Wide Right II (Buffalo Bills)

Wide Right II
DateJanuary 21, 2024
StadiumHighmark Stadium
Orchard Park, New York
FavoriteBills by 2.5
RefereeShawn Hochuli
Attendance70,808
TV in the United States
NetworkCBS/Paramount+
AnnouncersJim Nantz (play-by-play)
Tony Romo (color commentator)
Tracy Wolfson (sideline reporter)
Jay Feely (analyst)

Wide Right II[1] was Tyler Bass's missed 44-yard field goal attempt for the Buffalo Bills near the end of a 2023 AFC Divisional playoff game on January 21, 2024, at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, New York, as part of the 2023–24 NFL playoffs.[2] allowed the Kansas City Chiefs to win 27–24. The miss took place just under 33 years after Scott Norwood's similar miss for the Bills in Super Bowl XXV.

Due to Taylor Swift's affiliation with the Chiefs due to her dating of (and later engagement to) Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, the miss has also been referred to as Wide Right (Tyler's Version).[3]

Background

Main articles: 2023 Buffalo Bills season and 2023 Kansas City Chiefs season

Nearly 33 years prior to the game, on January 27, 1991, Scott Norwood missed a 47-yard field goal attempt as time expired on Super Bowl XXV that would have given his Bills team a 22–20 Super Bowl win, instead giving the New York Giants a 20–19 win.[4] The missed field goal was dubbed "Wide Right" after Al Michaels' call of it. The Bills would go on to lose the following three Super Bowls in multi-score blowouts and Norwood would be cut from the team following the 1991 season.

The Chiefs had made three of the prior four Super Bowls, winning Super Bowl LIV and Super Bowl LVII the prior season and losing Super Bowl LV.

Both teams finished the 2023 season with identical 11–6 records and won their respective divisions.

In the Wild Card Round, the Chiefs beat the Miami Dolphins 26–7,[5] and the Bills beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 31–17,[6] setting up the Divisional Round matchup.

The Chiefs and Bills had met five prior time in the playoffs, most recently during the Divisional Round in the 2021–22 NFL playoffs where the Chiefs won 42–36 in overtime,[7] having also beaten the Bills 38–24 in the AFC Championship during the 2020–21 NFL playoffs the season before,[8] with the Chiefs holding a 3–2 overall record over the Bills in playoff games up to that point.[9]

The two teams had met in the regular season on December 10, 2023, where the Bills had beaten the Chiefs 20–17, which had given them the head-to-head tiebreaker needed to receive the 2-seed and host the Divisional Round rematch.[10]

Game summary

First quarter

The Bills got the ball first and got on the board with a 27-yard field goal by Tyler Bass to take an early 3–0 lead. On the very next drive, Harrison Butker would make a 47-yard field goal to tie the game at 3–3.[11]

Second quarter

The Bills would respond with a 5-yard touchdown run by Josh Allen to take a 10–3 lead. The Chiefs cut their lead to 10–6 on a 29-yard field goal by Butker. The Bills were held to a punt on their next drive and the Chiefs took a 13–10 lead on a 22-yard pass to Travis Kelce by Patrick Mahomes. The Bills would answer with a 2-yard touchdown pass by Allen near the end of the half to take a 17–13 lead into halftime.[11]

Third quarter

The Chiefs received the second half kickoff and drove down the field, culminating in a 3-yard pass from Mahomes to Kelce to take a 20–17 lead. The Bills answered with a touchdown drive of their own culminating in a 13-yard touchdown pass from Allen to Khalil Shakir and retake a 24–20 lead.[11]

Fourth quarter

The Chiefs responded on their next drive and took a 27–24 lead courtesy of a 4-yard touchdown run by Isiah Pacheco. On their next drive, the Bills attempted a fake punt and failed, giving the Chiefs the ball in Bills territory. Pacheco rattled off a 29-yard run to get to the 3-yard line. On the next play, Mahomes completed a pass to Mecole Hardman in which he was initially ruled to be down at the 1-yard line before losing the ball. The Bills challenged the ruling and the call was overturned to a fumble into the end zone, giving them the ball back. The Bills and Chiefs then both traded punts on three-and-out drives. After the Bills got the ball back, on a 54-yard drive that included a fourth down conversion, they advanced the ball to the Chiefs' 26-yard line.[11]

The miss

Following two incompletions, the Bills faced fourth down at the Chiefs' 26-yard line, leading them to bring out Bass to attempt a 44-yard field goal kick to tie the game.

The kick had the distance, but missed to the right of the goalpost, making the kick no good and giving the Chiefs the ball back. Commentator Jim Nantz remarked "Wide Right; The two most dreaded words in Buffalo have surfaced again." in reaction to the miss and comparing it to Norwood's miss. The Bills then attempted to stop the Chiefs, but the Chiefs were able to run out the clock after picking up a first down, sealing a 27–24 win for the Chiefs.[11]

Box Score

Kansas City Chiefs vs. Buffalo Bills – Game summary
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Chiefs 3 10 7727
Bills 3 14 7024

at Highmark Stadium, Orchard Park, New York

Game information

Aftermath

The Chiefs would win the AFC Championship over the Baltimore Ravens to advance to Super Bowl LVIII where they beat the San Francisco 49ers 25–22 in overtime to repeat as Super Bowl champions, the first since the New England Patriots in 2003 and 2004.[12]

