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Chiefs Beat Bills In Third Playoff Matchup In Four Years

TAMPA, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 07: Patrick Mahomes #15 of the Kansas City Chiefs walks with his head down in the fourth quarter against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Super Bowl LV at Raymond James Stadium on February 07, 2021 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

On Sunday night, the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Buffalo Bills 27-24 in the Divisional Round of the 2023 NFL playoffs. With the win, highlighted by two Patrick Mahomes touchdown passes to Travis Kelce, the Chiefs now advance to their sixth straight AFC title game.

Mahomes finished the game on 17/25 passing with 215 yards, Kelce with five catches for 75 yards, along with Isaiah Pacheco running for 97 yards and scoring the team’s only other touchdown in the game.

With the two touchdowns scored on passes by Mahomes to Kelce, the duo now moves up to first on the all-time list of playoff touchdowns by a quarterback-receiver combo. They currently have combined for 16 total touchdowns, which is one ahead of the 15 total scored by the dominant duo of Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski.

“It speaks to Travis and his work, to be able to go out there and make plays in big games,” Mahomes said. “Passing anything that has and Gronk in it is special. Because those are two of the greatest players.”

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The Chiefs and the Bills have faced off three times in the past four postseasons, with Kansas City winning each one. The Bills beat the Chiefs 20-17 in Week 14 of the regular season, but once again came up short in the playoffs. Like many of their previous matchups, the game on Sunday stayed close all night, with five lead changes and no team ever leading by more than seven points. Buffalo collected more yards of offense throughout the game, but the Chiefs scored on five of their first six possessions and averaged 7.7 yards per play and were able to take the win.

Kansas City now moves to the AFC Championship game, where they will play the Baltimore Ravens, coming off a 34-10 win against the Houston Texans. The Chiefs and Ravens have only played once in the playoffs before, that coming as a 30-7 win for the Ravens in the 2011 Wild Card Round.

“It’s going to take our best effort. Defense, offense, special teams, they do it all,” Mahomes said when asked about the Ravens. “It’s always a great challenge and that stadium’s going to be rocking, so we’re excited for the challenge.”