The curse continues. Wide right. Scott Norwood. Now Tyler Bass.
The Buffalo Bills gave everything they had to win the AFC East crown and had a golden opportunity to tie their divisional-round playoff game against Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs at 27 all, with less than two minutes remaining on the clock on Sunday night. For the last six weeks, as the Bills found their rhythm and got hot down the stretch, after the ousting of their offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey, they were cooking like potential Super Bowl winners that would be hoisting up the Lombardi Trophy. Then Bass missed.
Bass’ 44-yard field goal attempt swerved wide right, similar to Norwood’s infamous attempt in Super Bowl XXV 33 years ago, in 1991.
“Ultimately, completely on me,” said Bass, who had a field goal blocked and missed from 27 yards in a playoff-opening 31-17 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers last Monday. “I feel terrible. I love this team, man. It hurts. This one hurts bad.”
After that, the Chiefs got the first down they needed to put the game on ice and earn a 27-24 win. They are moving on to the AFC championship game on Sunday against Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens, with a trip to Super Bowl LVIII hanging in the balance.
“There’s no weakness there,” Mahomes said of the Ravens. “It’s going to take our best effort. Defense, offense, special teams, they do it all. It’s always a great challenge and that stadium’s going to be rocking, so we’re excited for the challenge.”
The Chiefs’ dynasty is still alive and kicking despite an up-and-down season, by their lofty standards, thanks to big games from the duo of Mahomes, who went 17-23 for 215 yards and Travis Kelce, who passed Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski for the most touchdowns in the playoffs with 16. For the Bills, the loss begins a long, cold offseason after another devastating defeat in the playoffs. Buffalo is still searching for that elusive first Super Bowl title.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe game was considered the best matchup of the playoffs so far, and it exceeded all expectations, a rematch of one of the most competitive playoff games in NFL history two years ago. It came down to the final 13 seconds.
“All-time classic again. Any time we play Sean’s teams, it comes right down to the end,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said, referring to Bills coach Sean McDermott.
The quarterbacks traded blows like a prize fight in boxing. Josh Allen rushed for a pair of touchdowns. Mahomes connected with Kelce on a pair of scores. Kelce had not found the end zone in his last eight games, since November 20.
The Bills trailed by three, 20-17, and had a third-and-goal from the 13-yard line late in the third quarter when Allen made a spectacular play, rolling out to his left and hitting Khalil Shakir with a laser in the end zone for a touchdown.
The game went back and forth with lead changes on four straight drives from late in the second quarter to late in the third quarter. The Chiefs and Bills were evenly matched, and they gave everyone watching both in the stadium and at home another great contest for the ages.
You could cut the tension with a knife. The stakes were high entering the fourth quarter. In the first minute of the frame, Isiah Pacheco ran in for a touchdown, which gave the game its fifth straight lead change on a score.
There were a couple of breath taking dramatic turns of events early in the fourth quarter of this tense game. The Bills attempted a fake punt, with a direct snap to Damar Hamlin, that fooled none of the Chiefs. They were stopped well short.
Then the Chiefs were on the doorstep of a touchdown and a 10-point lead when the Bills forced a Mecole Hardman fumble just before Hardman was tackled. The ball went out of bounds in the end zone, giving the Bills possession on a touchback.
Buffalo still needed to score. As time dwindled down, a drive that began with 8:23 left in the fourth seemed like the Bills’ last chance to win the game. They picked up a fourth down near the 50-yard line on a pass to Shakir out of the backfield after they were fortunate to recover an Allen fumble. Then Allen got a big third-and-4 completion to Trent Sherfield. The Bills got into field-goal range, but Allen failed to keep the drive alive, as he missed an opportunity on second down for a touchdown pass into the end zone.
Then Bass came on and missed. After that, Pacheco ran for a first down, and the Bills’ season was done. The Bills will be contenders as long as they have Allen. But the missed chances are piling up.
Allen showed true leadership shouldering all the blame on himself for having Buffalo’s final drive stall at the Chiefs 26 following two incompletions, the last a throwaway after he was flushed out of the pocket.
“I wish he wouldn’t have been put in that situation. You win as a team you lose as a team. One play doesn’t define a game, doesn’t define a season,” Allen said. “Losing sucks. Losing to them, losing to anybody.”
