When Von Miller paused in the corridor outside the visiting locker room and hugged Josh Allen, he had just finished discussing the significance of the Buffalo Bills defeating the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium.
The quarterback for the Bills was brilliant once more on Sunday.
This time, it was a successful attempt.
Allen completed three passes for 329 yards and three touchdowns, including the game-winning pass to Dawson Knox with 1:04 remaining, and the Bills held on to win 24-20 to exact some retribution for their heartbreaking overtime playoff defeat to Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs.
"I've frequented this stadium quite a bit. been at this podium before. But I don't grin much," Miller admitted. Going out there with my teammates, working toward something like this, and winning just feels so amazing.
The Bills (5-1) triumphed in the same stadium where their seasons had ended the previous two seasons thanks to Stefon Diggs' 10 receptions for 148 yards and a touchdown and Gabe Davis' touchdown catch after thrashing Kansas City for four in January.
In January, it was divisional round. The previous year, it was the AFC championship game.
Allen shrugged and remarked, "Nothing we accomplished last year translates to what we're doing this year. "Whatever happened in the past is still there. We can only think about the one after that. Today was the next one.
It appeared as though it might be the upcoming heartbreak for a split second.
After Knox's touchdown, the Chiefs had plenty of time to retake possession of the ball. But with 51 seconds left, Buffalo cornerback Taron Johnson intercepted Mahomes' ball to Skyy Moore after he fumbled on the first down.
From then, the Bills ran out the clock.
"The battle was fierce. Andy Reid, the Chiefs coach, stated "You love these games. "You simply shouldn't be seated on this end of it. However, you adore the rivalry and the aggressiveness of the men.
Mahomes completed the game with 338 yards passing, two touchdowns, and two interceptions—one of which was thrown in the end zone early on. JuJu Smith-Schuster recorded five receptions for a total of 113 yards and a score.
The tight game was a fitting conclusion to their playoff contest, which the Chiefs (4-2) won on the first play of overtime after both teams combined to score 25 points in the final two minutes of regulation.
The teams each scored a goal in each of their final six possessions that evening, and they continued their winning ways on Sunday, with one little exception. First quarter offensive drives by the Bills and Chiefs both resulted in turnovers as they approached the end zone after chewing through defenses that appeared to be completely out of it.
Then the parallels to their outstanding divisional playoff game really started to emerge.
In a pocket that was crumbling, Mahomes, at the height of his improvisation, managed to stay alive long enough to reach Smith-Schuster for a 42-yard touchdown reception. Buffalo responded with a touchdown drive in the last seconds of the half after the Bills wasted another red-zone opportunity when Allen fired an incomplete pass on fourth-and-goal from the Kansas City 3 yard line.
Allen threw a dart to Davis for a first down as the team was backed up to its own 1-yard line. On his subsequent three passes, he connected with Knox, Diggs, and Khalil Shakir. Davis then outran rookie cornerback Joshua Williams for a 34-yard touchdown catch.
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