Worthy’s AFC Championship Game performance provides another win for Chiefs over Bills

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - The Kansas City Chiefs have had the upper hand over the Buffalo Bills in critical moments for the last half-decade of playoff football.

In four of the past five AFC playoff runs, the Chiefs have sent the Bills home and kept Buffalo from returning to its first Super Bowl appearance since 1994.

“It’s not fun,” Bills quarterback Josh Allen said following Kansas City’s 32-29 victory Sunday. “To be the champs you gotta beat the champs. And we didn’t do it tonight.”

Sunday added the latest chapter to this lopsided rivalry with narrow results. And the advantage gained by Kansas City in the competitive games can in some ways be explained by two trades made between the teams. Of course, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes was selected 10th overall by the Chiefs in the 2017 NFL Draft via a draft pick acquired in a trade with the Bills.

There’s no question Mahomes has been the driving force in all four victories for Kansas City but rookie wide receiver Xavier Worthy made an impact in a game played between the teams who swapped draft picks in April, setting the Chiefs up to draft the fastest player in NFL Combine history.

“I said it once,” Worthy told KCTV following a 6-catch, 85-yard performance that featured his first playoff touchdown as well. “They skipped on me. That’s their loss.”

READ MORE: Mahomes leads Chiefs to win over Bills, suring Joe Montana for 2nd-most playoff wins by a QB

Worthy also added two carries for 16 yards, totaling more than 100 yards in total offense to help Kansas City come out on top. In April, Buffalo agreed to a draft-day trade that helped Chiefs general manager Brett Veach move from pick 32 to 28 and draft Worthy out of Texas.

While it can be pointed to as the latest advantage both on and off the field Kansas City’s gained over its AFC rival, Veach downplayed Buffalo’s mistake following the Chiefs’ fifth AFC Championship in the past six seasons.

“He’s a great player,” Veach said. “The Bills have a great staff and that’s one of the best football teams in the NFL. A lot of people make it out like, ‘the Bills didn’t want him,’ listen, they know what they’re doing. They’re a really good football team, they beat us earlier in the season and that’s one of the best football teams out there.”

But rather than draft Worthy -- or make Kansas City wait several more picks to select him -- the Bills selected Florida State wide receiver Keon Coleman with the first pick in the second round (following another trade from 32 to 33 with the Carolina Panthers).

Sunday night, Coleman had 1 catch for 12 yards on four targets.

“We stick to our board,” Veach said as he recalled the process that led to Worthy winding up in Kansas City. “We have a plan and we believe in it and we don’t really second-guess ourselves. Xavier was a guy that we really loved and were ionate about and we were fortunate to go up there and get him.”

Worthy’s 11-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter gave Kansas City a 14-10 lead. A drive later, Worthy fought with a Bills defender to come down with a 26-yard gain that set up another Chiefs score.

On Kansas City’s game-winning field goal drive, the 21-year-old flashed open on a 2nd & 7 play, securing a catch from Mahomes and turning it into a 23-yard gain to set the Chiefs up for kicker Harrison Butker’s game-winning kick.

Without wide receiver Rashee Rice and Hollywood Brown for the majority of the season, the rookie has stepped into a lead role in Kansas City’s receiving corps -- and made Buffalo look all the more foolish for handing him to the Chiefs for years to come.

“He’s a great player and he’s only going to get better,” Veach said.

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