ESPN

‘”I cut my teeth around Andy Reid who was a pass-first, you throw to win [coach]. And that has been my philosophy since day one pretty much here,” McDermott said. “Especially since Josh has grown into a player and the quarterback that he has. … I do believe though that you’ve got to be able to control the line of scrimmage and run when you need to run. So, I think it is important that we have that ability to run the football, in particular in Western New York.”‘

‘To show support for Bass, donations started flowing to Ten Lives Club on Monday afternoon, with the majority in $22 increments to show support for the fourth-year kicker, who wears No. 2. Through Show Your Soft Side, a public service campaign that works against animal abuse across the county, Bass became connected with the Ten Lives Club, working with them as early as 2022.’

‘To show support for Bass, donations started flowing to Ten Lives Club on Monday afternoon, with the majority in $22 increments to show support for the fourth-year kicker, who wears No. 2. Through Show Your Soft Side, a public service campaign that works against animal abuse across the county, Bass became connected with the Ten Lives Club, working with them as early as 2022.’

‘”Stef’s, he’s a No. 1 receiver. I firmly believe that, not wavering off of that,” Beane said. “… Listen, we have to continue to put weapons out there to keep teams from bracketing him or, you know, locking him down in different ways to take him away. They know you are going to want him. Stef can still play, I’m sure he would love to have that deep ball again, he’d be the first to tell you. He’s super competitive, he’s going to work his tail off this offseason. I know there’s various reasons or questions on this or his production, all that, but I still see Stef as a No. 1 receiver.”‘

‘Despite the success Allen has had in 10 career postseason games — 64.6% completions, 21 passing touchdowns, 4 interceptions, 83 rushing attempts for 563 yards and 5 rushing scores — Buffalo is just 5-5 in those matchups. With the latest defeat to the Chiefs, Buffalo became the first team to be eliminated by the same opponent three times in a four-year span since the 49ers lost three straight years to the Green Bay Packers from 1995 to ’97.’

‘Buffalo’s failed fake punt attempt early in the fourth quarter was followed up by a Mecole Hardman Jr. fumble to give Buffalo the ball back. Hardman’s fumble went through the end zone and by NFL rule, it was deemed a touchback, giving the football to the Bills.’

‘The first touchdown came on Buffalo’s second drive after the teams exchanged field goals on each of their first drives. Allen kept the ball himself at the Kansas City 5-yard line and rushed to the left into the end zone to get the score.’

‘A second snowstorm in a week brought Orchard Park, where Highmark Stadium is located, over 2 feet of snow from midweek to Friday ahead of the Bills hosting the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday (6:30 p.m. EST, CBS). While the Bills were able to get through the practice week despite the snow, the team did reach out to fans once again to help shovel snow out of the stadium.’

‘Only two defensive starters started all 17 games for the Bills — nickel corner Taron Johnson and middle linebacker Terrel Bernard. But Johnson and Bernard, two of the team’s most consistent players, are questionable for Sunday because of injury. The team lost two key starters for the season in Weeks 4 and 5 — cornerback Tre’Davious White and 2022 first-team All-Pro outside linebacker Matt Milano.’

‘This will be the second straight game missed for both Davis and Rapp after they suffered injuries in the regular-season finale against the Miami Dolphins. Spector and Benford were both injured in the playoff win over the Pittsburgh Steelers.’

‘The Bills are on the team’s second offensive coordinator change since that game, with Ken Dorsey hired to replace Brian Daboll in the 2022 offseason, and then Joe Brady hired as interim offensive coordinator when Dorsey was fired after Week 10 of this season. The change in playcaller to Brady has led to an increase in the team’s designed rush percentage (up from 35.3% in 2021 to 40.8% in 2023), including a big rushing performance vs. the Cowboys.’

‘”[Mahomes has] only been here once. So, he’s never been here. Simple as that,” left tackle Dion Dawkins said. “Pat has never been to the Bills’ stadium in full. … The environment will be different and not to say it’s in our favor, but stadium is our favor. Stadium is us. That helps us. I don’t care what nobody says. This is the most dopest feeling I’ve ever had. We’re having two back-to-back playoff games home. Come on now, like we get to leave and go eat wings. It’s cool. So good luck.”‘

‘”When you compete against your friends, you almost want to win even more because of it,” Mahomes said. “Josh is a great dude. I respect the way he plays football and just the guy that he is. But when two guys that are ultracompetitive that are friends off the field go up against each other, we obviously both want to win. We see each other in the offseason, and you want to have a little bit of those bragging rights.”‘

‘Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen threw first-quarter touchdown passes to tight ends Dawson Knox and Dalton Kincaid. Allen added a personal record 52-yard touchdown run in the second quarter to stake the Bills to a 21-0 lead, one they would not relinquish.’

‘Allen’s 52-yard touchdown run — which came on the heels of a pair of touchdown passes to Buffalo Bills tight ends earlier in the game — was the second-longest scoring run by a quarterback in NFL playoff history (Colin Kaepernick vs. the Seahawks in the 2013 NFC Championship) and the longest run, touchdown or otherwise, of Allen’s career. The TD staked Buffalo to a 21-0 lead.’