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Bills fall short to the Kansas City Chiefs in a shootout for the ages
(Jamie Germano/Rochester Democrat and Chronicle)
Welp, my stomach is still in knots over last night. The Buffalo Bills season is effectively over, although they did go out with a huge bang.
The Bills and Kansas City Chiefs met in the playoffs for the second straight year, in another installment of the NFL's newest and most exciting rivalry. No matter what side you were rooting for, this game was sure to cause your heart to jump out of your chest about a dozen times. Lead change after lead change, both Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes leaving it all on the field, Tyreek Hill and Gabriel Davis putting their team's receiving corp on their backs, last second drama that led to overtime... this one had it all.
We can sit here all day and talk about what went wrong for Buffalo, but I'm going to keep this one short, sweet and positive because I think we're all still trying to process what we watched last night, and we could all use a pick-me-up.
While we expected so much more, while we all expected the Bills to finally exercise their demons and knock off the Chiefs, we can still talk about the standout players and performances from last night.
First and foremost, I never want to hear Josh Allen slander ever again. For how often the media praises and rides the coattail of Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen went throw for throw, play for play, yard for yard, score for score with Mahomes. Despite the loss, Josh Allen proved how elite he is, and how he only gets better as he matures and as his experience grows.
Allen left 13 seconds on the clock in the fourth quarter last night and walked off the field with the lead. The defense couldn't get it done. You can't ask much more from Allen, he did what he was supposed to do, his job was finished. This loss isn't on him. The rest was up to the #1 ranked defense in the league that came up short. But then again, there may very well be no defense for a quarterback of Patrick Mahomes' caliber.
Allen finished the night with 329 passing yards, 68 rushing yards, four passing touchdowns and zero interceptions.
Gabriel Davis set a playoff record last night. With his eight receptions, 201 receiving yards and four touchdowns, Davis set an NFL record for most receiving touchdowns in a playoff game.
Ed Oliver likely had the game of his career last night, with three total tackles, two tackles for a loss, one sack and two QB hits. Oliver's ability has been in question over the last few seasons, as he hasn't been the player that fans and scouts thought he would be when the Bills drafted him ninth overall in 2019. Oliver had himself a very solid second half of the season, and an even better playoff run. Hopefully 2022 will be the year that Ed puts it all together.
That's it, folks. Another season in the books, another early exit, but we will survive. Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills will get their ring before long, count on it.
Thanks for following Bills football all season long here on House Enterprise, see you all again in September.