The Bills were eliminated by the Chiefs in the playoffs for the third time in four seasons, and were eliminated in the divisional round for the third straight season, two of which were by the Chiefs.[13]

Bills kicker Bass received a large amount of social media threats following the miss and subsequent playoff elimination, driving him to deactivate his social media accounts. Some Bills fans donated to Ten Lives Club, a no-kill cat shelter he was the brand ambassador for, leading to them receiving $100K in reported donations.[14] Bills quarterback Allen defended Bass, saying the team should not have ever been in that situation and the offense should have executed plays to not bring up the fourth down in which Bass missed.[15]

The game was the most-viewed divisional round playoff game in NFL history, averaging 50.4 million viewers and peaking at 56.3 million viewers, breaking the previous record of 48.5 million average viewers from the Packers-Cowboys game in the 2016–17 NFL playoffs.[16] The game was also the most-streamed event in Paramount+ history.[17]

In the following 2024 season, the two teams would meet in the regular season again, where the Bills won 30–21 and handed Mahomes his only regular season loss all year.[18] The two teams would go on to meet in the playoffs for the second straight season in the AFC Championship, where the Chiefs won 32–29.[19] The Chiefs would lose the subsequent Super Bowl LIX 22–40 to the Eagles, denying them their unprecedented bid for a three-peat.[20]

In the 2025 season, the Bills beat the Chiefs 28–21 in the regular season,[21] starting a span for the Chiefs where they lost 8 of their final 9 games and failed to make the playoffs, with Mahomes tearing his ACL in the loss that officially eliminated them from playoff contention.[22] The Bills would make the 2025–26 NFL playoffs, but failed to capitalize on the Chiefs, who had eliminated them in the playoffs in four of the prior five seasons, not being in the playoffs, as they would fall 30–33 in overtime to the Broncos in the Divisional Round.[23]

See also

References

  1. ^ "'Wide Right' 2.0: Bills fans, football world react to Bass's FG miss in final minutes". Retrieved January 7, 2026.
  2. ^ "Divisional Round - Kansas City Chiefs at Buffalo Bills - January 21st, 2024". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved January 7, 2026.
  3. ^ Herbert, Geoff (January 22, 2024). "Scott Norwood kick haunts Buffalo Bills again with Wide Right (Tyler's Version)". syracuse. Retrieved January 7, 2026.
  4. ^ "Super Bowl XXV - Buffalo Bills vs. New York Giants - January 27th, 1991". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved January 26, 2026.
  5. ^ "Chiefs 26-7 Dolphins (Jan 13, 2024) Final Score". ESPN. Retrieved January 26, 2026.
  6. ^ "Bills 31-17 Steelers (Jan 15, 2024) Final Score". ESPN. Retrieved January 26, 2026.
  7. ^ "Chiefs 42-36 Bills (Jan 23, 2022) Final Score". ESPN. Retrieved January 26, 2026.
  8. ^ "Chiefs 38-24 Bills (Jan 24, 2021) Final Score". ESPN. Retrieved January 26, 2026.
  9. ^ "Buffalo Bills Vs Kansas City Chiefs Playoff Record All-time". StatMuse. Retrieved January 26, 2026.
  10. ^ "Bills 20-17 Chiefs (Dec 10, 2023) Final Score". ESPN. Retrieved January 25, 2026.
  11. ^ a b c d e "Chiefs 27-24 Bills (Jan 21, 2024) Play-by-Play". ESPN. Retrieved January 25, 2026.
  12. ^ "Chiefs 25-22 49ers (Feb 11, 2024) Game Recap". ESPN. Retrieved January 9, 2026.
  13. ^ "Bills have a familiar feeling, eliminated by the Chiefs in playoffs for third time in four years". AP News. January 22, 2024. Retrieved February 13, 2026.
  14. ^ Hernandez, Victoria. "Bills Mafia turns social media bullying of Tyler Bass into $100K in cat shelter donations". USA TODAY. Retrieved January 7, 2026.
  15. ^ Rasmussen, Karl (January 21, 2024). "Josh Allen Has Heartfelt Response to Tyler Bass's Missed Field Goal in Bills' Loss vs. Chiefs". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved January 7, 2026.
  16. ^ Chiefs-Bills Set All-Time Divisional Viewership Record With More Than 50 Million Tuned In, Front Office Sports, January 23, 2024
  17. ^ Bohannon, Molly (January 23, 2024). "Chiefs-Bills Game Sets Record As Most-Watched Divisional Playoff Game Ever, Surpassing 50 Million Viewers". Forbes. Retrieved January 7, 2026.
  18. ^ "Bills 30-21 Chiefs (Nov 17, 2024) Final Score". ESPN. Retrieved January 26, 2026.
  19. ^ "Chiefs 32-29 Bills (Jan 26, 2025) Final Score". ESPN. Retrieved January 25, 2026.
  20. ^ "Eagles 40-22 Chiefs (Feb 9, 2025) Final Score". ESPN. Retrieved January 26, 2026.
  21. ^ "Bills 28-21 Chiefs (Nov 2, 2025) Final Score". ESPN. Retrieved January 26, 2026.
  22. ^ "Chargers 16-13 Chiefs (Dec 14, 2025) Game Recap". ESPN. Retrieved January 26, 2026.
  23. ^ "Broncos 33-30 Bills (Jan 17, 2026) Final Score". ESPN. Retrieved January 26, 2026.
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