon Diggs and Khalil Shakir on his next three throws, then had Davis beat rookie cornerback Joshua Williams for a 34-yard TD catch.

The drive took 73 seconds, covered 96 yards and gave the Bills a 10-7 lead.

And just like January, the Chiefs answered in seconds. Only instead of using 13 to drive within range of Harrison Butker's 49-yard field goal to force overtime, they had 16 seconds to move 27 yards and set up his 62-yarder to knot the game.

The back-and-forth continued in the second half: Buffalo took the lead after Butker's 51-yard miss when Diggs hauled in a long TD catch, then Kansas City drove 83 yards and Mecole Hardman tied the game with his short touchdown reception.

When the Bills failed on another fourth-down attempt, Butker added a 44-yarder to give Kansas City a 20-17 lead.

But unlike January, the Bills made the plays down the stretch. Allen's scrambling, hurdling run on their go-ahead drive got them in position, and his throw to Knox along the sideline gave them the lead. And when Johnson came up with his pick a few minutes later, the Bills had their long-awaited win in Kansas City.

STATS AND STREAKS

Allen had a career-best 13 straight completions before missing on his first throw of the fourth quarter. ... The Bills' Von Miller had two sacks, giving him 16 in 19 games against Kansas City. ... Chiefs DT Chris Jones, who had a controversial roughing-the-passer penalty last week, tripped Allen for a sack in the fourth quarter. ... Chiefs TE Travis Kelce had eight grabs for 108 yards. He had four TD catches last week against Las Vegas.

INJURY REPORT

Bills: RT Spencer Brown (ankle) was carted off the field midway through the second quarter. CB Dane Jackson left with a stinger in the third. Linebacker Christian Benford left early in the fourth.

Chiefs: CB Rashad Fenton (hamstring) was inactive. CB Jaylen Watson left briefly in the fourth quarter.

UP NEXT

Bills: Off next week before facing the Packers on Oct. 30 in Buffalo.

Chiefs: Visit the 49ers next Sunday in their final game before their bye.

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