The Bills rally to defeat the Chiefs 24-20 in the rematch of the playoffs

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Josh Allen threw for 329 yards and three touchdowns, including a toss to Dawson Knox with 1:04 left, and the Buffalo Bills beat the Kansas City Chiefs 24-20 on Sunday. a small measure of revenge for their epic overtime loss in last year’s playoffs.

Stefon Diggs had 10 catches for 148 yards and a touchdown, and Gabe Davis also had a TD catch after torching Kansas City for four of them in January, as the Bills (5-1) finally walked out of Arrowhead Stadium victorious.

With last year’s divisional loss, the Bills ended their season against Kansas City in the previous AFC title game.

Patrick Mahomes had one last chance to rally the Chiefs (4-2) in the final minute. But after an incomplete pass, Buffalo cornerback Taron Johnson jumped Mahomes’ pass to Skye Moore, deflecting it with 51 seconds left in the game.

Mahomes finished with 338 yards passing with two touchdowns and two interceptions, including one in the end zone early in the game. JuJu Smith-Schuster had five catches for 113 yards and a touchdown.

The upset was a fitting continuation of their playoff game, when the teams combined for 25 points in the final two minutes of regulation and the Chiefs won on the first possession of overtime.

The teams combined to score on their final six possessions that January night, and picked up where they left off Sunday — with a caveat. Both the Bills and Chiefs marched the length of the field in the first quarter, chewing up defenses that looked completely lost, only to turn the ball over when they reached the red zone.

That’s when the similarities to their incredible divisional playoff run really began.

Mahomes, improvising once again, stayed alive long enough in a collapsing pocket to find Smith-Schuster for a 42-yard TD reception. And after the Bills blew another red-zone opportunity, when Allen threw incomplete on fourth-and-goal at the Kansas City 3, Buffalo responded with a frantic drive in the final minute of the half.

Picked up on his own 1-yard line, Allen threw a dart to Davis for a first down. He hit Dawson Knox, Stefon Diggs and Khalil Shakir on his next three throws, then Davis beat rookie cornerback Joshua Williams for a 34-yard TD catch.

The drive lasted 73 seconds, traveled 96 yards and gave the Bills a 10-7 lead.

And just like January, the Chiefs answered within seconds. Only instead of using the 13 to drive on Harrison Butker’s 49-yard field goal to force overtime, they had 16 seconds to move 27 yards and set up his 62-yarder to tie the game.

The back-and-forth continued in the second half: Buffalo took the lead on Butker’s 51-yard miss when Diggs hauled in a long TD catch, then Kansas City drove 83 yards and Mecole Hardman tied the game with his short touchdown reception.

When the Bills failed on another fourth down attempt, Butker added a 44-yarder to give Kansas City a 20-17 lead.

But unlike in January, the Bills played on a streak. Allen’s scramble on their drive put them in position and his throw to Knox down the sideline gave them the lead. And when Johnson made his pick a few minutes later, the Bills got their long-awaited victory in Kansas City.

STATISTICS AND STRINGS

Allen had a career-best 13 consecutive completions before missing his first throw in the fourth quarter. … Bills’ Von Miller had two sacks, giving him 16 in 19 games against Kansas City. … Chiefs DT Chris Jones, who had a controversial roughing call last week, tripped Allen for a sack in the fourth quarter. … Chiefs TE Travis Kelce had eight catches for 108 yards. He had four TD catches last week against Las Vegas.

INJURY REPORT

Bills: RT Spencer Brown (ankle) was carted off the field midway through the second quarter. CB Dane Jackson left with a stinger in the third. Linebacker Christian Benford left early in the fourth.

Chiefs: CB Rashad Fenton (hamstring) was inactive. CB Jaylen Watson left briefly in the fourth quarter.

NEXT

Bills: Off next week before facing the Packers on Oct. 30 in Buffalo.

Chiefs: Visit the 49ers next Sunday in their final game before their bye.

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