For a fleeting moment during Sunday night’s AFC Championship clash, Buffalo Bills fans dared to believe in a miracle. With just seconds left in the fourth quarter and their team trailing the Kansas City Chiefs 32-29, quarterback Josh Allen launched a desperate pass toward tight end Dalton Kincaid. The ball slipped through Kincaid’s outstretched hands, and heartbreak seemed inevitable—until CBS’s scorebug and Jim Nantz offered Bills fans a cruel sliver of hope.

In the aftermath of the play, Nantz, CBS’s veteran play-by-play broadcaster, announced that a flag had been thrown on the crucial fourth-down attempt. The network’s yellow penalty graphic appeared on the screen, igniting a wave of excitement for Bills fans clinging to playoff life.

“I didn’t see a flag thrown there,” analyst Tony Romo interjected, sensing the confusion.

“I’m told there’s a flag,” Nantz replied, raising expectations that the drive—and Buffalo’s season—might survive. But moments later, reality came crashing down as Nantz clarified, “No flag. There was no penalty at all.”

The premature graphic and Nantz’s report turned out to be nothing more than a cruel tease. Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs offense lined up, extinguishing the Bills’ hopes of a comeback as Kansas City ran out the clock to secure their ticket to Super Bowl 2025.

For Buffalo fans, it was yet another chapter in their playoff heartbreak saga against Kansas City. Allen, who has now suffered four consecutive postseason losses to Mahomes, finished with 237 passing yards and two touchdowns. Running back James Cook added two rushing scores, but Buffalo’s offense faltered in the game’s most critical moments.

The Chiefs’ defense, led by coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, stood tall when it mattered most. Kansas City thwarted Buffalo on the pivotal fourth-down play, a controversial fourth-and-1 quarterback sneak earlier in the final quarter, and two failed two-point conversion attempts. Each stop tightened the Chiefs’ grip on victory and kept their historic bid for a three-peat alive.

As for Buffalo, the lingering image of Kincaid’s drop on the game’s final play will haunt fans throughout the offseason. “We’ve got to finish better in those moments,” Allen said postgame, visibly dejected after another postseason letdown.

For Kansas City, this victory further cements their dominance in the AFC. Mahomes, as poised as ever, now leads his team to face the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl 2025 on February 9. The Eagles punched their ticket earlier Sunday with a commanding win over the Commanders in the NFC Championship game, setting the stage for a heavyweight showdown between two powerhouse franchises.

While the Chiefs march forward, the Bills are left to pick up the pieces of yet another shattered dream. Sunday’s drama was a stark reminder of the thin margins between victory and defeat in the NFL—and the frustration of being on the wrong side of history. For Buffalo fans, this loss cuts especially deep, not just because of the outcome, but because of the fleeting hope that CBS mistakenly gave them in the game’s dying moments.