Kansas City Chiefs beat Buffalo Bills, seek Super Bowl ‘three-peat’ against the Philadelphia Eagles

MIAMI – The Kansas City Chiefs kept their bid for a historic third straight Super Bowl alive on Jan 26, holding off the Buffalo Bills 32-29 in an American Football Conference Championship thriller to set up a National Football League (NFL) title clash with the Philadelphia Eagles.

The Eagles’ explosive ground game carried them to a 55-23 triumph over the Washington Commanders and into the NFL’s championship showpiece in New Orleans on Feb 9.

In another tense duel between Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and Bills counterpart Josh Allen, Mahomes ran for a 10-yard touchdown and completed the two-point conversion to put Kansas City up 29-22 early in the fourth quarter.

After Allen answered with a four-yard touchdown pass to Curtis Samuel to knot the score at 29-29, Harrison Butker booted a 35-yard field goal that capped the scoring – with the Chiefs defence thwarting the Bills’ last bid.

“I’m just so proud of my teammates and how they responded,” said Mahomes, who ran for two touchdowns and threw for another. “That was a great football team and I’m just, I’m just lost of words.

“I’m just excited to get down to New Orleans – let’s go make history.”

Kansas City have ruined the Bills dreams in four of the last five post-seasons – twice in the conference championship. The Bills have not made it to the NFL’s championship showpiece since 1993.

Cheered on by Taylor Swift, the pop singer girlfriend of Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, the home side took the lead in the first quarter with a 12-yard rushing touchdown from Kareem Hunt.

The Bills responded with a 53-yard Tyler Bass field goal followed early in the second quarter with a six-yard rushing score from James Cook that put the Bills up 10-7.

But then the Chiefs turned on the style with Mahomes showing all his class to find Xavier Worthy with an 11-yard touchdown pass.

The quarterback’s one-yard touchdown run put the Chiefs 11 points up.

Allen answered with a touchdown pass to Mack Hollins and the Bills took a 22-21 lead on Cook’s one-yard scoring plunge.

Chiefs coach Andy Reid said his team will have to set aside the hype surrounding their bid for an unprecedented third straight Super Bowl and focus on the Eagles.

In Philadelphia, quarterback Jalen Hurts and running back Saquon Barkley rushed for three touchdowns apiece while rookie running back Will Shipley ran for another.

Hurts threw for one touchdown as the Eagles set a record for points scored in a conference championship game.

They will have a chance to avenge their 2023 Super Bowl loss to the Chiefs.

Barkley called reaching the Super Bowl “amazing” but warned the Eagles were not satisfied with the conference crown.

“The goal wasn’t just getting there,” he said. “The goal is to win. And we’re going to celebrate and enjoy this and get right back to work.” AFP