Bills Central

Dalton Kincaid's 4th-down drop adds another Bills playoff shortcoming in AFC championship

Josh Allen was able to find the second-year tight end in pursuit of a comeback win, but he was unable to secure the pass late in the fourth quarter. Buffalo fell to the Chiefs as they vie for a third straight Super Bowl
Khari Demos|
Buffalo Bills tight end Dalton Kincaid.
Buffalo Bills tight end Dalton Kincaid. | Marc Lebryk-Imagn Images

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The Buffalo Bills have a very talented young tight end in Dalton Kincaid. But he will have to learn from a crucial mistake he made in is AFC championship debut.

The second-year tight end was able to find enough space in the Kansas City Chiefs defense on a 4th-and-5 play. And incredibly, Josh Allen was able to evade the Chiefs defense and heave a ball up to give Kincaid a chance to make a play. Unfortunately, he was not able to do that.

It was another mistake for this Buffalo franchise on a postseason stage, against their arch-nemesis no less. Another "what-if" to discuss for the Bills faithful.

The thing is, even if Kincaid makes this play, it doesn't guarantee a Buffalo win. The Bills would have advance to Kansas City's 35-yard line, putting them in field goal range with 1:54 to play. But Buffalo was still down three points, meaning they would have to convert on a field goal to tie the game.

But a red-hot Josh Allen didn't even get that chance to get the Bills in that position. Patrick Mahomes and his Chiefs were able to salt away the clock and advance to a fifth Super Bowl since 2019 and pursuit a third consecutive championship.

Dalton Kincaid
Buffalo Bills tight end Dalton Kincaid. | Mark Konezny-Imagn Images

Kincaid had a pretty forgettable first AFC championship game appearance, as he posted two catches for 13 yards in Buffalo's fourth postseason loss to the Chiefs since 2020.

But this 4th-down play from Kincaid will go down as the next in a long lost of playoff failure moments for the Bills — from "Wide Right" and "the Music City Miracle" to most recently as Stefon Diggs watching the Kansas City AFC championship celebration in 2020 to "13-seconds" the following season.

You've got to feel for the sophomore TE. But this was not the ideal time for him to have a showing like this in a game this pivotal.

Dalton Kincaid
Buffalo Bills tight end Dalton Kincaid. | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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Khari Demos
KHARI DEMOS

Khari Demos is an award-winning sports media creator and is a contributor for Bills On SI. He has written sports betting article covering the NFL for The Athletic and has written pieces about the NBA, MLB, college football and basketball, and more, throughout his career.

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