NFL Playoffs: Chiefs and Lions hold nerve to reach Conference Championships

The Kansas City Chiefs will play in their sixth straight AFC Championship game and on course for a fourth Super Bowl appearance in five years following a dramatic victory over playoff rivals the Buffalo Bills on Sunday.

Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen had yet another quarterback shootout as the defending champions held on for a 27-24 win during a nervy finale, in which Tyler Bass missed a 44-yard field goal to tie the game for the Bills with less than two minutes remaining.

It is the third time in four years that Kansas City have knocked the Bills out of the playoffs, which includes the classic 42-36 overtime win from two years ago, but this was the first time they did it in Buffalo.

Buffalo had 37 minutes of possession, 14 more than the visitors, with Allen rushing for two touchdowns and controlling much of the first half, but Mahomes made the most of his opportunities with the ball as the Chiefs recovered, passing for 215 yards and two touchdowns for Travis Kelce.

Kansas City will visit the top seed in their conference on Sunday, taking on the Baltimore Ravens for a place in Super Bowl 57, in which they are bidding to become the first team to defend their title since the Patriots successfully retained the Lombardi Trophy in 2005.

Lions reach NFC Championship game for just the second time

The Detroit Lions held off the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to win 31-23 and book a spot in the NFC Championship game for the first time since 1991.

In a cagey affair, both defenses were able to restrict the opposition in the first half, before scores from Craig Reynolds and Jahmyr Gibbs set the Lions up with a comfortable lead.

Tampa Bay hit straight back with Mayfield finding Mike Evans to keep the game alive and they got the ball back with two minutes left, but Detroit sealed victory as linebacker Derrick Barnes intercepted Mayfield, the QB’s second pick of the game.

The Lions hosted its first playoff game in 30 years last week against the Los Angeles Rams, and celebrated a first playoff win in 32 years. Detroit have won multiple NFL championships, but all of those came before the first Super Bowl in 1967 and the Lions are one of just four teams – along with the Browns, Jaguars and Texans – never to play in the Super Bowl.

They are now just one game away from the big stage, but will have to overcome the San Francisco 49ers to book their place in Las Vegas