Wide Right II (Buffalo Bills)

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Wide Right II

Highmark Stadium, the site of the 2024 divisional round Bills-Chiefs game.
Kansas City Chiefs (11–6) Buffalo Bills (11–6) 27 24 Head coach: Andy Reid Head coach: Sean McDermott
1 2 3 4 Total KC 3 10 7 7 27 BUF 3 14 7 0 24
Date	January 21, 2024 (2024-01-21)
Stadium	Highmark Stadium, Orchard Park, New York
Favorite	Bills by 2.5
Referee	Shawn Hochuli
Attendance	70,808
TV in the United States
Network	CBS
Announcers	Jim Nantz, Tony Romo, Tracy Wolfson, and Jay Feely

Wide Right II was a play that transpired in the AFC Divisional playoff game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Buffalo Bills in which Bills kicker Tyler Bass missed a game-tying field goal from 44 yards to the right of the goalposts. They would ultimately go on to lose 27–24. It took place almost 33 years to the date of Scott Norwood's missed game-winning field goal at the end of Super Bowl XXV, which similarly went wide right.

Background

Following the Bills defeat of the Pittsburgh Steelers in the wild card round, it was determined that they would host the Chiefs in the divisional round as the middle seeded teams. This became the first road playoff game in Patrick Mahomes' career. During the game, there were gusts of 9–13 mph (14–21 km/h) with temperatures of around 25 °F (−4 °C), which could have played a role in field goal attempts. The game was a back and forth contest, featuring five lead changes. While the Bills led 17-13 at halftime, the Chiefs were able to mount a comeback. Forty seconds after the 4th quarter started, the Chiefs took a 27-24 lead following an Isiah Pacheco touchdown. On their next drive, facing 4th and 5 at their own 30-yard line, the Bills attempt a fake punt, but Damar Hamlin only picks up two yards, causing a turnover on downs. The Chiefs, however, get a touchback on their next drive while attempting to make it a two possession game. Following the touchback, both teams exchanged punts before the Bills started the drive that ended in the missed field goal.

The field goal attempt

Following two straight incomplete passes by Josh Allen, the Bills were facing fourth down and nine yards to go to get a first down. With less than two minutes left in the game, Bass's Buffalo Bills trailed the Kansas City Chiefs by three points. They chose to try a 44-yard field goal, which would tie the game for the Bills. Unlike Norwood, whose 47-yard attempt was considered near the limit of his field goal range, Bass holds a career-best of 58 yards, thus making the 44-yarder within his range while holding an over 85% make rate from between 40-49 yard attempts in his career.

Bass lined up for the 44-yard game-winning field goal attempt from the right hash of the 34-yard line, with Sam Martin the holder and Reid Ferguson the long snapper. The kick, although it had the distance, missed to the right of the righthand goalpost and the field goal attempt failed. The miss caused commentator Jim Nantz to remark "Wide Right. The two most dreaded words in Buffalo."

The Chiefs took possession with 1 minute and 43 seconds left and were able to run out the clock, after the Bills used their two timeouts in an effort to stop the clock, for a 27–24 victory and improved to 4–2 against the Bills in the postseason (and third playoff win against the Bills in four years). Had Bass successfully scored, it could have been the first game to go to overtime under the 2022 rules change that assures each team of a possession (even if the first team scores a touchdown), a change made, in part, due to their previous playoff meeting.

Aftermath

The Chiefs advanced to their sixth consecutive AFC Championship following the win, while getting their third consecutive postseason win over Buffalo. The Chiefs would win the game en route to a 25-22 overtime victory in Super Bowl LVIII over the San Francisco 49ers for their second consecutive Super Bowl victory, becoming the first team since the 2004 New England Patriots to win back to back super bowls.

For the Bills, this was their third consecutive exit in the divisional round. The loss also snapped Buffalo’s six game win streak, which coincidentally began with a win over the Chiefs on December 10. With 58 regular season wins in the past 5 season for the Bills, the loss also tied them with the New Orleans Saints from 2017 to 2021 with the most regular season wins in a five year period to not make the Super Bowl.

Following the game, Bass deactivated his social media accounts after receiving threats due to his missed kick. In response, Bills fans began donating to Ten Lives Club to support Bass. Quarterback Josh Allen also defended Bass following the field goal. In addition, many Bills fans called for the firing of head coach Sean McDermott, due to inconsistent postseason success, as well as not being able to keep a consistent win streak until December 2023.

The game drew the most viewers of any divisional round game in history, with an average of 50.4 million viewers and a peak of 56.3 million viewers. The previous record of 48.5 million viewers was established a 2017 divisional round game between the Packers and Cowboys. The game also became the most streamed event in Paramount+ history.

See also

• Bills–Chiefs rivalry
• Buffalo '66
• The Comeback
• Gary Anderson's missed field goal in the 1998 NFC Championship Game
• Mike Vanderjagt’s missed field goal in the 2005 AFC Divisional Round
• Double Doink
• River City Relay

External links

Video from NFL.com

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