Throwback (1 year anniversary) to a post I wrote for my school journal after the Kansas City vs Buffalo Bills 2022 Divisional Round Game!
As we approach Super Bowl LVI, there might be two teams playing, but what got us here was so many more unforgettable moments of play. One of the most memorable games in NFL history was on January 23rd when the Kansas City Chiefs took on the Buffalo Bills. The play was amazing, but beyond the game, the players & fans have provided us with great reminders of the lessons that the sports world continues to teach us.
There’s 1:54 left on the clock in the fourth quarter of one of two AFC NFL Divisional Rounds where the winner will go on to play in the AFC Championship. The Buffalo Bills are trailing 21-26 against the Kansas City Chiefs, a team looking to make it to the Super Bowl for the third time in a row. Buffalo is on 4th & 13, which means they either make the touchdown or hand the ball to Kansas City–it is a must-get to keep their championship hopes alive. Buffalo’s twenty-five-year-old quarterback, Josh Allen throws twenty-seven yards towards the end zone… and it is CAUGHT by receiver Gabriel Davis! Buffalo is now 27-26. They make the two-point conversion in order to stretch their lead to three. Allen is nearly sacked on the play, but he ends up calmly dancing around the Kansas City defense and throwing to the back of the end zone where the ball is caught. This is the first time they have taken the lead since the first quarter, 29-26.
Kansas City retakes possession and on 2nd & 10, speedy receiver Tyreek Hill receives a throw just over the first down marker to complete a SIXTY-FOUR YARD touchdown. Kansas City retakes the lead, 33-29. It is, however, far from over. Buffalo takes it back across the field–traveling seventy-five yards in six plays to make a touchdown. There are now thirteen seconds to go and Buffalo is up, 36-33–the AFC title game is seconds away.
But Patrick Mahomes, quarterback for Kansas City, and his team aren’t going down without a fight. In a monumental display, Kansas City moves the ball forty-four yards, with kicker Harrison Butker tying the game with a forty-nine-yard field goal. 36-36 at the end of regulation time, the game goes to overtime where Kansas City wins the toss. They make the touchdown on their opening drive and win the game. A record-breaking twenty-five points were scored in this rollercoaster of a game—it’s the most heart-wrenching, nail-biting playoff match you will ever witness.
This game might have just been the best NFL game we’ve ever seen, but there are many more things we can learn from it.
- Sportsmanship
Stars went against stars, and though Kansas City might have prevailed, Buffalo deserves no less credit. This is why after making the winning touchdown, Patrick Mahomes ran across the field and embraced Josh Allen. Even before celebrating with his own teammates, he thought it important to acknowledge the great game his opponents played.
“We’re going to do this a lot,’” Mahomes said. “This isn’t going to be the end of our story of going up against each other. There are going to be a lot of great battles for us in our career.” There is no shortage of talented quarterbacks in the AFC. Allen and Mahomes are shining examples of this–they are also both incredibly young–it is a rivalry that will continue for years to come, but the mutual respect is clear.
The players were not the only ones who exemplified great sportsmanship–the fans did too. Twitter account, “Chiefs Kingdom Memes” suggested that everyone contribute $13–a commemoration of the 13 second drive that tied the game. What started as a few dollars grew to almost $500,000 with fans of all backgrounds pitching in. The money went to the Patricia Allen Fund, established by Josh Allen, in order to support the Oishei Children’s Hospital in Buffalo. Actions such as this, from both the players and fans, are a big deal. These days, players, with huge salaries and even larger egoes, love to taunt opponents, throw tantrums and disrespect opposing fans. To add to this, fans distract and boo the opposing team, scream at referees and even throw things at opposing players. This is why such actions are refreshing. Football can teach us a lot about sportsmanship and true character–there’s more to it than just fighting it out on the field.
