Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills will face Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship game, marking their fourth playoff meeting in five years.
Allen scored two rushing touchdowns as the Bills defeated Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens 27-25 in a divisional round game on Sunday. With 1:33 left, Mark Andrews dropped a pass from Jackson during a crucial 2-point conversion attempt that would have tied the game. Buffalo held on to win.
The Chiefs have beaten the Bills in their last three playoff encounters, including a conference title game four years ago in Kansas City. However, Buffalo is the only team to defeat the Chiefs’ starters this season, securing a 30-21 victory at home in Week 11.
In the NFC Championship game, Jalen Hurts, Saquon Barkley, and the Philadelphia Eagles will host Jayden Daniels and the Washington Commanders. The Eagles advanced with a 28-22 win over the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday. The Commanders earned their spot by upsetting the No. 1 seed Detroit Lions 45-31 on Saturday night.
Barkley was a standout for Philadelphia, rushing for 205 yards, including touchdown runs of 62 and 78 yards. The Eagles’ defense sealed the win when Jalen Carter sacked Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford for a 9-yard loss on the final drive, and Stafford’s fourth-and-11 pass attempt was incomplete.
The NFC East rivals, Eagles and Commanders, will meet for the third time this season. Both teams won on their home turf, with the Eagles winning 26-18 on November 14, and the Commanders rallying for a 36-33 victory on December 22. In that game, Hurts suffered a concussion early in the first quarter.
Backup quarterback Kenny Pickett had the Eagles in position to win, but DeVonta Smith dropped a third-down pass that would have allowed the Eagles to run out the clock. The Commanders capitalized on the mistake, with Daniels leading a comeback and tossing a 9-yard touchdown pass to Jamison Crowder with 6 seconds remaining.
This will be the Eagles’ second NFC Championship appearance in three years and the ninth in franchise history. They have won one Super Bowl and are 4-4 in NFC Championship games. The Commanders, on the other hand, are in the NFC Championship for the first time in 33 years.
This marks their seventh appearance in the game, and they have a 5-1 record in NFC title games, with three Super Bowl victories. Daniels, a rookie quarterback, will try to break the 0-5 record for rookie quarterbacks in conference championship games.
The Chiefs advanced to the AFC Championship with a 23-14 victory over the Houston Texans on Saturday. Mahomes threw for 177 yards and a touchdown to Travis Kelce, who caught seven passes for 117 yards while his girlfriend, Taylor Swift, and WNBA star Caitlin Clark watched from a suite.
This will be the Chiefs’ seventh consecutive AFC Championship game appearance, and they have a 4-2 record in these games. Kansas City has won three Super Bowls, including two in a row, and is looking to make history as the first team to win three consecutive Super Bowls in the NFL’s modern era.
The Bills, with a 15-4 record, are 4-2 in AFC Championship games but have a 0-4 record in Super Bowls, having lost four consecutive times from the 1990-93 seasons.
