Kansas City Chiefs: 5 Great signs for Super Bowl 55 from win vs. Bills

What did we see from the Kansas City Chiefs in their AFC Championship win over the Bills that bodes well for them in Super Bowl 55 against the Bucs?

It felt as if everyone was hopping on the Bills bandwagon as the AFC Championship Game approached. But in doing so, we learned an important lesson once again: Don’t doubt Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. And after a 38-24 victory, they are playing for the Lombardi Trophy for the second straight year, punching their ticket to Super Bowl LV and a date with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Things didn’t start out great for the Chiefs as they fell behind early thanks to a nice Bills opening drive and then a Mecole Hardman muffed punt that set Buffalo up for an easy touchdown. However, Mahomes and the offense settled in and there was no answer for that once they got rolling. It was highly reminiscent of their run to the title a season ago.

Not everything was positive from the win, of course. Left tackle Eric Fisher left the game late with an Achilles injury, the rushing attack remained pedestrian and standout cornerback L’Jarius Sneed also left the contest with an injury. Yet, when you look at Kansas City and their chances of winning Super Bowl LV, it’s hard not to feel confident in their chances.

With that in mind, let’s look at the extremely positive signs that the Kansas City Chiefs showed in beating the Bills in relation to their chances of winning the Super Bowl and capturing back-to-back titles.

5. Hardman, Kansas City Chiefs bouncing back from early blunder

As mentioned, Hardman’s muffed punt could’ve drastically altered the outcome of this game. After a big stop by the Chiefs defense, a turnover that resulted in the Bills getting the ball on the KC 1-yard line and scoring to go up 9-0 could’ve been devastating.

But it wasn’t.

Last postseason en route to hoisting the Lombardi Trophy, Kansas City trailed in their three final games and showed their tremendous confidence and resolve to come from behind and win. This was no exception as they still have those same qualities. They simply dusted themselves off and stayed the course, which obviously was quite effective.

Most importantly, they didn’t even let Hardman have a chance to feel the weight of his mistakes. Just on the heels of his turnover, he broke off a 50-yard carry. Moreover, he scored a short touchdown reception not long after as well. That speaks to the mentality of the team and how dangerous they are no matter what mistakes are made or how far behind they fall.

4. Clark and front four generating consistent pressure

Because of how good the offense looked, it might go somewhat unheralded how well the Kansas City defense played on Sunday night but they were quite effective. And that was never more true than the ability they showed to create pressure on Josh Allen and get him to the turf or force him into tough decisions.

Frank Clark registered two sacks on the day while the Chiefs totaled four as a team but also had 10 QB hits for the game as well. They were consistently generating pressure with the defensive front and blitzes that didn’t hang the secondary and linebackers in coverage out to dry in bad man-to-man matchups.

The Buccaneers offensive line has been a stout unit but Kansas City can’t blitz Tom Brady for four quarters and not expect to get picked apart. So to see this front getting after the quarterback is something that they must look to replicate come the Super Bowl.

3. Hill, Kelce still look unstoppable

Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but Chiefs wide receiver Tyreek Hill and tight end Travis Kelce are two of the most unguardable weapons in the league. And the Bills will certainly attest to that with how the two pass-catchers burned them on Sunday.

Hill finished the game with nine receptions (11 targets) for a game-high 172 yards, including a number of monster plays. Kelce was just as good, catching 13 of 15 targets for 118 yards and two touchdowns on the game. They were a nightmare for Buffalo and they can be the same for Tampa Bay as well.

Make no mistake, the Buccaneers linebackers are better equipped to cover Kelce than the Bills. Having said that, they still are at a disadvantage, especially with the way he’s schemed open. But more importantly, the Tampa secondary tries to play man-to-man quite often and they paid for that against Hill in a monster way when the teams met in the regular season. So seeing this duo clicking at this level indeed bodes well for the success they could have in Tampa.

2. Secondary continues to come up big

Again back to the defense, the Chiefs secondary deserves a lot of credit for the job they did against the Bills on Sunday. Yes, they were aided by the pressure that the front created but there were a number of times where the pressure was actually the result of great coverage.

Whether it was Rashad Fenton, in the game after the injury to Sneed, coming up with a clutch interception or seven pass defenses the team notched, Kansas City’s defensive backs were sticky in coverage and consistently were able to break up plays, including largely limiting Stefon Diggs’ effectiveness in the AFC title game.

Tampa’s wide receiver corps might be the best in the league with Mike Evans, Chris Godwin and (if healthy) Antonio Brown. With the way the Chiefs secondary showed out on Sunday, though, they may have the ability to at least not get burned and need to put up 50 points on offense to win.

1. Mahomes is healthy and absolutely rolling

But on the off chance that the Kansas City Chiefs do need to put up 50 points, they have the quarterback to do so in Mahomes. His health was a major storyline coming into the AFC Championship Game as he was recovering from both a concussion and turf toe. Once the game started, though, he looked 100 percent healthy and locked in.

Simply put, Mahomes was absolutely in the zone against the Bills in the same vein as he was en route to winning Super Bowl MVP last year. He finished the game 29-of-38 for 325 yards with three touchdowns and no turnovers and he made it look easy. Mahomes was in control of everything when Kansas City had the ball and Buffalo was clearly on their heels trying to keep up.

Mahomes vs. Brady is a fascinating quarterback showdown for Super Bowl LV but, when the former is playing at this level, it’s no contest between the two. He’s the best player in the league and he can prove it time and again. When he’s playing like that, there isn’t a defense in the NFL, Bucs or otherwise, that can stop him for 60 minutes, if at all.