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2024 AFC Championship Game
The 2024 American Football Conference (AFC) Championship Game was a National Football League (NFL) game played on January 26, 2025, to determine the AFC champion for the 2024 NFL season. The game featured a showdown between the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs marking their second encounter in the AFC Championship in the Patrick Mahomes–Josh Allen era, and both franchises' third overall Championship Game appearance. The Chiefs entered the game slightly favored to win,[3] due to being the AFC's top seed and having home field advantage at Arrowhead Stadium. However, the Bills defeated the Chiefs in the regular season, which at the time, was the Chiefs' first loss after starting with a 9–0 record to begin the season. Kansas City would go on to finish the regular season with a 15–2 record, while Buffalo would finish the season with a 13–4 record, capturing the #2 seed in the AFC. The game took place at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs won 32–29[4], in a game that was marred by controversial calls primarily against the Bills.[5][6] While the controversial calls in the game would receive backlash from fans and commentators alike, league commissioner Roger Goodell defended the league's position on the state of its officiating, calling the perception of the alleged favoritism of the Chiefs by the league's officials as a "ridiculous theory", but did state that the league would find ways to improve officiating to include the implementation of technology to assist the league's officials in future situations.[7][8] BackgroundSince the emergence of Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen as the leading quarterbacks for their respective teams, the Chiefs and Bills have developed one of the NFL's most intense and storied rivalries. Their history in the playoffs has been particularly dramatic: 2020: Chiefs defeated Bills in the AFC Championship, 38–24, at Arrowhead Stadium.[9] 2021: Another playoff encounter in the Divisional Round, where the Chiefs edged out the Bills in overtime, 42–36, famously known as the "13 Seconds" game.[10] 2023: Chiefs again bested Bills in the Divisional Round, 27–24, in Buffalo, highlighting the tight nature of their matchups.[11] The Chiefs have reached the AFC Championship Game for seven straight years. This streak rivals some of the longest in NFL history, including the New England Patriots' run from 2011 to 2018. Winning this game also gave the Chiefs the chance to secure a third consecutive Super Bowl victory, a feat never accomplished in NFL history. The Chiefs finished the regular season with a 15–2 record, earning their ninth straight AFC West title and the AFC's #1 seed. The Bills finished with a 13–4 record to claim their fifth consecutive AFC East title and the AFC's #2 seed. To advance to the AFC Championship Game, the #2 seed Buffalo Bills defeated the Denver Broncos, 31–7 in the Wild Card Round, and the Baltimore Ravens, 27–25, in the Divisional Round. The #1 seed Kansas City Chiefs, having a bye in the Wild Card Round as the top seed, defeated the Houston Texans, 23–14, in the Divisional Round. The Bills have shown significant growth, with Josh Allen's development into an elite quarterback paralleling the team's rise.[12] This was the seventh playoff meeting in the history between the Bills and Chiefs, and the fourth in five seasons. The Chiefs lead the historical playoff series 5–2, including the 2021 AFC Divisional Game, where the Chiefs offense orchestrated a game-tying drive in the final 13 seconds of regulation. The most recent playoff meeting before this contest came in the 2023 AFC Divisional Game, which the Chiefs won 27–24 in Buffalo en route to winning Super Bowl LVIII after Bills kicker Tyler Bass missed a potential game-tying field goal wide right in the final two minutes of regulation, the last conference championship meeting was the 2020 AFC Championship game in which the Chiefs won 38–24. In the regular season, the Bills defeated the Chiefs 30–21 in Buffalo during Week 11. This was the seventh straight AFC Championship Game appearance (and 8th overall) for the Chiefs. The eighth team to win back-to-back Super Bowls, they became the first back-to-back champion to reach the Super Bowl for a third straight appearance. This was the seventh overall AFC Championship Game appearance for the Bills, who have not won the conference since their four consecutive AFC Championship Game victories from 1991 to 1994. Game summaryFirst halfThe Chiefs started off the scoring via a Kareem Hunt 12-yard run on their first possession. On the next