With 3 minutes, 33 seconds remaining and the Kansas City Chiefs leading, 32-29 at Arrowhead Stadium, Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills sat in a familiar spot, with the season on the line. They faced this exact situation last year,

Despite leading the Kansas City Chiefs to their best regular season record since becoming a starter, Mahomes had his worst statistical season. Here is why that is okay.

Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs have a clear mission: reach Super Bowl LIX. To get there, they must defeat Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Championship Game. A win and a strong performance would allow the AFC West quarterback to surpass Hall of Famer Joe Montana in two significant NFL playoff categories.

Josh Allen's Bills will face Patrick Mahomes' Chiefs in the playoffs for the fourth time in five years. Here's a look back at the previous matchups (spoiler alert: Kansas City won them all).

Buffalo Bills kicker Tyler Bass' 52-yard field goal gets Bills on the scoreboard vs. Kansas City Chiefs. Watch highlights from the AFC Championship Game between the Buffalo Bills and the Kansas City Chiefs during the 2024 NFL season.

Josh Allen is usually efficient while attempting a quarterback sneak or tush push, as the Gen Z slang quantified it. The Buffalo Bills played bold and went for the sneak twice in the same drive.

Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs are one win away from an unprecedented third straight Super Bowl title after beating the Buffalo Bills 32-29 in the AFC Championship game

Josh Allen's track record against Patrick Mahomes is night-and-day between the regular season and the playoffs.

Each of Patrick Mahomes’ prior postseason bouts with Josh Allen played out differently, yet the outcome was the same every time.

Allen and Mahomes get a lot of the shine in this rivalry, but Chiefs head coach Andy Reid and Bills head coach Sean McDermott have a history, too. McDermott was an assistant under Reid with the Philadelphia Eagles for ten years before Reid fired him in 2010 as the team’s defensive coordinator.

To the chagrin of everyone hoping for someone to end the Chiefs’ success, Kansas City did what it usually does and made just enough plays to get them over the finish line and back to the Super Bowl.

They aren’t the only superstar quarterbacks in the NFL, but each matchup carried a certain weight, a certain aura, a certain expectation for unexpected chaos that others haven’t matched.