(CNN) — Next weekend’s conference championship lineups have been decided after the Kansas City Chiefs secured their sixth consecutive AFC championship game spot on Sunday and the Detroit Lions are headed to their first such faceoff in decades in the NFC.
The Chiefs cemented their spot with a wild 27-24 win over the Buffalo Bills on Sunday at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, New York. Earlier in the day, the Lions finished with a 31-23 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Detroit’s Ford Field.
Next Sunday, the Lions will play the San Francisco 49ers and vie for a place at Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas next month.
The Chiefs will also travel to Baltimore next weekend to face the Ravens in the AFC championship game, making it the second team ever to advance to six straight conference championship games, trailing only the New England Patriots’ eight consecutive advancements between 2011 and 2018.
The Chiefs game on Sunday began with a brisk kickoff, with the temperature 26 degrees at the stadium, according to the CBS broadcast. Still, tight end Travis Kelce was cheered on by his girlfriend, Taylor Swift, and brother, Jason Kelce of the Philadelphia Eagles, in the stands.
The game’s first touchdown came in the second quarter at a 3-3 tie when Bills quarterback Josh Allen scored on a five-yard rush to take a 10-3 lead. Allen ran it again for his second rushing touchdown to make it a 17-13 game at halftime.
The Chiefs’ offense came out of the half swinging, driving 75 yards down the field. Star quarterback Patrick Mahomes passed it short to Kelce and dove for the pylon to score his second touchdown of the game and give Kansas City a 20-17 lead.
The move marked the pair’s 16th touchdown in the playoffs, moving them past former New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and tight end Rob Gronkowski for the most QB-TE touchdowns in NFL postseason history.
The back-and-forth battle between both teams continued as the Bills responded with an Allen touchdown throw to wide receiver Khalil Shakir to take a 24-20 lead.
Early in the fourth quarter, after Chiefs running back Isiah Pacheco ran it in for a touchdown to take the lead back, the Kansas City defense frced the Bills to go three and out on the pursuing drive.
Late in the fourth quarter, the Bills offense went on a 16-play, 54-yard drive to set up a potential game-tying 44-yard field goal. However, Bills kicker Tyler Bass missed, securing the victory for the Chiefs.
Speaking on the CBS broadcast after the game, Mahomes reflected on the week of preparation ahead for the Chiefs.
“We know we are going to have a heck of a challenge this next week, but our guys will be ready to go and go out there and see what we can do.”
