Winners and losers of NFL conference title games: Josh Allen, Bills still can't get past Chiefs

Eagles-Chiefs.

The matchup for Super Bowl 59 in New Orleans is officially set, as the NFL wrapped up its conference championship weekend, and as Kansas City seeks to become the first team in NFL history to win three consecutive Super Bowls.

Philadelphia sprinted past the Washington Commanders in a 55-23 drubbing to secure its fifth Super Bowl appearance in franchise history. And as the Eagles have done all season long, they relied on All-Pro running back Saquon Barkley to power through in the rushing game.

In the AFC title game,  the Chiefs withstood a late Bills charge, as an all-out blitz from Kansas City defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo forced a Josh Allen heave on fourth down that fell incomplete and sealed the game.

Here are the winners and losers from the NFL’s conference championship games.

WINNERS

Patrick Mahomes’ legs

It’s clear that Chiefs coach Andy Reid and offensive coordinator Matt Nagy saw a mismatch they could exploit through the running ability of quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who posted a season-high 11 carries for 43 yards and two touchdowns – also a season high.

The Chiefs dialed up a series of designed runs for Mahomes on rollouts, many of them on key third downs and plays in the red zone. By faking option handoffs, Kansas City got Buffalo’s defense to commit, and then Mahomes used his vision to accelerate into open space. That was most evident in Kansas City’s final touchdown of the game, a 10-yard rollout that gave the Chiefs a seven-point lead early in the fourth.

Philly ground and pound

While the Chiefs have a solid run defense — they ranked eighth in the regular season — the Eagles are on another level. After rushing for 229 against the Commanders, Philadelphia is now averaging 227.7 rushing yards per game in the postseason. It has also scored 10 rushing touchdowns after dropping seven on Washington. Four of those scores have gone for more than 40 yards.

In the playoffs, Saquon Barkley has run the ball 66 times for 442 yards and five touchdowns.

Chiefs overcome … again

Of the 12 games in the postseason thus far, all but one of the winning teams also won the turnover battle: the Chiefs in the AFC championship game. In fact, 10 of the 12 winners from this postseason played turnover-free football. The collective turnover margin of winning teams in the 2024 playoffs has been +18.

Yet Kansas City has now won 17 consecutive one-possession games, including 12 this season, counting the playoffs. There is no team better at situational football than the Chiefs, no team more clutch, no team whose strategies and play calls seem to foil opponents with more frequency.

The Eagles (finally) get A.J. Brown and the passing game going

Entering Sunday, Eagles receiver A.J. Brown was getting more pub for a book he read on the bench than for his on-field production. He had caught only three passes in Philadelphia’s previous two playoff games; against the Commanders, he erupted for six receptions for 96 yards and one touchdown.

It was thematic of Philadelphia’s approach to balance. In the first two Eagles playoff victories, Jalen Hurts threw for 131 and 128 yards. Against Washington, Hurts threw for 246. It was an encouraging sign for Philly’s passing game, even though the bulk of those yards — 226 of them (or 91.9%) — went to only three targets: Brown, tight end Dallas Goedert and receiver DeVonta Smith.

Steve Spagnuolo has a plan

Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo is widely considered one of the top assistants in the NFL, and his work in the playoffs consistently affirms that. Against the Bills, Spagnuolo seemed to have answers for most things the Bills threw at the Chiefs.

For instance, Spagnuolo understood Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen’s tendency to run behind his left guard on quarterback sneaks, and Spagnuolo crowded that space with some of Kansas City’s top defenders. Buffalo never appeared comfortable in short-yardage situations. And then, even though it is well known that Spagnuolo likes to blitz on third and fourth downs, he saved a complex one that disguised a corner blitz until the very end of the game, deploying it on a fourth-and-5 with two minutes left to play. Allen had to backpedal and heave a prayer that bounced off of tight end Dalton Kincaid’s hands.

LOSERS

Turnovers doom Washington's hopes

For most of the season, Washington protected the ball, tying for eighth in giveaways (17). When they needed it most, however, the Commanders coughed up the ball. Washington turned the ball over four times, and Philadelphia scored 28 points off of them. In fact, if you factor in the turnover on downs — which doesn’t formally count as a turnover —  early in the fourth quarter, the Eagles actually scored 35 points off of “giveaways.”

The Bills still can’t get past Kansas City hurdle in the playoffs

Buffalo is now 0-4 against the Chiefs in the playoffs during the Patrick Mahomes-Josh Allen era. Allen became the first quarterback in NFL history to lose four playoff starts against another quarterback. Sean McDermott became the first coach to do the same to another head coach.

Against Kansas City, the Bills played mostly well, balanced football. They did not commit a single turnover. They scored touchdowns on all three red zone trips. Allen played extremely well, going 22-of-34 for 237 yards with two touchdowns and adding 39 rushing yards. Yet Buffalo needed him to do a little more as a runner, and against elite teams like the Chiefs, perfect games are required to win.

Commanders can’t stop Eagles avalanche

After Terry McLaurin scampered off with a 36-yard touchdown reception in the middle of the second quarter, Washington missed its two-point conversion attempt. The score was 14-12, with the Eagles holding the small lead.

The Commanders would go on to be outscored 41-11 the rest of the way. In the first four drives of the game, Washington put up 173 yards; in the final eight, that number was only 187.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NFL conference title game winners, losers: Bills come up short again