Hailee Steinfeld complimented the Kansas City Chiefs without complimenting them.
Steinfeld, 28, was asked to say three nice things about the Chiefs, her fiancé Josh Allen’s AFC rival, in a recent interview.
"Anger the Bills Mafia by saying three nice things about their rivals, the Kansas City Chiefs," actor Michael B. Jordan asked of Steinfeld during a recent episode of "Hot Ones Versus."
"I can find nice things to say about anybody, even if I don’t like them, even if we don’t like them," Steinfeld replied.
The Chiefs have eliminated the Buffalo Bills from the playoffs four of the last five seasons. One of those losses was the AFC championship game last season, which the Chiefs won 32-29.
The sting of the playoff losses made it difficult for Steinfeld to come up with kind things to say about the football team, so the Oscar-nominated actress went in a different direction.
"Yellow and red really complement them all pretty well. They are very loud. … It’s great. You want that from a fan base," Steinfeld said.
"They go hard for their team," Steinfeld added, providing her third and final nice thing to say.
Steinfeld’s answer made her and Jordan burst out laughing before they moved on.
Allen and Steinfeld got engaged somewhere on the California coastline in November after first being linked in the spring of 2023. The couple has remained relatively private about their relationship, but Steinfeld made a red carpet appearance with Allen at the NFL Honors last month.
While the Bills fell short of their ultimate goal of winning the Super Bowl, Allen had the best season of his career. The 28-year-old quarterback was named league MVP after he combined for 41 touchdowns while throwing a career-low six interceptions.
Fox News' Paulina Dedaj contributed to this report.
Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen was seemingly caught off guard during his first press conference with the media since signing a lucrative six-year contract extension after he was asked if the new deal meant he was going to upgrade Hailee Steinfeld’s engagement ring.
Fresh off his MVP season, Allen signed a $330 million contract extension with a record $250 million guarantee earlier this week that will likely grant the veteran quarterback his hope of finishing his career in Buffalo.
The deal made Allen among the highest paid players in the NFL – but not the highest.
"It’s weird to say this, but what is $5 million more going to do for my life that I can’t already do right now. It’s not that crazy to me," Allen said Wednesday. "I was like, if it has any impact on the cap, let’s figure out a way to not do that."
But more eyebrow-raising than the number on the contact was one reporter’s question to Allen about whether the new deal meant he would upgrade his fiancée’s engagement ring.
"A bigger ring, you said?" Allen chuckled in apparent disbelief. "No, I think she likes the one she’s got."
Allen and Steinfeld got engaged somewhere on the California coastline in November after first being linked to one another in the spring of 2023. The couple has remained relatively private about their relationship, but Steinfeld made a red carpet appearance with Allen at the NFL Honors last month.
"I’m so grateful for what’s going on in my life and finding the person that I want to share it with," Allen said Wednesday. "When you have that piece figured out, it seems like everything else kind of comes a little bit easier."
Allen finished off one of his most memorable seasons by being named the 2024-2025 NFL MVP.
Despite missing out on the Super Bowl, he combined for 41 touchdowns, including one receiving, with a career-low six interceptions in a 13-win season.
The Buffalo Bills are rewarding Josh Allen for his MVP 2024 season by making him the highest-paid quarterback in the NFL.
The Bills and Allen agreed to a six-year extension, which the team announced on Sunday. The deal keeps him in Buffalo through the 2030 season as its franchise quarterback.
ESPN reports the deal is worth a $330 million extension, which includes $250 million fully guaranteed, making it the largest guarantee ever given to an NFL player in history.
Allen’s extension comes after winning his first MVP Award, as he threw for 3,731 yards with 28 touchdowns to six interceptions, while rushing for 531 yards and 12 scores over 17 games. He became the only NFL player to ever throw for at least 25 touchdowns, rushing for at least 10 touchdowns, and give up fewer than 10 interceptions in a single season.
The Bills went 13-4 in the regular season but ultimately fell to the Kansas City Chiefs again in the AFC Championship Game.
Allen had four years remaining on his current deal with the Bills, but they nixed that to make sure he was compensated fairly. The six-year extension pays out $55 million per season, tying him with Cincinnati Bengals’ Joe Burrow, Green Bay Packers’ Jordan Love, and Jacksonville Jaguars’ Trevor Lawrence at the same price tag.
Only Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott ($60 million) gets paid more per season over his extension.
Since being taken seventh overall by Buffalo in the 2018 NFL Draft, Allen has led the Bills to six straight AFC East titles, while quickly cementing himself as one of the best quarterbacks in today’s game.
Allen is known as much for his legs as he is for his arm, scoring 65 total rushing touchdowns since entering the league. But he’s thrown for 195 touchdowns to 84 interceptions, the latter of which being something he really tried to cut down on in 2024, and it worked.
