By halfway through the first quarter of Sunday evening’s AFC Championship game with the Buffalo Bills, the Kansas City Chiefs were feeling a different kind of “run it back” than they were expecting.
After Chiefs wide receiver Mecole Hardman muffed a punt at his own 11-yard line, the Bills recovered at the Kansas City 3. It only took a single pass from Bills quarterback Josh Allen to second-year tight end Dawson Knox to capitalize on Hardman’s error, giving Buffalo a 9-0 lead.
It felt an awful lot like 2019 postseason, when the Chiefs had to erase leads in every game to come back and win. Could they do it again?
“I don’t know what was going through my head, man,” Hardman told reporters after the game. “It was just a dumb mistake on my part; it could have been better.”
It was Hardman’s fifth career fumble — the fourth during kick returns — and it could hardly have come at a worse moment. But teammates like quarterback Patrick Mahomes quickly gathered around him.
“Pat and the other guys were like, ‘Keep your head up’”, recalled Hardman. “‘It’s a long game. We’ve got a lot more plays to make. We’re going to need you down the stretch.’”
“I mean, we’ve been in that situation before,” said Mahomes of their conversation. “I told him he’s going to make a play in this game that’s going to change the game.”
And Hardman did just that, collecting a touchdown pass at the beginning of the second quarter that narrowed Buffalo’s lead to 9-7 — and on the opening play of the next Kansas City drive, he went around left end and turned on the afterburners, gaining 50 yards that set up the Chiefs’ go-ahead touchdown. The Chiefs never looked back on the way to their 38-24 victory.
It never even occurred to Andy Reid to take Hardman out of the game.
“He’s made plays for the last couple of years — since he’s been here, he’s made plays,” said the Kansas City head coach. “He had a muff. So keep him in — and let’s go.”
It wasn’t the Chiefs’ only special teams miscue. With just over four minutes remaining in the game — and Buffalo trailing 38-21 — rookie placekicker Tyler Bass executed a perfect onside kick. Kansas City reserve safety Armani Watts had to leap high into the air to field it, but couldn’t find the handle. The Bills’ Tremaine Edmunds recovered the ball at the Kansas City 49, giving the Bllls hope they could get back in the game.
Buffalo immediately moved down to the Kansas City 15-yard line with a 34-yard pass to Stefon Diggs. But on third-and-10, Chiefs defensive end Tanoh Kpassagnon got his hands on Josh Allen and wouldn’t let go, pushing him deep into the backfield for a huge 18-yard sack.
The play will long be remembered for the melee that followed. Four players from both teams were flagged for unsportmanlike conduct. After a long meeting, officials decided that all of the penalties would offset. But that shouldn’t detract from the importance of the play’s result: after pulling off an onside kick, the Bills were held to a field goal.
Time still remained on the clock — but the game was over.
It may not have been as dramatic as the 24-0 lead the Chiefs overcame in the 2019 Divisional round game against the Houston Texans, but the game was another example of how the Chiefs operate in the playoffs. Even when things go badly, you can never count them out.
“We believe in each other,” said Mahomes. “We’re going to do whatever it takes to win — and those guys did that.”