courtesy @chiefs on Twitter

Kansas City Chiefs’ last-second comeback against the Bills

The Chiefs recovered with only 13 seconds left, entering the semifinals, discusses sports editor Callie Hummel.

With the brackets narrowing down and the NFL closing in on the Super Bowl, all eight teams proved their worthiness to be in the quarterfinals with close scores and multiple touchdown comebacks.

One of the most unbelievable comebacks happened during the Chiefs vs Bills game that took place in Kansas City on Jan. 23. The two teams went head to head the entire game. When one team scored a touchdown and took the lead, the other team would retaliate and score their own. Both sets of fans were kept on the edge of their seats the entire game, neither side knowing which team was going to take home the ticket to the semifinals.

With 13 seconds left in the fourth quarter, the fans thought they had their answer after a Bills’ touchdown pulled the team ahead by three points. The Chiefs offense would have to move the ball at least 40 yards to give their kicker a fair shot at making the field goal, which would bring the score to a tie.

The Chiefs received the kickoff and lined up on the 25-yard line with 13 seconds left in the game. Even though it was so close to the end of the game, they still had three timeouts to work with, which came in handy with the dwindling time.

Since the clock only stops in football when a player runs out of bounds, the two-minute warning or when a timeout is called, the Chiefs still having their full allotment means they could take their time calling a play and getting set to hike the ball. While having so many timeouts to make their way down the field appears to be luck, it seems that the team knew the risk they ran having such a close game, and allotted correctly to put them in a successful position for a quick comeback if necessary.

From the 25 yard line, Patrick Mahomes threw an easy but effective 10-yard pass to wide receiver Tyreek Hill who then ran another nine yards before calling a timeout to get set for the next play. With eight seconds left on the clock, Mahomes found tight end Travis Kelce streaking up the middle, who then ran between two Bills players and ended up at the 32-yard line. The team immediately called another timeout to get their kicker on the field for the 49-yard field goal attempt.

Harrison Butker, the Chiefs’ reliable kicker, was lined up with three seconds left on the clock. If he missed the field goal, the Chiefs’ season would be over. With the weight of his teammates on his shoulders, Butker kicked the ball with ease, sending the two teams into overtime.

In football overtime, whoever scores a touchdown first wins. This means a huge advantage is given to the team that wins the coin toss, therefore getting the ball first. While this might seem like a small upper hand during the regular season, it’s another story in the Superbowl playoffs. Having the overtime be determined this way makes it feel like teams are being given access to the Superbowl if they correctly guess if a coin will land on heads or tails, a game of luck when it should be determined by ability in football. Since the Chiefs won and therefore started off with the ball, it’s almost inevitable that they’re the ones to get the first touchdown, therefore winning the game. That’s exactly what happened as Mahomes continuously found short passes to dependable receivers, slowly gaining first downs and making their way up the field until Travis Kelce caught the winning ball in the end zone to send the Chiefs to the semifinals.

To determine if the Chiefs will make it all the way to the Superbowl to take back the title they lost last year to the Buccaneers, they first must face the Cincinnati Bengals who defeated the Tennessee Titans 19-16 in the quarterfinals. The winner of the game will compete in the Superbowl, which will be more than just a game of heads or tails.

Post Author: Callie Hummel