The championship-starved Buffalo Bills took a 36-33 lead over the hometown Kansas City Chiefs with 13 seconds left in Sunday's divisional-round matchup inside Arrowhead Stadium. But somehow, someway, there was plenty of time for Patrick Mahomes to orchestrate a miraculous season-saving drive.
With a pair of sharp, big-chunk completions to Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce, the Chiefs traveled 44 yards in a span of 10 seconds. And with three seconds left, kicker Harrison Butker drilled a game-tying, 49-yard field goal as time expired, forcing overtime. After losing the coin toss, the Bills' defense remained on the field, and in just five minutes, the Chiefs scored a touchdown to win, 42-36. An instant classic, and a loss that Buffalo snatched from the jaws of victory.
"Kicking that ball seven, eight yards deep into the end zone was the biggest gaffe that [the Bills] made, because [the Chiefs] used no time on the clock," NFL on FOX analyst Mark Schlereth told The DA Show on Tuesday. "And then, from a coaching standpoint, it was a couple of horrendous decisions made by the Buffalo Bills, for sure. You're giving up the sidelines, and you're giving up the middle of the field. They had timeouts.
"The playing soft, letting them eat big-chunk yardage... I get it if you're giving up 30 yards, they're trying a 64-yard field goal. But at some point, you have to know where you can't let them get to, and you've got to tighten that thing up. You can't let that happen -- especially with two timeouts. Just poor coaching decisions, poor execution by the players. They were already playing the AFC championship in Buffalo at that point, with 13 seconds left."
Following the game, Bills head coach Sean McDermott didn't want to expand on the fourth quarter sequence, as he told reporters, "I don't want to get into specifics now." McDermott did take some blame, though, saying that the on-field execution starts with him and "goes all the way down." Overall, Buffalo's once-formidable defense allowed a whopping 552 yards.
Bills quarterback Josh Allen, who did everything in his power to push his team to another AFC championship, didn't complain about the NFL's overtime rules. He told reporters they didn't make enough plays, and "we'd be celebrating" if the coin toss went in their favor. According to ESPN Stats & Info, the Bills had a 91-percent win probability with 13 seconds remaining.
The entire NFL conversation between Schlereth and DA can be accessed in the audio player above.
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