Kansas City, Mo. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - For the fourth time in the last five years, the Buffalo Bills close out their season with a soul-crushing playoff defeat at the hands of the Kansas City Chiefs.
Sunday's 32-29 loss is also the second defeat for the Bills in the AFC Championship Game to the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium since 2020.
It was Kansas City jumping out to the quick start in this contest, leading 21-16 at halftime, but Buffalo never seemed out of the game until the very last whistle. The Bills made some necessary second-half adjustments, which has been a testament to this team all season long, and managed to take the lead in the third quarter.
Early in the fourth quarter, the Bills failed to convert a 4th-and-1 with an opportunity to pull further ahead of the Chiefs, and Kansas City answered in quick succession to re-take the lead.
Despite the Bills tying the game once more, the Chiefs were able to put themselves in the driver's seat with a field goal late in the fourth quarter.
With a chance to tie the game at 32-32 or go ahead with a touchdown, the Bills' final drive of the night came up short right around midfield, as a crucial 4th-and-5 pass from quarterback Josh Allen to tight end Dalton Kincaid just fell incomplete.
From there, the Chiefs forced the Bills to burn their final timeouts and secure a return trip to the Super Bowl for a third-straight year.
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Bills head coach Sean McDermott fully understands the frustration from being so close to a berth in the Super Bowl and falling short, especially to Kansas City. However, he remains proud of his team for getting this far.
"They battled, they gave it everything. They had just came up a little bit short tonight against a really good football team," said McDermott following Sunday's loss.
McDermott assured his team that they will be right back in the same position to strike for another shot at the Super Bowl next year.
"We're a good organization. We've had a heck of a season. There's momentum going into next year," McDermott said. "We played a lot of young guys, some because they earned it, some because of injuries. So this is good experience for quite a few of those guys. And every year is different, so you start from scratch every season. But we're thankful for the success that we had this year."
Hear more from McDermott's postgame press conference available in the player below: