Olean Times Herald

‘How many times will we hear Belichick? Over/under 1.’

‘And though in the stadium, I never saw Scott Norwood’s 47-yard field goal attempt slip 18 inches wide of the right upright in person. At the two-minute warning, Larry Felser of the Buffalo News and I headed for the Buffalo locker room. We stopped at a TV stationed outside the door and at first thought Scott’s attempt would hook a bit left, which it usually did. But not this time.’

‘And there is this. Had the Bills gone for the TD both times, and succeeded, they’d have eight more points. Buffalo lost by 14 … in short, even scoring those two touchdowns would hardly have ensured victory.’

‘What’s certain is Allen, who led the team with 88 rushing yards versus KC, most of them running for his life, got zero help from the ground game, unless you count 32 yards on nine carries from his backs as being productive.’

‘And, one thing’s certain, if the Bills hope to get past the AFC Championship Game, they had best find a running game and fast … it’s not fair that Allen has to do both.’

‘Bills rookie kicker Tyler Bass hit two 51-yard field goals, the longest in Arrowhead Stadium’s playoff history. That broke the record of 50 yards by current Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker set a week earlier. Oddly, Bass missed his first extra point attempt, hitting the upright, his third miss in 65 tries this season.’

‘The forecast has been all over the place, but as we get closer to game time, the most persistent prognostication is temperatures in the mid 30s with light winds and a 50 percent chance of rain.’

‘His wins – 237 including playoffs and counting – are easily Hall of Fame-worthy. And Reid’s eight-year record with Kansas City, the defending Super Bowl champion, is glittering with five straight AFC West titles and three consecutive conference championship game appearances.’

‘“I felt like he threw it right to me,” Johnson recalled of his historic play. “At first I was going to kneel down, then I saw all of that open grass and I figured, ‘OK, there’s only one guy I gotta beat … No. 8 (Jackson). But to have (cornerback Tre’Davious White) running with me helped out a lot, he got in (Jackson’s) way and let me go all the way.”’

‘The TD was the first interception for a score for Buffalo in the postseason since cornerback Jeff Burris did it against Jacksonville (38 yards) in 1996.’

‘Those ground stats have to be concerning to Buffalo, which ranks in the bottom third of the league (122 yards per game) defending the run. Indeed, the Bills gave up over 200 rushing yards in two of their three losses: Kansas City (245, which did not rely on Patrick Mahomes’ passing) and Arizona (217, Murray rushed for two TDs). In addition, New England ran for 188 yards while controlling the clock at Bills Stadium and might have won had Cam Newton not fumbled deep in Buffalo territory in the final two minutes.’

‘Over the season, the Ravens are second in the NFL in fewest points surrendered (19 per game), have 23 takeaways (11 interceptions, 12 fumble recoveries), 40 sacks, 121 quarterback hits, 75 tackles for loss, three defensive touchdowns and two safeties.’

‘The opening line favored Buffalo over Baltimore by three points, but it’s now 2½ and will likely fall to two by game time as this matchup is fascinating, pitting two of the NFL’s hottest teams.’

‘Indeed, it could be argued that if Saturday afternoon’s game against the Colts had not been played at Bills Stadium, Buffalo’s season might already be over.’

‘Buffalo won the most important statistic – final score – but Indianapolis prevailed in first downs (27-22), total yards (472-397), rushing yards (163-96) and time of possession (34:17-25:43). The Bills had a slight edge in passing yards as quarterback Josh Allen threw for 324 to the Colts’ Philip Rivers’ 309.’