Chiefs beat Buffalo, advance to 6th straight AFC Championship game

WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) – The Chiefs’ postseason traveling road show has at least one more stop.

With a shirtless Jason Kelce and a near-breathless Taylor Swift sharing a Highmark Stadium luxury box with a bevy of Kansas City fans, a seemingly ageless Travis Kelce scored two touchdowns to lead the Chiefs to a 27-24 win over the Bills in an NFL Divisional-round game.

Bills kicker Tyler Bass missed a game-tying 44-yard field goal with under two minutes go.

The Chiefs will stay on the road next week, meeting the Ravens for the AFC Championship, a game they have played in for six straight seasons. The first five of those were at Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium, but the Chiefs showed Sunday that the road is a conquerable challenge.

They also continued their postseason dominance of the Bills; Buffalo has won the last three regular-season games between the teams since 2021, but Kansas City has beaten the Bills in all three playoff matchups.

Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes was playing his first playoff game — not including the Super Bowl — away from home, but Mahomes was almost flawless in a game that needed near-perfection.

That’s because Bills quarterback Josh Allen was every bit Mahomes’ equal. Much of Allen’s success came with his legs, as he rushed for a team-high 62 yards and ran in Buffalo’s first two touchdowns.

Travis Kelce, the Chiefs’ 34-year-old tight end, broke out of a weekslong slump with two touchdowns, matching his total from the last 12 weeks, including a scoreless opening-round playoff game against the Dolphins last week.

But Sunday was a throwback for Kelce, arguably the game’s greatest-ever at his position. After the Chiefs settled for field goals on their first two drives, they took their first lead on a 22-yard touchdown from Mahomes to Kelce.

The two future Hall of Famers, who have connected on more than 50 touchdowns in their seven seasons as teammates, got another one in the first drive of the second half to put Kansas City ahead 20-17. That was their 16th playoff touchdown, breaking the previous record held by Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski.

The teams traded touchdowns after that, with Kansas City going ahead 27-24 with an Isiah Pacheco 4-yard run early in the fourth quarter. But the Chiefs survived a scare shortly after when an end-around by Mecole Hardman got Kansas City within inches of a touchdown. But Hardman fumbled through the end zone, giving the Bills the ball at their own 20-yard line.

Buffalo failed to take advantage, punting on its next possession.