KANSAS CITY, Mo. — History awaits in the Big Easy.
Buckle up Bourbon Street. The Chiefs are comin’ to town.
Kansas City vanquished the Bills yet again in the postseason, surviving 32-29 in an absolute thriller in the AFC Championship game on Sunday night at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.
But that’s burying the lede.
The win sends the Chiefs to Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans, where they’ll play the Eagles with a chance to win an unprecedented third consecutive Lombardi Trophy.
No team — not even the dynastic New England Patriots and Tom Brady — has won three consecutive Super Bowls.
Now Kansas City, with magician quarterback Patrick Mahomes and lovable head coach Andy Reid, have a chance to outdo the remarkable things the Patriots and Brady and Bill Belichick did when they owned the NFL.
The Chiefs were playing in their seventh consecutive conference championship game on Sunday night. Only New England has played more in a row, with eight.
The Chiefs undoubtedly will deal with that milestone next year. There’s history to make at the moment.
Incredibly, as great as Mahomes has been and was on Sunday night, it was Steve Spagnuolo’s Kansas City defense that made the two biggest plays of the game — and of the season.
The best of all was their stop of the Bills on a fourth-and-5 from their 47-yard line with 1:50 remaining and Spagnuolo sending the house on a blitz.
The pressure forced Bills quarterback Josh Allen to heave a desperation pᴀss down the field which тιԍнт end Dalton Kincaid failed to haul in despite getting two hands on it.
Earlier in the fourth quarter, the Chiefs stoned Allen, who’s virtually unstoppable on short-yardage runs, on a fourth-and-1 with Buffalo leading 22-21 and 12:55 remaining in the game.
But the stop was not without controversy. One line judge appeared ready to spot the ball for a first down, but the ball was put down just short. The spot was reviewed — and upheld.
That gave Kansas City, which had been getting hurt by the Buffalo rushing attack, possession and life.
Spagnuolo walked up and down the sideline urging his defensive players to stop the run. And they did.
The Chiefs made the Bills pay for the failed fourth down, taking a 29-22 lead 2:41 after the stop on a 10-yard Mahomes scoring run with 10:14 remaining in regulation.
Because this was the epic game it was, the Bills would march the length of the field on the ensuing series to tie the game at 29-29 with 6:15 remaining in regulation.
The tying score came on a 4-yard Allen scoring pᴀss to Curtis Samuel on fourth-and-goal.
The Chiefs took the 32-29 lead on the next possession with a 35-yard Harrison Butker field goal with 3:33 remaining in regulation.
That made Butker 11-of-11 in the postseason in the fourth quarter and overtime. And it set the stage for Allen to don his Superman cape and slay the dragon.
But alas, he couldn’t, being eliminated by Kansas City for the fourth time in the playoffs. Allen finished 22-for-34 for 237 yards and one TD pᴀssing and 11-for-39 rushing.
For Mahomes, it was his 17th career playoff win, surpᴀssing Joe Montana and placing him behind only Brady. He finished 18-for-26 for 245 yards and one TD pᴀssing and 11-for-43 with two TDs rushing.
The anticipated matchup did not disappoint across the first 30 minutes, with the first half ending with the Chiefs leading 21-16.
The Chiefs had taken a 21-10 lead on a 1-yard Mahomes run with 1:55 remaining in the half.
That score was set up by a 34-second three-and-out by the Buffalo offense and then a 42-yard punt return by Kansas City’s Nikko Remigio that gave Kansas City a starting drive at the Buffalo 34.
The game began with wildly contrasting first possessions by the two teams.
The Bills looked jittery and discombobulated on the first possession of the game, going three-and-out but with Allen overthrowing receivers on second and third downs with pᴀsses that should have been intercepted by Kansas City safety Bryan Cook.
The Chiefs then took over at their own 10-yard line and took a 7-0 lead on a Kareem Hunt 12-yard run to cap a nine-play, 90-yard drive.
The Bills answered that series with a 53-yard Tyler Bᴀss field goal to cut the lead to 7-3.
With Kansas City seemingly on the verge of a huge early lead, the Chiefs threw the Bills a lifeline with a Mahomes fumble in Buffalo territory late in the first quarter.
On the play, a sloppy handoff exchange between Mahomes and running back Isiah Pacheco, the Bills got the ball back at their own 28-yard line with 57 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
Of more significance, it was Kansas City’s first turnover in nine games, spanning 501 offensive plays and 70 days.
The Bills made the Chiefs pay for their gaffe, taking a 10-7 lead on a 6-yard scoring run by running back James Cook.
The Bills didn’t have the lead for long with the Chiefs answering with an 11-yard TD pᴀss to Worthy.
Even with the Bills’ clutch scoring drive late in the first half to cut the deficit to one possession, that hardly fazed the Chiefs.
They were in their comfort zone: In a close game.
Kansas City has now won a remarkable 12 one-score games this season and, dating back to last season, 16 in a row.
Now they go to New Orleans with a chance to make history.