ORCHARD PARK – Nearly five feet of snow has fallen on Highmark Stadium in the last week-plus, but you would hardly know it upon entering the home of the Buffalo Bills Sunday afternoon.
Thanks to another heroic performance by the citizens of western New York who put in long, tough hours to shovel out the venue Friday and Saturday, it is ready for the AFC divisional playoff game against the Kansas City Chiefs.
This is the matchup Bills fans have been salivating for – Andy Reid, Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce (and yes, his girlfriend who you may have heard of, Taylor Swift) in Orchard Park, with a sellout crowd able to attend.
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After five straight trips to Kansas City (two in the playoffs), the Bills finally get the Chiefs at home with a trip to the AFC Championship game at Baltimore on the line. It is a game in which Sean McDermott, Josh Allen and the rest of the Bills know they cannot fall flat in because with the changing nature of the NFL, these opportunities are never a given.
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Mecole Hardman has touched the ball twice in the game. He fumbled both times. Isiah Pacheco opened the drive with a 29-yard run to the Bills’ 3. Kansas City tried a gadget play and Hardman made a short reception and had the ball ripped away by Jordan Poyer as he went down. The ball went into the end zone. The play was initially ruled down by contact at the Bills’ 1. Buffalo challenged the play and it was reversed to a fumble into the end zone for a touchback.
Buffalo attempted a fake punt and couldn’t convert. Facing fourth-and-5, the Chiefs only had 10 guys on the field. The Bills sent a direct snap to Damar Hamlin, who was stopped after 2 yards. The Chiefs take over at the Bills’ 30.
Kansas City is back in the lead. There have been three straight 75-yard touchdown drives to start the second half. Isiah Pacheco ran hard for 12 yards to get near midfield. Two plays later, Buffalo blitzed and Patrick Mahomes completed deep over the middle to Marquez Valdes-Scantling for 32 yards to the Bills’ 16. Kansas city has first and goal after an 8-yard pass from Mahomes to Rashee Rice. Pacheco followed it with a 4-yard touchdown run.
Third-and-goal from the 13-yard line. No problem. Josh Allen evaded pressure and fired a touchdown pass to Khalil SHakir, who dragged both feed in the front corner of the end zone for the touchdown.
The Bills offensive line is wearing down the Chiefs. Buffalo leaned on the run and chewed up clock and Ty Johnson broke free for a 16-yard run to set up first-and-goal from the Chiefs’ 5. Johnson lost two yards and the Bills were called for delay of game to set up the touchdown play. Buffalo went 75 yards in 15 plays and took 8 minutes, 25 seconds off the clock.
That’s three lead changes in 6 minutes, 45 seconds. Kansas City went six plays and 75 yards for a touchdown to start the second half. Patrick Mahomes completed to Marquez Valdes-Scantling for 30 yards and two plays later Mahomes scrambled for 24 yards. Isiah Pacheco took a catch-and-run 14 yards to set up first-and-goal from the 3. Mahomes capped the drive with a touchdown pass to Kelce, who dove for the pylon for the score.
The Bills dominated total yards, first downs and time of possession and have the lead at halftime. Josh Allen has completed 14 of 19 passes for 111 yards and has 51 yards rushing and two touchdowns on eight carries. Patrick Mahomes is 9 of 13 for 114 yards and a touchdown and Travis Kelce has three catches for 66 yards and a touchdown for the Chiefs.
Patrick Mahomes dumped a past to Isaiah Pacheco, but a holding penalty moved the Chiefs back to the 25 on the final drive of the half. Mahomes took a knee on the next play to end the half.
The Chiefs had silenced Highmark Stadium with Travis Kelce’s touchdown, and the Bills needed to respond, especially with Kansas City receiving the second-half kickoff. The Bills did.
Josh Allen hit one big pass to Stefon Diggs for 15 yards, converting a second-and-11 to get the drive rolling, then took off on an 18-yard scramble up the middle moving the ball to the 12.
Allen then completed a clutch five-yard pass to Khalil Shakir to convert a third-and-2, and that set up Allen’s two-yard TD run to give the Bills a 17-13 lead.
The Chiefs do have 26 seconds left in the half, so the half is not over.
This was a putrid defensive series for the Bills, and somehow, Travis Kelce was left all alone to catch a 22-yard touchdown.
It’s simply amazing how that could happen, how no one can think to cover the best player Patrick Mahomes can throw to. But yes, it happened again, as it always seems to happen in the postseason when these teams meet.
