KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Perhaps the officiating member introducing the overtime coin flip said it best.
“Gentlemen,” he began before the Chiefs won the toss, “great job so far.”
Indeed, the Bills and Chiefs each treated fans to brilliant football Sunday afternoon before the Chiefs ultimately advanced to their fourth straight AFC championship game. Patrick Mahomes sailed a back-shoulder fade to tight end Travis Kelce for an 8-yard touchdown to cap off a methodical overtime drive that lifted the Chiefs to a 42-36 victory. The Chiefs will host the Cincinnati Bengals next Sunday with a Super Bowl berth on the line.
But could playoff get much more exciting than the duel at Arrowhead Stadium this week? After a trio of older quarterbacks were upset at home, the Chiefs and Bills demonstrated how powerful young, dual-threat signal-callers can be.
The game’s energy matched a rowdy Arrowhead Stadium crowd from the beginning. Fourth-down attempts? The Bills won both on their first drive, including Devin Singletary’s left end-around touchdown on fourth-and-1.
Quarterbacks with wheels? Mahomes scrambled three times in his initial drive for 49 yards including Kansas City’s first touchdown, each runaway not simply a design but a calculated read of his targets’ coverage and elusion of Bills defenders across the field.
Mahomes and Allen each continued to answer on a night in which they rushed for 69 and 68 yards respectively and threw six combined touchdowns by air. They traded…