KANSAS CITY, Missouri — Everything looked oh-so familiar at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday night: Patrick Mahomes hoisting the AFC championship trophy as confetti rained down, Andy Reid hugging Chiefs owner Clark Hunt, and Travis Kelce kissing Taylor Swift, grabbing the mic and imploring fans to once more party the night away.
The two-time defending Super Bowl champions had earned a chance at an unprecedented three-peat.
And once again, they had brushed aside the Buffalo Bills on the way.
This time, it was Mahomes’ arm and his legs — 245 yards passing and a touchdown, two more scores rushing — and some key stops by the Kansas City defense that preserved a 32-29 victory over the Bills in the AFC championship game.
“It’s just so hard to get to the Super Bowl and I don’t take it for granted, and to do it again at Arrowhead Stadium was special,” Mahomes said. “You get that trophy on that stage and you look around here and there’s not an empty seat — it’s special.”
The Chiefs will get a familiar foe in the big game in the Eagles, whom they beat two years ago for the title. Philadelphia romped to a 55-23 victory over the Commanders earlier Sunday to earn a shot at the champs on Feb. 9 in New Orleans.
It’s the fourth time since January 2021 that the Chiefs have ended the Bills’ season in the playoffs. And like all the rest, it came after a heavyweight fight between two of the top teams in the AFC, one that was tied 29-all after Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen found Curtis Samuel in the back of the end zone to set up a little more drama in the conference championship game.
Mahomes was simply unflappable, though. He completed four consecutive passes on the ensuing possession, setting up Harrison Butker’s go-ahead field goal with 3:33 left, and put the Bills in another do-or-die situation in Kansas City.
Allen got their drive going by running for a first down, but his next two throws were batted at the line of scrimmage. He hit Amari Cooper for a short gain on third down, and the Bills chose to go for it — they were 4 of 5 on fourth downs at that point — and the Kansas City blitz forced Allen to loft up a prayer that Dalton Kincaid was unable to corral deep downfield.