Now the Chiefs have a 13-10 lead, and the Buffalo defense has not stopped the Kansas City offense yet.
Kansas City starting safety Mike Edwards is out for the rest of the game with a concussion. Edwards was injured on the second play of the game.
The Chiefs were on their way to what looked like a game-tying touchdown as they reached the Bills 10-yard-line, but here, Patrick Mahomes overshot Travis Kelce on first down, and then Marquez Valdes-Scantling on the other side.
Both players were open for what would have been touchdowns. Instead, the Chiefs 10-play, 64-yard drive ended with another Harris Butker field goal so the Bills hold a 10-6 lead.
Another strong drive has Bills in the lead
And so it continues. Josh Allen and the Bills put together another strong drive mixing run and pass and finding positive gains on almost every play, and this time it ended with a touchdown as Allen scored on a five-yard keeper around left end.
The key so far for the Bills has been their ability to run the ball. They already have 94 yards rushing including 38 by James Cook who was big on that drive.
Chiefs have a quick answer
Patrick Mahomes wasted no time answering the Bills’ opening drive with one of his own and the game is tied at 3-3 after Harrison Butker’s 47-yard field goal.
Right away, the Bills made a mistake when Greg Rousseau had Mahomes in his hands for a sack but couldn’t finish, and that led to a 26-yard pass to Rashee Rice. And then Mahomes hit Travis Kelce for 14 yards on the next play and the Chiefs were rolling.
However, the Bills defense rose up and stopped the drive right there with Dane Jackson breaking up a third-down pass.
After some early problems on their first possession of the night, the Bills marched 60 yards in 14 plays to Tyler Bass’ 27-yard field goal.
After a Stefon Diggs fumble, a penalty on Dalton Kincaid, and an incomplete pass, the Bills faced third-and-17, but Josh Allen scrambled out of the pocket, then lateraled to Ty Johnson for a gain of 16 yards. Allen then converted the fourth-and-1 and from there, Allen completed a couple of key passes, none bigger than a 15-yarder to Dalton Kincaid on a third-and-5.
The pop icon walked into Highmark Stadium and will watch the Bills take on the Kansas City Chiefs in the Divisional Round on Sunday.
Swift exited a white Chevrolet Suburban with California license plates about 5 p.m. Dozens of fans gathered in the snow to catch a glimpse of the star. She was joined by Patrick Mahomes’ wife, Brittany Mahomes.
The second-year linebacker has been the Bills’ best defensive player this season as he led the team in tackles with 143 during the regular season, and he also has a team-high seven total takeaways counting the postseason. However, he suffered an ankle sprain against the Steelers, did not practice all week, and was one of the Bills’ inactives which were just announced.
Fortunately for the Bills, Tyrel Dodson will return to the lineup after missing the Pittsburgh game, and he will most likely play Bernard’s signal-calling MLB spot. Either rookie Dorian Williams or veteran A.J. Klein will start at outside linebacker.
The Bills will also be without wide receiver Gabe Davis, cornerback Christian Benford, linebacker Baylon Spector and safety Taylor Rapp who were all ruled out Friday. The other inactives are defensive tackle Poona Ford and offensive lineman Alec Anderson.
For the Chiefs, wide receiver Kadarius Toney, defensive tackle Derrick Nnadi, and offensive lineman Wanya Morris are the three biggest names on their inactive list.
The Bills go into this game with a problematic injury situation, but the punter’s availability – which was up in the air as late as Saturday – helps ease the situation.
Martin suffered a hamstring injury last week against Pittsburgh, so the Bills signed former punter Matt Haack to their practice squad in case Martin couldn’t play. But Martin informed McDermott that he was good to go and that helped the Bills with their roster decisions.
You only get two practice squad elevations per game, and the Bills were fortunate they didn’t have to use one on Haack because that would have meant only one of wide receiver Andy Isabella and linebacker AJ Klein would have been available for the game.
Now, Isabella is up to give the Bills five receivers with Gabe Davis out, and Klein can play for Terrel Bernard who is expected to be inactive with an ankle injury.
Sal Maiorana: Chiefs 24, Bills 23
The Bills’ injury situation has me spooked, plain and simple. If Buffalo was healthier on defense, I would have been all over a Bills victory, playing at home. But the absences of Bernard, Christian Benford and Taylor Rapp, and Rasul Douglas and Dodson perhaps hindered by their injuries, is problematic against future Hall of Fame players like Mahomes and Kelce and a Hall of Fame coach in Andy Reid.
