Bills get another shot at the Chiefs
Stefon Diggs walked off the field inside Arrowhead Stadium back in October with two very distinct feelings: elation that his Bills had avenged an AFC title game loss to the Chiefs and the conviction that they would meet again.
Get ready for the latest throw-down between two of the league’s best teams Sunday night.
Fresh off a near-perfect 47-17 blowout of New England last weekend, Diggs and the Bills are headed back to Kansas City for the divisional round of the playoffs. And awaiting them are Patrick Mahomes and the high-flying Chiefs, who turned around their season after a lackluster start and then throttled Pittsburgh 42-21 in their wild-card matchup.
“They’ve got all the talent in the world,” Diggs said. “They’ve been playing at a high level. They’ve been to the Super Bowl twice. They have a hell of a quarterback, hell of receivers, good defense — they’re a great team.”
Turns out he wasn’t the only one that anticipated another showdown, either.
“We’ll probably play them a lot of times. It’ll be great competition,” Mahomes said, “and it’s definitely going to be a great challenge for us as a team to compete with them.”
Indeed, it’s difficult to find a game with more star power than this one.
Josh Allen threw five TD passes against the Patriots
to set a Bills playoff record, while Diggs and resurgent running back Devin Singletary give him plenty of playmakers. On the other side, the Buffalo defense featuring All-Pro safety Jordan Poyer and running mate Micah Hyde led the league in just about every meaningful statistical category.
Buffalo, which has lost eight consecutive playoff games away from home, scored on each of its first seven drives against the Patriots and became the first NFL team to finish a playoff game with no punts, field goals or turnovers.
“It’s tough to have a perfect game,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said, “and they did a nice job with it last week.”
As for the Chiefs? Well, they’ve merely won their past five playoff games at Arrowhead Stadium.
Mahomes became the first player to throw for at least 400 yards and five touchdowns with fewer than 10 incompletions in the postseason in last week’s romp past Pittsburgh. His familiar targets, Travis Kelce and Tyreek Hill, did most of the work while the suddenly stout Kansas City defense held the Steelers to 44 yards in the first half.
Throw in the fact that both teams are intimately familiar with each other — Bills coach Sean McDermott even spent most of his formative years working for Reid in Philadelphia — and the stage is set for a riveting matchup.
“We don’t want to have that feeling that we had there last year. We know our season ended there last year,” Allen said, “and now we have to do everything in our power to put our foot forward and make sure that it doesn’t end there this year.”
Remember when
The Bills were 4-1 and riding high after their 38-20 win at Kansas City, when Dawson Knox’s 117 yards receiving tied the third-best output by a tight end in team history. Then they lost five of their next eight games, a slide that began when Knox broke his right hand during a 34-31 loss at Tennessee.
Buffalo rebounded by closing with four straight wins to clinch its second consecutive AFC East title. That run has coincided with Singletary giving Buffalo a more balanced attack with 456 yards rushing over his past six games.
Drew Peterson felt like he couldn’t miss.
“I don’t think I’ve ever shot it like this. I was feeling good and my teammates were finding me,” Peterson said.
Peterson scored 23 points and Boogie Ellis added 18 to power No. 16 USC past Utah 79-67 on Saturday.
“The ball was moving. Having 18 assists after just six (in a win at Colorado on Thursday) showed a big difference,” Peterson said.
When the Utes finally got within single digits with 5:38 to play, Max Agbonkpolo dunked and Peterson hit a 3-pointer for USC (16-2, 6-2 Pac-12).
Peterson made all five of his 3-point attempts and went 9-for-10 from the field in addition to grabbing seven rebounds.
“Teams have been going underneath my screens a little bit recently, knowing I want to get into the paint. So I’m trying to keep them honest by shooting the open 3s,” Peterson said.
USC’s 16-2 start to the season is its hottest since the 1970-71 team — often considered the best Trojan team ever — began 17-1 on its way to a 24-2 record.
“I don’t think this team is as good as Paul Westphal’s team. That was one of the greatest teams in USC history. But I love our team. We played hard and play well together,” USC coach Andy Enfield said.
Now at full strength in his initial injury-riddled
Up next: season, Gabe Madsen had a career-high 20 points for Utah (8-12, 1-9).
“I kind of expected this. I put in a lot of work and I have prided myself as a gym rat. Today, opportunity met preparation,” said Madsen, who has been recovering from a collapsed lung.
Lazar Stefanovic scored 10 for the Utes, who have lost eight straight.
The Trojans’ height bothered the Utes around the rim and their quickness disrupted the Utah offense. A 42-31 rebound disparity helped give the Trojans 15 second-chance points and 40-20 advantage on points in the paint.
“There’s nothing USC doesn’t have. They have great point guard play, great athleticism up and down the lineup, elite size and versatility. When you make mistakes, they make you pay,” Utah coach Craig Smith said.
USC led by as many as 15 in the first half when Peterson made a 3-pointer to make it 29-14. Madsen’s trio of 3s and some key hustle plays brought the Utes with 35-30 at the half.
“It wasn’t easy and it’s tough coming to the mountains but I’m very proud of our team for regrouping after a tough week last week. We came back with the type of defense we expect out of them,” Enfield said.
Branden Carlson, Utah’s leading scorer, is nearing a return but sat out and has now missed five games due to appendicitis.
USC defeated Utah 9373 on Dec. 1 at the Galen Center.
Notable
The Trojan offense wasn’t exactly a smoothrunning machine but it was enough, especially when Peterson heated up and they got a few easy fast break points in the second half. The USC defense was suffocating nearly all game and held Utah to 36-percent shooting.
The Utes honored Wat Misaka, a member of Utah’s 1944 NCAA and 1947 NIT title teams, a Japanese American who passed away in 2019. Playing for the New York Knicks, Misaka was the first non-white player in the Basketball Association of America, the precursor to the NBA. Even recent glory days of Utah seem far away when comparing skill against a team like USC, but the Utes still play hard amid the mounting losses.