possession, Bills' kicker Tyler Bass connected on a 55-yard field goal, the longest postseason kick in the history of Arrowhead Stadium. With 57 seconds left in the first quarter, Patrick Mahomes fumbled on Buffalo's 23-yard line; it was Kansas City's first offensive turnover since Week 11, which coincidentally came against Buffalo. The Bills took the momentum and scored on their next possession at in the second quarter via a James Cook 6-yard run, his 20th total touchdown (regular season and playoffs) of the season. The Chiefs responded with an eleven-play drive on a Mahomes touchdown pass to rookie Xavier Worthy, taking the lead, 14–10. The Bills went three-and-out and a Nikko Remigio 41-yard punt return set up the Chiefs on the Bills 29-yard line. Then, Xavier Worthy caught a questionable jump ball catch on 3rd-and-5, taking the ball to Buffalo's 3-yard line. With 1:55 left in the half, Mahomes ran it in on a rollout to the right from Buffalo's 1-yard line to go up 21–10. On the Bills next possession, a Mack Hollins 34-yard pass from Josh Allen cut the lead to one score. The Bills tried to cut the lead to three points by attempting a two-point conversion, but receiver Curtis Samuel was stopped short of the goal line. The game went into halftime with Kansas City holding a 21–16 lead. Second halfKansas City's first drive out of halftime stalled on a Matt Milano sack of Mahomes on 3rd-and-11 on Buffalo's 37-yard line. Buffalo proceeded to take the ball down the field and scored on a James Cook 1-yard run on 4th-and-goal, taking the lead, 22–21. Bass made his extra point attempt, but Chiefs safety Justin Reid was called for offside, having come over the line of scrimmage before the ball was snapped in an attempt to block the kick. The Bills had the choice of declining the penalty, which would've resulted in a successful extra point, or accepting the penalty, which would allow them to attempt another two-point conversion, but from the one-yard line instead of the two-yard line due to the penalty. The Bills accepted the penalty, and their second two-point conversion attempt of the game, a QB sneak by Allen, was unsuccessful. On the ensuing possession, the Bills defense held the Chiefs to a punt, giving Buffalo the opportunity to possibly go up by two possessions. However, the drive ended with no score after the final two plays, and in particular Josh Allen's fourth-and-inches quarterback sneak, were controversially ruled short of the line to gain,[13][14][15] turning the ball over to the Chiefs on Kansas City's 41-yard line with 13:01 left to play. The Chiefs responded to it with a five-play, 59-yard touchdown drive capped off by a 10-yard Mahomes run, his second rushing touchdown of the game and third overall in the postseason; on the two-point conversion, Mahomes found Justin Watson at the back of the endzone to take the lead 29-22. The Bills then marched down the field on a nine-play, 70 yard touchdown drive, culminating in a four-yard touchdown pass from Allen to Samuel on 4th-and-goal, and after Bass made the extra point, the score was tied at 29 with 6:15 left in the game. The Chiefs' next drive stalled on Buffalo's 17-yard line, with the Bills holding them to a Harrison Butker field goal, giving the Chiefs a 32–29 lead with 3:33 left to play. The Bills got the ball back, and needed to either kick a field goal to tie the game or score a touchdown to take the lead in order to avoid a fourth consecutive playoff loss to the Chiefs. However, the Bills were only able to get one first down, a Josh Allen 13-yard scramble on 2nd-and-11 from the Buffalo 29-yard line. After the scramble, first and second down resulted in incompletions before Allen connected with Amari Cooper for five yards on 3rd-and-10, setting up a do-or-die 4th-and-5 for the Bills. On the play, Kansas City defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo chose to heavily blitz Allen, causing him to heave the ball to Dalton Kincaid. The ball was catchable, but Kincaid misread the pass and dropped it while sliding. Buffalo then used a timeout after each play the Chiefs ran in an effort to get the ball back, but Kansas City was able to get a first down and kneel out the clock to secure their berth in Super Bowl LIX.[16] In the game, star quarterbacks Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes recorded similar statistics: Allen went 22–34 with 237 yards passing and two passing touchdowns, while Mahomes went 18–26 for 245 yards and one touchdown. On the ground, Allen went for 39 yards on 11 carries, while Mahomes had 43 yards on 11 carries with two scrambling touchdowns. In nine composite matchups between the Chiefs and Bills (regular season and playoffs), Mahomes's team now has outscored Allen's 245–240.[17] In addition, with the AFC Championship Game win, Mahomes now has 17 postseason wins, breaking a tie with Joe Montana for the second-most wins by a quarterback in playoff history and trailing only Tom Brady and his 35 wins.[18] The broadcast on CBS drew an AFC Championship Game record viewing audience of 57.4 million viewers.[19] Box scoreBuffalo Bills vs. Kansas City Chiefs – Game summary
at Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri
AftermathChiefs' Super Bowl appearanceThe win advanced the Chiefs to Super Bowl LIX against the NFC Champion Philadelphia Eagles, marking the third straight year that the Chiefs would win the AFC Championship. The Chiefs became the first team to win two consecutive Super Bowls and play in a Super Bowl the following season; the previous eight teams to win two consecutive Super Bowls failed to appear in the game for a third consecutive season. In a high-scoring game at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, the Chiefs would fall to the Eagles, 40–22. The loss denied the Chiefs of an unprecedented "three-peat" of Super Bowl victories.[20][21] Controversial calls and responsesThe controversial calls against the Bills were met with intense backlash, from both fans and media alike, where a petition was launched calling for a boycott of the NFL, in addition to that season’s Super Bowl. The petitioner accused the NFL of favoritism of the Kansas City Chiefs, while also calling for the league to introduce “training and accountability mechanisms” for officials in response to said accusation.[22] During the second quarter, officials ruled that Chiefs wide receiver Xavier Worthy made a completed catch over Bills safety Cole Bishop. While the ruling on the field would stand following a challenge from Bills coach Sean McDermott, video replay had shown that the ball hit the ground.[23] Some commentators also spotted that Bishop had a hand on the ball, resulting in a simultaneous possession. The official NFL rulebook states:[24]
Early in the fourth quarter, CBS rules analyst Gene Steratore stated that he believed Josh Allen got the first down on a 4th down QB sneak “by about a third of the football”, at the Chiefs’ 40-yard line. This opinion was also echoed by announcer Jim Nantz. However, Allen was ruled short of a first down, resulting in a turnover on downs.[25] Rules analyst and former NFL Vice President of Officiating, Dean Blandino, told TMZ in an interview, that he believed that the officials had incorrectly ruled Allen short on his 4th down sneak:[26]
An article from Sports Illustrated also noted the questionable ball spotting during Buffalo’s offensive drives, accusing the officiating crew of moving the Bills behind the first down marker. In a video posted on social media, CBS announcers Jim Nantz and Tony Romo had called first downs for Buffalo in real-time, with the officials suddenly spotting the ball shorter than when the play had officially ended. On the Bills’ final possession of the game, Allen threw an incomplete pass to tight end Dalton Kincaid that was dropped. A flag had been immediately thrown to indicate defensive pass interference on the Chiefs, but the flag was immediately picked up by the officials, which was also another discussion point among fans.[27] According to Mike Florio of NBC Sports, referee Clete Blakeman did not talk to reporters following the conclusion of the game. As a result, a pool report was not submitted.[28][29] During his Super Bowl press conference in New Orleans, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell called the supposed “conspiracy theories” surrounding favoritism of the Chiefs as a “ridiculous theory”, but stated that he understood why fans could feel that way, citing passion for the game as a reason. Goodell defended the officiating crews in the league, calling them "an outstanding group of men and women dedicated to the game."[30] The NFL Referee Association’s executive director, Scott Green, also echoed Goodell’s opinion, adding that officiating crews do not work the same team more than twice in the regular season. Green also added that it was "insulting and preposterous" to imply that the league’s officials (consisting of 17 crews and 138 officials in total) were colluding to assist the Chiefs.[31][32] The Chiefs would subsequently lose Super Bowl LIX to the Philadelphia Eagles, whom the Chiefs had defeated in Super Bowl LVII two years prior. PersonnelStarting lineups
OfficialsOfficials adapted from official NFL game summary.[33]
See also
References
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