Yes, the Chiefs’ offense hasn’t been all that scary, but let’s not forget, these are still the Chiefs, this is the postseason, and they are still the proud defending champions. And while I fully expect Allen to play well, this Chiefs’ defense is great at every level. With their CBs, Sneed and McDuffie, they can shut down any WR, and they pair that with a dynamic pass rush led by Chris Jones and George Karlaftis.
In the end, I think it’s going to be tight throughout, a turnover or a late field goal might decide it – and in that scenario, I trust KC’s Harrison Butker over Buffalo’s Tyler Bass – and the Chiefs will do what they always seem to do in the postseason and find a way, even though they’re on the road for the first time in the Mahomes era.
● Date: Sunday, Jan. 21
● Time: 6:30 p.m.
● Place: Highmark Stadium
● Betting line (as of Thursday morning): Bills -3
● Over-under: 45.5
● Money line: Bills minus-145 (bet $145 to win $100) and Chiefs plus-125 (bet $100 to win $125).
Who is announcing the Bills vs. Chiefs game
● Play-by-play: Jim Nantz
● Analyst: Tony Romo
● Sideline reporter: Tracy Wolfson
● Cable/Network TV: CBS. The game will be available locally via the following stations: WROC (Channel 8, Rochester), WIVB (Buffalo area), WTVH (Syracuse area), WKTV (Utica area), WENY (Elmira area), WRGB (Albany area), and WBNG (Binghamton area).
● Online streaming services: You can watch games on NFL.com and the NFL mobile app, and you can subscribe to NFL+, the league’s own streaming service, though you can’t cast the games to your TV – you must watch on your phone or tablet.
● TV streaming: You can also stream games if you have subscriptions to Spectrum, DirecTV, fuboTV, Sling, Vidgo, Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV, and Paramount+.
On the radio: How to listen to the Bills vs Chiefs game
You can listen on SiriusXM satellite radio on Sirius channel 81 and XM channel 227 (Bills feed) and Sirius channel 82 and XM channel 225 (Chiefs feed), and on traditional radio, the Bills Radio Network has stations all across the state. Chris Brown has the play-by-play, Eric Wood is the analyst, and Sal Capaccio is the sideline reporter. The network includes:
- Rochester (WCMF 96.5 and WROC 950 AM)
- Buffalo (WGR550, 550 AM)
- Syracuse (WTKW 99.5/WTKV 105.5)
- Binghamton (WDRE 100.5FM)
- Ithaca (WIII 99.9/100.3 FM)
- Bath (WVIN 98.3 FM)
- Newark (WACK 1420 AM)
- Dansville (WDNY 93.9 FM)
- Elmira (WNGZ 1490 AM)
- Auburn (WAUB 98.1 FM/1590 AM)
- Geneva (WGVA 95.9 FM, 1240 AM)
Buffalo Bills 2023 schedule
- Mon. Sept . 11, Jets 22, Bills 16 (OT)
- Sun., Sept. 17, Bills 38, Raiders 10
- Sun. Sept. 24, Bills 37, Commanders 3
- Sun. Oct. 1, Bills 48, Dolphins 20
- Sun. Oct. 8, Jaguars 25, Bills 20
- Sun. Oct. 15, Bills 14, Giants 9
- Sun. Oct. 22, Patriots 29, Bills 25
- Thur. Oct. 26, Bills 24, Buccaneers 18
- Sun. Nov. 5, Bengals 24, Bills 18
- Mon. Nov. 13, Broncos 24, Bills 22
- Sun. Nov. 19, Bills 32, Jets 6
- Sun. Nov. 26, Eagles 37, Bills 34 (OT)
- Sun. Dec. 3, Bye week
- Sun. Dec. 10, Bills 20, Chiefs 17
- Sun. Dec. 17, Bills 31, Cowboys 10
- Sat. Dec. 23, Bills 24, Chargers 22
- Sun. Dec. 31, Bills 27, Patriots 21
- Sun. Jan. 7, Bills 21, Dolphins 14
- Mon. Jan. 15, Bills 31, Steelers 17
- Sun. Jan. 21, vs Chiefs, 6:30 p.m.
Sal Maiorana can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana. To subscribe to Sal’s newsletter, Bills Blast, which comes out twice a week during the season, please follow this link: https://profile.democratandchronicle.com/newsletters/bills-blast
Christine Lake is a sports fanatic who lives and breathes athletics. With an extensive background in sports journalism, he covers everything from major league championships to grassroots sports events. When she’s not on the field or at the stadium, you’ll find Christine coaching youth sports teams.
