Chiefs’ defense steps up in big spots against the Bills

The Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Buffalo Bills 32-29 to win the AFC Championship game on Sunday night. The game was full of drama from start to finish, and many plays likely led to the game’s slim three-point margin.

The Chiefs’ defense didn’t play perfectly, but they stood tall in the game’s most dramatic moments.

With fourth-down stops, tremendous grit against two-point conversions and relentless effort throughout the game, the defense got off the field when necessary and cemented its role in an unprecedented third trip to the Super Bowl.

Stopping two-point conversions

The Chiefs managed to the Bills on not one but two two-point conversion attempts during the game. Given the slim three-point victory, Buffalo made all the difference in the end with these four points left on the field.

In an ironic twist, the Bills’ first two-point attempt came only after an offside penalty by the Chiefs led to Buffalo not taking the Tyler Bass extra point — and so it instead electing to go for two.

Trying to take the lead from a 21-17 score, Buffalo wanted to make it a field goal’s difference and move it to a 21-18 score. Lined up at the 1-yard line, Buffalo came out in a heavy look and attempted to run their variation of the “push.”

Buffalo comes out in an overloaded look, with a running back directly behind Allen, tipping off the Chiefs. Loaded at the line of scrimmage with bodies, defensive linemen Mike Pennel and Chris Jones pack the A-gaps, with George Karlaftis and Mike Danna on each side of them. Linebacker Nick Bolton lines up directly over the ball, and the rest of the linebackers and secondary players fill in each gap accordingly.

Allen takes the snap and runs to the left, away from the bulk of the Chiefs’ best run stuffers. Safety Justin Reid and linebacker Drue Tranquill are lined up on the side that Allen goes to, and both players go low and look to start the pile while Danna goes low and attempts to wrap up Allen’s legs.

The Chiefs stop the initial surge of blockers and Allen’s feet by going low. Safety Jaden Hicks and Bolton get to Allen first, while Pennel had crashed through and wraps up Allen from the backside.

Somehow, Allen manages to get the ball out of his hands and lateral it to wide receiver Curtis Samuel, but cornerback Jaylen Watson makes a great heads-up play to see the lateral and take down Samuel.

This stand was great and wound up being a foreshadowing for things to come.

On Buffalo’s next two-point conversion attempt, they went with a different approach, lining up Allen in an empty shotgun look and looking to throw the ball in.

On the snap, the Chiefs’ defensive ends calmly rush up the field, but they do so in a manner that contains Allen, not create immense pressure on him. Along the defensive interior, Jones goes with a power rush and bulls his way through the Bills’ left guard.

This penetration caused Allen to scramble right, where Karlaftis was waiting for him with his contained pass rush. With nowhere to go, Allen ran right into Karlaftis, and Jones came in from behind to knock the ball out and thwart the two-point attempt.

At the time, some would say these were good decisions by Buffalo to shorten the Chiefs’ lead and put the Bills in a better spot, but as the game progressed, they ended up being the difference-maker.

Fourth-down stops

Buffalo would end up going 4 for 6 on fourth-down attempts during the game, but the two that they couldn’t convert ended up being two of the game’s biggest plays.

On the first big stop of the game, the Bills attempted to run their version of the “push” once more, and the Chiefs’ defense held on.

Allen takes the rush to the left, and much like the two-point stop, Danna dives low while Jones and Pennel close off the A-gaps. With the line held and leverage on the Chiefs’ side, Bolton and Conner close in on Allen.

Allen turned his back to the pile to try to back his way to first down, but this became an advantage for the Chiefs. Bolton grabbed Allen and dragged him laterally down the line of scrimmage, making it unclear if he was ever able to get the ball across the line.

The Chiefs drag Allen to the ground and the officials — who would have no way of telling where the ball was due to the pile — and poor effort from Buffalo to create movement ruled him short.

The Chiefs would take the ball and the lead with their ensuing offensive possession.

On the Bills’ final offensive play of the season, Steve Spagnuolo dialed up pressure and took a play out of the archives from the 2020 AFC Championship game.

In 2020, the Chiefs called on safeties Daniel Sorensen and Tyrann Mathieu to rush Allen, forcing him to scramble right and throw the ball away on a critical third-down stop.

Five years later, they brought a similar look, with Buffalo lined up in a similar tight bunch formation as well. This time, it was Trent McDuffie and Justin Reid who blitzed the B-gap away from where the Bills slide their pass protection — toward Jones.

Flustered, Allen showed the same tendency to roll right that he did in 2020 under pressure, and this allowed George Karlaftis to put a wicked hit on him. Allen made a great throw, but the pass came up short.

The bottom line

Football is a game of inches, and that is what the Chiefs and Bills rivalry has come down to since their first playoff matchup in 2020. Despite how close these games are, the inches the Chiefs have won by are starting to feel like miles.