- Taking Ownership
Josh Allen’s response in interviews after the game is a masterclass in humility and taking ownership.“The rules are what they are, and I can’t complain about that ‘cause if it was the other way around, we’d be celebrating, too,” he said. “So, it is what it is at this point. We didn’t make enough plays tonight.” Anyone watching agrees Allen played a superb game, throwing for 329 yards and four touchdowns. There’s a lot he could blame for the loss–distractions, other players, coaches, and most recognizably, the unfair overtime rules. By the rules, if the winner of the toss makes a touchdown, they win, without the other team even getting the ball. Kansas City won the toss and converted in their opening drive–all Allen could do was watch.
From this, Allen shows us that life will not always go our way–it is a really important lesson because we are all going to lose at some point, but those who are gracious in the face of defeat, learn from their experience-they will stand back up and return stronger. There were countless people he could blame–it’s the easiest thing to do when you are hurt–but before pointing fingers, he chose to look at his own performance and how he could improve. We too often take credit when stuff goes right, and avoid blame when it does not–he chose to take it head on, and he will not only gain respect for it but he will be a better player, teammate, and leader.
- What can you do in 13 seconds?
When stuff gets hard, when stuff seems impossible–we too often give up. If Patrick Mahomes had done that when he saw that clock had just thirteen seconds on it, he would have never led his team to the AFC championship for yet another time. [Picture 5] It is the distinction between good and great players–they can make just about anything seem possible–and they can in turn make their supporters and teammates believe as well. “That’s all we could do at that moment was find a way to get in field goal range,” Mahomes said. “And we had that belief—we had a belief that we were going to do it. Take it back to the year we lost the AFC championship game we got in field goal range in like eighteen seconds or something like that. You have to have that belief.” His mindset is clear–“If you’re not going to go down fighting, then you don’t deserve to be here,” he said.
Mahomes teaches us all a valuable lesson. We don’t control the outcome, but we do control the effort we put in. We must leave the “field” knowing that we worked as hard as we could. Every time you feel like something is not possible, like something is over, remember Mahomes and Kansas City’s thirteen-second field goal. Remember what you, as an individual, can do with little time–it is what you make of it.
- A flip of the coin can decide fate–but it is also what you make of it
Overtime rules have been a heated source of debate for a while. However, the Bills vs Chiefs game brought this issue to the forefront of conversation. Many believe that not letting Josh Allen respond in overtime was massively unfair after the spectacular game he played. The game, in effect, was decided by a toss of a coin. However, controversial and unfair these rules are, there is a lot we can learn from them and the decisions they have made.
The first is that a flip of a coin can decide fate. Even if we don’t take it as a literal coin, the idea is that chance decides a lot in life. Even though we control the effort we put in, the output is often a product of chance. The colleges you get into can be based on the current enrollment allowed, person reading your application, and more. You can have put in everything you have and still not get the result you want. The same goes for many things in life including how someone perceives you based on uncontrollable factors, a place you happen to be at a specific time, or a ruling or decision that goes in your favor or against you.
Importantly, however, it is just as important that we make something of the opportunities we are gifted with. Kansas City winning the coin flip might have been a chance event–a 50-50 probability, however, Mahomes and his team had to make something of the advantage–to turn it into the winning touchdown. In the AFC championship game, Kansas City won the toss again, but was unable to convert, so the response, a field goal from the Cincinnati Bengals, won it in overtime. The distinction is clear–both times the advantage went Kansas City’s way, but what they made of it ultimately decided the game.
It has been an amazing year of football! The season featured countless young players shining, as well as bringing a fresh take on football, redefining the role of the quarterback. In every position of the game, we have seen players step up and make plays when the game was on the line. We have seen the best of the best battle it out–we have seen the belief of players, coaches, and fans, we have seen resilience, we have seen respect, we have seen people’s hard work–game after game, snap after snap, on and off the field, and we are going to continue seeing that in the coming years. “It hurts. You don’t like feeling like this, especially back-to-back years at the same place,” said Allen, “So you got to find a way to get better and come back next year.”
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