The AFC Championship Game had plenty of narratives being written going into it. For the Buffalo Bills, it was all about Josh Allen and finally getting that monkey off his back by beating Patrick Mahomes again in the postseason.
For the Chiefs, much of the talk this past week was about their favor from officials. Many fans have long-believed the Chiefs to have referees on their side and, specifically, Patrick Mahomes.
Here we find ourselves, once again.
With just over three minutes remaining in the second quarter, the Chiefs had been driving and found themselves just outside of the red zone. Specifically, it was a crucial 3rd-and-5 from the Bills' 29-yard-line.
Mahomes dropped back to pass and hit rookie wide receiver Xavier Worthy on a 26-yard completion. At first glance, the completion was quite an impressive play as the rookie went up and came down with a difficult grab. Safety Damar Hamlin was called for defensive holding on the play, but it was declined.
Upon a second look, though, Bills defensive back Cole Bishop appeared to get in on the action and, for a moment, it looked like the Buffalo defender came down with the football prior to it fully ending up in Worthy's hands for the completion. It was nearly an interception.
After an even further look, the ball definitely hit the ground on the way to it ending up in Worthy's hands for the first down. When watching the replay and taking a look at still frames of the play after the fact, the ball did, in fact, hit the ground.
Of course the Bills didn't get a favorable call against the Chiefs
Head coach Sean McDermott threw the red challenge flag and the officials would end up reviewing it for possession. After the review, the challenge was unsuccessful and the play stood. It was 1st-and-goal from the BUF 3-yard line.
Had the play been overturned and ruled an incompletion, the Bills would have only suffered a 5-yard loss due to the holding penalty on Hamlin. The Chiefs would have had a 1st-and-10 from the Buffalo 24. That could have potentially been a big change, had Kansas City ended that drive with a field goal.
Instead, the Chiefs would end up watching Mahomes take it in for a 1-yard touchdown run to go up by a score of 21-10.
Fortunately, the Bills took the ball on their ensuing drive and scored in a hurry thanks to a beautiful throw and catch from Josh Allen to Mack Hollins.