How could anybody else top what football fans witnessed on Sunday Night? I don’t think there has been a game which tops it.
13 seconds are all that separated the Bills from beating the Chiefs and moving on to the first AFC Championship Game in Buffalo since 1994. The Chiefs didn’t blink as the ball was kicked into the end zone for a touchback. Andy Reid turned to his 26-year-old quarterback and said these now infamous words, “When things are grim, be the Grim Reaper.” Patrick Mahomes picked up his scythe and went to work on the Bills’ defense.
Now let’s pause, let’s get back to the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Chiefs had the ball at the start of the fourth quarter and had to settle for a field goal after they desperately needed points to put away the Bills for good. Instead of holding the Bills to a field goal, the Bills go on a 17-play 7-minute drive with a strike to Gabriel. It was a gut punch that put the Bills up with just under two minutes to play.
And this is the part of this game where it’s the end of the game and the superstar’s shine, it was that time in Arrowhead.
The Chiefs immediately responded on a long-long catch and run by Tyreek Hill, on an in route just beyond the first down marker, Mahomes threw a perfect pass and it turned to six. It was the definition of the explosiveness of the Chiefs’ offense that was missing throughout the regular season. It, of course, ended with Tyreek Hill getting into his peak speed and throwing up the deuce twenty yards before the end zone.
It looked over again, there were 62 seconds on the clock and the Chiefs defense just needed a timely stop, which they had been making early in the game and in the third quarter. The Bills saw the time on the clock and went straight for the jugular. Josh Allen didn’t even blink, he threw strike after strike to get the Bills in position until the Redzone where the Chiefs had held them to fourth down and 14. Gabriel Davis then shook off his defender and caught his 4th touchdown of the night with 13 seconds left.
And now we’re back to where we started, there are thirteen seconds left in a game with Patrick Mahomes behind center and it was too much time. If it was any other human being on the planet they lose the game, but Mahomes was ready to go to work.
The first pass was a toss to Tyreek where he had blockers, a nineteen-yard gain and then the second play is what will live in infamy. Travis Kelce told Patrick Mahomes he had the leverage to take the inside seam route and when Mahomes saw the coverage and yelled “DO IT,” to his hall of fame tight end.
Mahomes let it loose for another 25 yards and the Chiefs took the time out with three seconds left. Butker made his field goal as time expired, sending the game to overtime. The Chiefs get the ball to begin overtime and put the Bills away with a back-shoulder fade to Kelce to end one of the best games of all time.
How is this one of the best games of all time?
Simple, no game in the history of the NFL playoffs had quarterbacks both have 300-yard passing games with three touchdowns and zero turnovers. Also, the Chiefs and Bills combined for 25 points in the last 2 minutes of the game, something that has never been done before, and finally, it is the only playoff game where all of the touchdowns scored in the second half were go-ahead points.
Of course, there have been insane games in the history of the playoffs, Super Bowl XLIII between the Steelers and Cardinals, The Epic in Miami between the Chargers and Dolphins, the Sea of Hands with the Raiders and Dolphins, the Ice Bowl, and of course the so-called “Greatest Game Ever Played” between the Colts and Giants in 1956.
But no game was as entertaining from start to finish as this one, there was never a moment where it felt dull or boring. There were several moments where the Chiefs or Bills seemed like they were going to pull away or were dead in the water and the other team made a play. This has become the topic of discussion as of late, but I think it’s pretty easy to say we witnessed the greatest game of all time last Sunday and it finally gave Cheifs fans the nickname they’ve wanted for Mahomes, “The Grim Reaper.”
