Kansas City Chiefs end Buffalo Bills' Super Bowl dream with dramatic AFC Championship win

The Kansas City Chiefs have kept their hope of three straight Super Bowl victories alive with a dramatic win over the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Championship game.

In a contest that came down to the wire, the Bills trailed by 32-29 in the final minutes of the fourth quarter before Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes sent a checkdown pass to Samaje Perine for the first down.

The Chiefs will now face the Eagles in Super Bowl LIX where they will aim to become the first NFL team in the league's history to win the championship for the third consecutive season.

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The Chiefs beat the Eagles two years ago for the first title in this run.

Philadelphia romped to a 55-23 victory over the Washington Commanders earlier on Monday AEDT to earn a shot at next month's championship in New Orleans.

"I'm proud of my teammates and how they responded," said Mahomes, taking his oh-so-familiar place atop the victory stand and the Lamar Hunt Trophy raised aloft.

"That was a great football team and I'm just at a loss for words."

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 at Arrowhead Stadium.

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 putting 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 down at that point — and the Kansas City blitz forced Allen to loft up a prayer that Dalton Kincaid was unable to corral deep down-field.

The Chiefs took over, picked up a couple of first downs and began to celebrate once again.

"I think I've always said it: It's not about one guy. It's not about a couple [of] guys. It's about the whole entire team," said Mahomes, joined by Andy Reid and Travis Kelce in the celebration.

"When we needed the defence to get stops, they got stops. [On] offense, we made plays. That's why we're so special; it's a team effort and it's a team football game."

Kareem Hunt had a touchdown run and Xavier Worthy had six catches for 85 yards and a score for Kansas City, which became the fourth franchise to reach three consecutive Super Bowls with its ninth consecutive playoff victory.

"Every one of these is so special," Chiefs chairman Clark Hunt said.

"What a game today. Travis, Patrick and their teammates always find a way to get it done. That was true this whole year. And it's a credit to coach Reid and his amazing staff. Now we get to do something that's never been done before, Chiefs Kingdom."

Allen threw for 237 yards and two scores for Buffalo. James Cook ran for 85 yards and two touchdowns of his own.

The Bills still have not been to the Super Bowl since a run of four straight during the 1990-93 seasons.

"Not the result we wanted," Bills coach Sean McDermott said.

"I told them they've got nothing to be ashamed of and I love them."

The Bills and Chiefs have become well acquainted over the years, meeting seven times since Kansas City beat Buffalo under the same circumstances — the AFC title game at Arrowhead Stadium — to reach the Super Bowl in January 2021.

Buffalo had won all four games in the regular season. Kansas City had won the three that mattered in the postseason.

And all of that familiarity, along with the fact that McDermott once worked for Reid, was evident as the game transpired. The Bills simply refused to let Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce beat them, as he did against the Texans in the divisional round, while Kansas City was prepared for Allen's propensity to take off and run.

It was the Chiefs who took a 21-16 lead into the locker room after a topsy-turvy first half.

Mahomes and Hunt ran for scores and Worthy had a touchdown reception as the teams traded the lead. Cook reached the end zone for Buffalo, and a spectacular touchdown catch by Mack Hollins just before halftime kept the Bills in the game.

It remained a game of inches in the second half: Cook barely reached across the goal line for a touchdown, the Chiefs stopped Allen inches shy of the marker on fourth down, Mahomes bulldozed into the end zone for a score, and the Bills answered with a 70-yard drive in which their MVP-candidate quarterback hit Samuel on fourth-and-goal to tie the game at 29-all.

Fifty-three minutes and 45 seconds had been rendered moot. Everything came down to the last 6:15 of the game.