Sunday’s thrilling AFC divisional-round game between the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs was a huge ratings success.
Kansas City’s epic 4th quarter comeback and victory in overtime averaged 42.7 million viewers on CBS, making it the NFL’s most-watched divisional-round game since Dallas Cowboys-Green Bay Packers in January 2017 (48.5 million), the network announced Tuesday.
The audience peaked at 51.7 million viewers, according to Pro Football Talk’s Michael David Smith.
The Bills-Chiefs contest combined for 34 points between the fourth quarter and overtime, with 31 of those points coming after the two-minute warning. Buffalo appeared ready to take down the Chiefs when Josh Allen hit Gabriel Davis for a 27-yard touchdown on 4th-and-13 with 1:54 remaining.
Kansas City regained the lead 52 seconds later, but then Buffalo came right back when Davis caught his fourth touchdown pass of the game with 13 seconds left in regulation to put Buffalo back on top 36-33. Everybody thought the game was over and Buffalo was moving on…except for Patrick Mahomes.
Mahomes completed passes to Hill and Travis Kelce to set up Harrison Butker’s game-tying field goal as time expired in regulation. The coin toss went to the Chiefs and they capped off their epic comeback with a game-winning 75-yard touchdown drive when Mahomes hit Kelce in the end zone.
The victory sent Kansas City to the AFC Championship Game for the fourth consecutive season. The Chiefs will host the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday looking to reach the Super Bowl for the third straight year.
