There’s an important P.S. to Sunday night’s epic game between the Bills and Chiefs. After Buffalo took a 36-33 lead and before the road team allowed Kansas City to get into field-goal range after only two plays, the Bills opted to kick the ball into the end zone.
That gave Patrick Mahomes the ball at his own 25, without a single one of the remaining 13 seconds evaporating from the clock.
If the Chiefs had been required to return the kick, how much time would have elapsed? Would they have been able to run two plays before the game-tying field goal?
In his Football Morning in America column, Peter King shares a text he received from a coach regarding Buffalo’s decision to kick away: “No! The Bills should have made the Chiefs return the ball and start the drive with only eight or nine seconds left. That way, they’d have had one play, not two, to get into field-goal position.”
Instead, the Chiefs gained 19 on the first play (thanks to Mahomes connecting with Tyreek Hill) and 25 on the next (thanks to Mahomes finding Travis Kelce). Armed with a full complement of timeouts, the Chiefs didn’t need to try to spike the ball or do anything fancy.
That said, the Chiefs could have returned the kickoff for a touchdown. If they had, would anyone have accepted the argument that a touchback would have given Mahomes two plays to get in field-goal range, and that he would have?
If anyone playing against Mahomes in the future is ever in that same position, no one will say that Mahomes couldn’t have pulled a rabbit out of his hat. Or elsewhere.