SI:AM | The NFL’s Best Active Rivalry
Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. Contrary to what I wrote Friday, I did leave the house this weekend to walk in sub-freezing temperatures to my neighborhood sports bar and watch some of the first game yesterday.
In today’s SI:AM:
???? Lions keep winning
???? History on the PGA Tour
Wide right, again
The Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills don’t play in the same division, but after last night’s thriller, is there any doubt it’s the best rivalry in the NFL? They’ve met seven times in the past four seasons, including now three times in the playoffs, and only two of those games have been decided by more than 10 points. After last night’s win, the Chiefs hold a narrow 4–3 advantage in the series, but the results have been completely lopsided in the playoffs. Kansas City has now won all three January meetings.
But last night’s meeting didn’t follow the usual script of a shootout between the teams’ superstar quarterbacks. Instead, both teams relied on running the ball more than usual. Buffalo had 182 rushing yards, its fourth most in a game this season, and Kansas City had 146, its sixth most. Josh Allen had a ho-hum performance as a passer, completing 26 of 39 passes for 189 yards and a touchdown, although he did run for 72 yards on 12 carries and score two rushing touchdowns. His longest completion of the night was just 15 yards. On the other side, Patrick Mahomes was an efficient 17-of-23 for 215 yards and two touchdowns.
The Chiefs have been running the ball well of late, which gives their offense the extra dimension it desperately needs, given their lack of reliable receivers. Since their Week 16 loss to the Raiders (in running back Isiah Pacheco’s first game back from injury), the Chiefs are averaging 137 rushing yards per game, compared to 95.6 in their first 16 games of the season.
The win sends Kansas City to its preposterous sixth straight AFC championship game. All that success, though, obviously means that the Bills have experienced plenty of heartbreak. They’re averaging 12 wins per season over the past four years but just can’t get past the Chiefs.
This is the third time in the past four years that Kansas City has ended Buffalo’s season, but that’s only part of what makes this such a tremendous rivalry. It’s also because Mahomes and Allen are roughly the same age and both took over as their team’s respective starters in 2018, giving you the impression that their careers will be intertwined for many years to come. But mainly it’s because of the unforgettable moments. Their ’21 divisional round matchup had Mahomes’s 13-second game-tying drive. Their regular-season meeting this year had Travis Kelce’s improvised lateral to Kadarius Toney for a late go-ahead touchdown that was wiped out by Toney’s careless penalty. This most recent meeting hinged on a play that evoked the ghosts of Bills past, as Tyler Bass pushed a 44-yard field goal wide right in the final minutes, just like Scott Norwood did in Super Bowl XXV.
The fact that this loss came at home, during what has been a down year for the Chiefs, is especially frustrating for the Bills. Because of Kansas City’s relative struggles this season, it was finally forced to play a playoff game on the road for the first time in Mahomes’s tenure as starter. That made last night’s game a golden opportunity for the Bills to finally get past their rivals and have a chance to reach their first Super Bowl in 30 years. Revenge will have to wait at least another year.
The best of Sports Illustrated
Lon Horwedel/USA TODAY Sports
- After letting another opportunity against the Chiefs slip through their fingers, Conor Orr believes that the only explanation could be that the Bills are cursed.
- Orr also thinks the Buccaneers should commit to Baker Mayfield and Todd Bowles for the foreseeable future and see whether they can lead the team to continued success.
- Michael Rosenberg was at Ford Field for the Lions’ win over the Bucs as Detroit’s magical postseason run under Dan Campbell continues.
- Gilberto Manzano wonders whether Stefon Diggs has played his last game for the Bills.
- Alabama sophomore Nick Dunlap became the first amateur to win on the PGA Tour since Phil Mickelson in 1991. His third-round 60 was the turning point for him.
- An Ohio State fan collided with Iowa star Caitlin Clark as fans rushed the court following the Buckeyes’ upset win over the Hawkeyes. She was not seriously injured.
The top five...
… moments from yesterday’s divisional round games:
5. Josh Allen’s bullet touchdown pass on the run.
4. Jahmyr Gibbs’s speed on his 32-yard touchdown run.
3. Kevin Harlan’s radio call of Tyler Bass’s missed field goal.
2. Mike Evans’s diving catch at the end of the first half.
1. Everything Jason Kelce did, from taking a shot out of a bowling ball at a Bills fans’ tailgate, to jumping out of his luxury suite (shirtless) with a beer in his hand.
SIQ
The New England Patriots beat the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC championship game, 23–20, on this day in 2012 when which Ravens kicker missed a 32-yard field goal attempt with 15 seconds left?
- Matt Stover
- Billy Cundiff
- Stephen Hauschka
- Shayne Graham
Friday’s SIQ: Which team snapped the UCLA men’s basketball team’s record 88-game winning streak on Jan. 19, 1974?
- USC
- Cal
- Kentucky
- Notre Dame
Answer: Notre Dame, the same team that had handed the Bruins its most recent loss almost exactly three years earlier.
The game was a dramatic one, with Notre Dame surging back from an 11-point deficit in the final 3:32 to win 71–70 in South Bend. Bill Walton, returning to the court after missing the previous three games with a back injury, was nearly unstoppable. He played all 40 minutes and was 12-for-14 from the floor. But one of those misses came on a 12-footer in the final seconds.
The 88-game winning streak remains the longest in the history of Division I men’s college basketball. Since it was snapped, no men’s team has won more than 45 games in a row (by UNLV in 1990–91). The longest D-I winning streak belongs to the UConn women, who won 90 in a row from 2008 to ’10.