Mahomes Postseason Div. Round Championship: Chiefs/Bills 2022 vs. Chiefs/Texans 2020

[Chiefspants]

From feedback I got from a few folks on the tourney (and the greatness of 13 seconds and The Comeback) I decided to launch a Divisional Round Championship consolation of the Mahomes greatest postseason victory tournament. These games feature two most iconic playoff victories of Patrick’s career, so good that 13 seconds almost defeated our redemption AFC Championship against Joe Burrow and the Bengals, and The Comeback managed to get votes against a Super Bowl victory. Winner will be crowned in 2 days and will be deemed the Divisional Playoff Champion



Game A: 6 seed AFC Divisional Round: Chiefs vs. Bills: Arrowhead Stadium, January 23, 2022

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">KELCE FOR THE WIN!!!!!!!!! <a href="https://t.co/7ZDYjEMuxY">pic.twitter.com/7ZDYjEMuxY</a></p>&mdash; Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) <a href="https://twitter.com/Chiefs/status/1485446363102031872?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 24, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
When it's grim, be the grim reaper

The 6 seed of this matchup features arguably the greatest playoff game of all time from the opinion of NFL fans at large. Living in Bronco Country, it was like my entire facebook feed abandoned their Bronco fandom to tune into this game in the fourth quarter. CBS confirmed this trend, reporting that while the game started at 34 million viewers, the game spiked to nearly 52 million viewers by the end of the fourth quarter -- making it the most watched divisional round game since 2017. Josh Allen and the Bills came in with inarguably the hot hand. They blew the doors off the Patriots in their own redemption game and Allen was throwing like elite Favre walking into Arrowhead. McDermott, learning a lot from the previous season, refused to settle for field goals in this game and unleashed his offense. Throughout the game, the media hype that the Bills had the better overall team and were destined for the Super Bowl looked justified — and it left Mahomes needing to play a perfect game to compete, and Mahomes did. A heavyweight fight that forever gives Mahomes a “greatest of all time postseason performance” to his resume, this game has been constantly featured in NFL promotions since that time.

This game reached such an iconic status that it has its own wikipedia page dedicated to it (linked in the spoiler). Now considered to be one of the best football games in history, Buffalo fans compare the outcome's heartbreak to Wide Right, while Upton Bell, who played in the Greatest Game Ever Played, declared 13 seconds to be the greatest game he ever saw once it finished.


Game Highlights:

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<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZyXnCPbK6NI" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Wikipedia Page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_AFC_Divisional_playoff_game_(Buffalo%E2%80%93Kansas_City)

Game B: 10 seed AFC Divisional Round: Chiefs vs. Texans: Arrowhead Stadium, January 12th, 2020

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The greatest comeback in franchise history happened in the playoffs at home.<br><br>Let that sink in... <a href="https://t.co/eg3aWv81f4">pic.twitter.com/eg3aWv81f4</a></p>&mdash; Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) <a href="https://twitter.com/Chiefs/status/1217245261115772929?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 15, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The Chiefs faced off with the Texans and there was a lot of nervous anticipation throughout the fandom. Since Andrew Luck’s retirement, the media was hyping the Mahomes-Watson matchup to be the beginning of the "Brady-Manning" (https://ftw.usatoday.com/2019/01/deshaun-watson-patrick-mahomes-rivalry-brady-manning) next Brady-Manning rivalry. This rivalry started when the Chiefs famously traded up to select Mahomes OVER Watson in the 2017 draft and the Texans front office looked like they were left trawling the bar after the 2 am last call went out. The media played into this from the beginning (https://twitter.com/stephenasmith/status/857767357393096704?s=20), and after Watson came into Arrowhead and beat the soundly beat the Chiefs early in the year - the narrative that Watson was a “winner” and Mahomes wasn’t was on the airwaves in KC talk radio leading into the playoffs. Before Mahomes crushed the Brady-Manning (https://www.foxsports.com/watch/1622113347914) comparisons by the 2020 opener, there was still a lingering question about whether the Chiefs made the right decision drafting Patrick by the media and members of our own forum (https://www.chiefsplanet.com/BB/showthread.php?t=310470). The Chiefs had all the signs of playoff disappointment, with Chris Jones getting injured in a locker room basketball game that had all our local media up in arms, to our star receivers dropping passes, our special teams lighting off classic postseason disasters, and us finding ourselves down 0-24 against the immovable 50 years of Kansas City playoff disappointment. But then unstoppable force Patrick Mahomes entered the fray, and the rest is history.

Game Highlights:


<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-R1s1wv5y5g" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>


VOTE for your favorite game! The Winner will be crowed on Monday as the Mahomes Playoff Divisional Round Champion.

[Wallcrawler]

Comeback, by far.

I remember texting my wife at work at the time at 24-0 "At least it's over quickly."

Didn't even want to watch the game, and was about to take the girls out for ice cream, but I had family over watching that wanted to suffer.

So glad I didn't just turn it off with a because Chiefs sigh.

[Bl00dyBizkitz]

Man this is tough.

Texans game was us getting over the hump and rectifying decades of typical playoff disappointment in epic fashion.

13 seconds is one of the greatest games ever played. Both QB's were absolutely perfect, and the Bills had that game won until Mahomes did the unthinkable.

[Third Eye]

That is a really tough choice, but I’m going to go with the Texans game solely because I was there.

[wazu]

I remember standing in that stadium, down 24-0. The place was just deflated. Then all hell broke loose and it was probably the most fun I've had at a game ever. 13 Seconds is right up there, though. Just can't beat that crazy comeback feeling.

[FlaChief58]

13 seconds was amazing and we'll probably never see anything like it again. My only knock is that we didn't seal the deal and win it all.

