While we won't have ratings data for a few days, by all accounts, the AFC Championship game between the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, January 26, 2025, is more than likely to go down as the best game of the 2024/25 NFL Season. This game featured the two best teams in the AFC meeting again in the playoffs for the 4th time in five years.

As we all know, the Chiefs were able to hold on in the end and win against the Bills 32-29 in yet another fantastic game between these two powerhouses. If there is one thing that you can count on, it is that these rivals will give us great football and remind us why we love this sport.

However, everything was not all good in the game, and to not take anything away from the Chiefs and their victory, there were at least three big calls that the officiating crew either got wrong or flat-out missed during the game. Those calls, if gotten right, might have turned the tide in the other direction. Now, while the NFL says that more than 99 percent of plays are called correctly, that remaining 1 percent still means there are dozens of calls that are missed, which can have dire consequences for one team or the other.

The Catch That Wasn't Really A Catch...

Perhaps the most controversial of all the calls during the game was the play where the Chief's Xavier Worthy was fighting for the ball with Buffalo's Cole-Bishop. Both Bishop and Worthy had the ball as they hit the ground; the play was ruled a catch for Worthy even though he did not have control and the ball hit the ground. Multiple sports analysts and former officials agree that, at best, this call should have been ruled incomplete, if not actually inception for Bishop, who exhibited more control over the ball than Worthy.

This play gave Kansas City 1st and goal inside the 5-yard line and set up the Chiefs for a score.

The First Down That Wasn't A First Down But Really Was...

With just under 13 minutes to go in the 4th quarter, the Bills had a fourth down play where Josh Allen and the Buffalo Snow Plow were able to push forward to gain a first down. The two officials who were responsible for spotting the ball ruled that Allen didn't make the line to gain, while replays clearly show that Allen crossed the point where he needed to get to. This missed first down caused a turnover on downs for Buffalo, giving KC the ball again.

The league, which has instituted replay-assisted calls for officials, missed another one.

Multiple Missed Holds And Block In The Back On Punt Return.

Perhaps what may be the most egregious series of missed calls came with just under 4 minutes left in the fourth quarter as the Bills punted to the Chiefs. On the ensuing punt return, you can clearly see several missed holding calls and a blatant block-in-the-back that the officiating crew missed during the return that sprung Nikko Remigio to make a big 41-yard run back.

While these plays will be dissected and discussed in the coming weeks, it's clear that the NFL has some work to do to ensure that big plays aren't missed.

Kansas City Pulls It Out In The End, Beating Buffalo 32-29

The 57th meeting between the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs ended in epic fashion as the Kansas City Chiefs held on to win, earning their way to their 3rd straight Super Bowl appearance while sending Buffalo home. 

Gallery Credit: Ed Nice

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