Pick the play of the game from the Kansas City v. Bills 2024 Divisional Round

Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images

The Buffalo Bills’ 2024 season has been written. So, let’s add some “illustrations!” If you’re new to Plays That Defined, this isn’t a highlight recap, but rather a cathartic retelling of the past season, chapter by chapter.

Don’t vote for your favorite play necessarily, vote for the one that best represents that game’s narrative. I’ll recap the game to refresh your memory, but don’t feel locked in by my narrative.

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Chapter 20: AFC Championship vs. Kansas City

I believe it would be difficult to write about a Super Bowl in certain respects. It’s

never easy to say goodbye and the final game of each season is a tough moment. That said, I do have to imagine it’d be easier than farewells like this one. Anyway, about the game itself...

If you count tying the score up as a lead change (like I do), then this game had seven lead changes. If you don’t count a tie as a lead change there were still five. Looking at the stat sheet, there are remarkable similarities between the two teams. That’s not remotely unexpected with the two heavyweights trading blows. However, if you’re like me there was a feeling for much of the game that Buffalo was fighting more of an uphill battle than Kansas City. A few stats may add some validity to the notion. Hint: Yards per play.

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Xavier Worthy’s touchdown (Q2; 4:18)

This might be the single image I believe I’ve seen used most for this game, so here you go. I don’t need to explain the controversy with Xavier Worthy scoring against the Bills so I won’t. A KC score deserves to be in the running to establish that Buffalo allowed more points to Kansas City than anyone had accomplished ALL SEASON at the exact time when it mattered the most. So here we are.

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Bills’ touchdown (Q2; 0:29 OR Q3; 3:01)

Or

At this point in the season, this was the third-highest point total allowed by Kansas City if you can believe it. The highest was against the Denver Broncos in the sham game to end the season. The second highest was the Bills in the regular season. In other words, until the Philadelphia Eagles smacked Kansas City in the mouth, the absolute best team against KC was the Buffalo. Twice. So a Bills score deserves to be in the running too.

I’m going to do something different though this time. I had a hard time deciding between these two scores for their level of moxie. If forced to choose I would have gone with James Cook over Mack Hollins as Cook had a good day overall. I was going to do that too, because I always worry including two similar plays will cannibalize the votes and not give either play a fair shake.

This time though, I’m doing two polls. The first one will be the normal poll, but for this entry look for “Bills touchdown.” If you select that play, move on to the second poll and tell me which one you prefer. That way there’s a shot one will win, then we can decide which one it is. If this works out okay, perhaps I’ll keep the tool in my kit.

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Josh Allen’s fumble (Q4; 15:00)

Remember how I said some things validate my opinion the Bills had a tougher time than the box score might suggest? This is a great example. Buffalo was lucky in that they recovered all their fumbles. They were less lucky in that there were four of them.

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Controversial spot (Q4; 13:01)

This play tells its own story, so I won’t bother explaining it. I will link two of my articles though. First and foremost I will die on the hill that in no way, shape, or form did Kansas City “figure out” the Bills’ Schnowplow play. Click here and let me prove it to you. Second, the officials were a story going into the game, and they remained a story afterward.

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Dalton Kincaid’s drop (Q4; 2:00)

Down by a field goal, the Bills had the ball, and there was about three-and-a-half minutes to play. Being honest, I’d sign up for that situation more times than not. It didn’t work out, but this incomplete pass from hero-mode Josh Allen to pretty-injured Dalton Kincaid was so dang close.

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