The comeback was a thing of beauty. No one gave the Chiefs a snowballs chance in hell of winning that game after going down 24, then they roared back to blow them out on our way to winning our first SB in 50 years.
I voted for the comeback.

[TLO]

They're both so good... It's almost impossible to choose between the two.

[Chiefspants]

This was a tough decision for me.

My wife and I met a family friend and the restaurant we met out ran way behind, so far behind that the Chiefs/Texans game started, and when I was able to check my phone we were already down 0-21. By the time we made it to our car, it was 0-24. I told her "hey, at least we can get jump-started on housework." We had a 20 minute drive home, and by the time we made it home, it was already 21-24. It was just a magical, magical afternoon that signaled a sea change into a new era.

But 13 seconds. That game. I grew up watching VHS' of NFL highlight videos whenever the Chiefs were knocked out of playoff contention. I'd watch Steve Sabol narrate Montana, Young, Favre, even Elway. Games where the QB put the entire team on his shoulders in the playoffs to carry his team to victory. It just felt like quarterbacks like that were meant for other teams. Against the Bills, it was the first time in the Mahomes era (in the AFC playoffs) where I really felt we were outmatched by the other team -- not only that, but the Bills were playing at 100%.

But Patrick did something iconic that day. Because it didn't matter who he was against, and it felt like the entire football watching world paused to turn on that performance. Despite Josh Allen and the Bills playing a perfect game in return, Patrick turned in such an iconic performance that it put him a Steve Sabol worthy spot in NFL history that I never thought a Chiefs QB would get to again.

13 seconds by a hair.

[RedinTexas]

The comeback against the Texans was awesome, but it lasted for less than a quarter. After we were down 24-0, we blew their doors off the rest of the way. There wasn't any mystery in the game after we took the lead.

The game against the Bills was an endlessly back-and-forth game. Every time it looked like we were in serious trouble, we pulled something out of our asses and got the lead. Every time we got the lead, the Bills would snap back and take it away again. We've seen Patrick work miracles, but we're Chiefs fans, so we always expect the worst. Did anyone really believe that we'd force OT when there were only 13 seconds left? Then, even when we did force OT, there was a hell of a lot riding on the coin flip. Once we won the coin flip, we had to drive the ball AGAIN. Then when we got close Patrick had to pull off one more TD pass. That game was such a series of cliffhangers that lasted throughout the entire game right up to the winning score when we had to have it reviewed.

I loved the win over the Texans, but the win over the Bills was so much more dramatic and lasted the entirety of the game right through the end of OT and just a little bit more. It just doesn't get any better than that.

[Bl00dyBizkitz]

13 seconds was amazing and we'll probably never see anything like it again. My only knock is that we didn't seal the deal and win it all.

The comeback was a thing of beauty. No one gave the Chiefs a snowballs chance in hell of winning that game after going down 24, then they roared back to blow them out on our way to winning our first SB in 50 years.
I voted for the comeback.

I think 13 seconds was the better game, but its legacy is really tarnished because of the loss the week after. The Comeback i think is remembered more fondly, and will likely win, because we go on to win the SB, despite it being a worse overall game.

[MarkDavis'Haircut]

13 Seconds had me starting a thread acknowledging that the division was KC's for the foreseeable future.

That gets my vote.

[Pitt Gorilla]

They're both so good... It's almost impossible to choose between the two.

That's where I am. Went with the comeback, as I remember telling my son as I was dropping him off for basketball, "We get one score and we're back in it." Almost immediately after that, we scored. Then we scored again, and so on and so forth.

[comochiefsfan]

Was at both.

24-0 was awesome.

13 seconds was by far better.

I couldn’t sleep that night. Went home and immediately rewatched the entire game. It took hours for the adrenaline rush to subside.

Easily the 2 best football games I’ve ever attended but 13 seconds was just another level altogether.

[smithandrew051]

24-0 was awesome, but that was such a flukey big early lead. The Texans got every break imaginable to start that game.

13 seconds was two damn good teams duking it out, which made it all the more incredible. Losing to the Bills felt believable. Snatching that victory wouldn’t have been possible with any other team. Legendary stuff that really should’ve ended with another Super Bowl.

[kysirsoze]

Whew... Toughest choice so far I think. I went 13 seconds because it was against a tougher rival and last second dramatics are hard to beat. (Also I was there, so I'm biased.)

[DRM08]

Both were amazing, but I voted for Texans game.

[Pasta Little Brioni]

Being at the Bengals abomination of a game the week after still puts a stink on the Bills victory...sorry

Meanwhile the "Burrowhead" victory is probably the most satisfying in team history especially because they sealed the deal the next time out in the Superbowl.

[Bearcat]

:13 and it's not particularly close for me.

The comeback was amazing to watch, of course, but the deficit was completely self inflicted and the Texans were garbage. It wasn't two good teams going at it, it was the Chiefs with their heads up their asses, followed by what could be described as an NFL team going up against a DI school.

:13 was a heavyweight match up and probably one of the best divisional round match ups ever, much less of course one of the best playoff games in NFL history.

[ChiefsCountry]

13 seconds easily.

[Coochie liquor]

Jesus, this one’s very difficult. Both were just phenomenal. That whole playoff run that started with the Texans game was “because Chiefs” trying to do its thing, and Patrick just slaying that beast over and over. That comeback was unbelievable, but so was 13 seconds. I wish we hadn’t shit the bed the following week, cuz that game was amazing and shouldn’t have been the last win of that season. We’ll never know what happened in that locker room at halftime, but something definitely happened.

Even though the comeback was just phenomenal. But man, 13 seconds was another level. I gotta go with 13 seconds!

[Chiefspants]

This has been a fun one! 24 hours left to decide this one.