Allen’s lowest interception total for his career was during the 2018 campaign, when he gave up nine picks. Throwing just six this season, compared to his career-high 18 in 2023, was one of many goals he checked off.
Speaking of goals, it was clear Buffalo was trying to shore up their cornerstone pieces this offseason, and Allen is the latest and biggest one thus far.
The Bills also gave a four-year, $80 million extension to edge rusher Greg Rousseau, paid Allen’s favorite target in 2024, Khalil Shakir, a four-year, $53 million extension, and made sure linebacker Terrel Bernard was compensated properly with a four-year, $50 million extension that keeps him away from free agency.
The Bills are gearing up for another season, where they not only want to make it seven in a row for the AFC East crown, but finally make that first Super Bowl appearance since 1993. They came so close again last year, but getting past the Chiefs is something Allen has yet to do in the postseason in four appearances.
It’s not hard to realize that’s the ultimate goal heading into 2025, but the Bills made sure their franchise quarterback can worry about that alone, as financials are more than settled moving forward.
It appears Hailee Steinfeld has fully ingratiated in football trash talk.
Steinfeld became engaged to Buffalo Bills star Josh Allen late last year. And even though she’s rarely shown on television at games, it doesn’t mean she’s not invested in the NFL MVP’s or the team’s performance. She showed in a recent interview that she can dish out some banter.
The Bills have won the AFC East in each season since 2020, which coincided with the year that Tom Brady left the New England Patriots and joined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Allen has come into his own since then as well. In 2019, the Bills were 23rd in points scored and 24th in yards gained. Since then, the team has not finished outside of the top 10 in either category.
The Bills, however, have yet to get to a Super Bowl in the Allen era. Buffalo lost in the AFC title game in 2020 and 2024. The team lost three consecutive times in the divisional round in between conference championship appearances.
Allen and Steinfeld got engaged in November. The two had been dating since 2023.
He was a finalist three previous times, and with Jackson having just won last year, one Hall of Famer suggested Allen received sympathy votes this year.
"I get it, because [Josh] is a great quarterback. He hadn't won one. Lamar had two. And they're like, 'Let's just give him one.' But that's the wrong reason," Jonathan Ogden told TMZ Sports. "But it's all good. What are you going to do? But they made the wrong choice. But that's all good.
"I don't want it to sound like I'm hating on Josh because the brother is a tremendous quarterback. But he didn't have the year Lamar had."
Jackson's numbers do trump Allen's mostly across the board, but there is something to be said about Allen's Bills running away with their division despite letting go of top receiver Stefon Diggs.
This season marked the first time since 2019 Allen did not pass for 4,000 yards, but he did lead the NFL with a 77.4 total QBR. While his 28 passing touchdowns were also his lowest since 2019, he did run for 12 touchdowns, the second most of his career.
After winning his second MVP award last year, Jackson hit career highs with his first 4,000-yard campaign and his first season throwing 40 touchdowns.
Allen got the benefit of a rather subpar division, clinching the AFC East Dec. 1. But it became clear that as long as Allen is in the fold, the Bills have a chance to compete.
Allen received 22 second-place votes to Jackson's 26 (Saquon Barkley and Joe Burrow each received one), while Allen also got a third-place vote. Jackson recorded a fourth-place vote.
This comes despite Jackson receiving more first-team All-Pro votes than Allen. It's the first time since 1987 (John Elway) a first-team All-Pro did not win the MVP.
Allen threw 28 touchdowns against a career-low six interceptions while also scoring a dozen touchdowns with his legs. Allen’s 77.4 QBR was the NFL’s best, which is more impressive considering he didn’t exactly have household names to throw to – Khalil Shakir led the team in targets (100), receptions (76), and yards (821).
Allen got the benefit of a rather subpar division, clinching the AFC East on Dec. 1. But, it became very clear that as long as Allen is in the fold, the Bills will have a chance to compete.
He beat out Lamar Jackson narrowly – perhaps the AFC divisional round was foreshadowing of the MVP vote, as Allen’s Bills pulled out a narrow 27-25 win over Baltimore two and a half weeks ago.
Allen received 383 total voting points, while Jackson got 362. Allen got 27 of 50 first-place votes, while Jackson received the other 23 - Allen received 22 second-place votes to Jackson's 26 (Saquon Barkley and Joe Burrow each received one), while Allen also got a third-place vote. Jackson actually recorded a fourth-place tally.
This comes despite Jackson actually receiving more First-team All-Pro votes than Allen - it's the first time since 1987 (John Elway) that a First-team All-Pro did not win the MVP.
Allen is yet to get over the Kansas City Chiefs hump, losing to them for a fourth time in the playoffs in the AFC title game. However, a long-coveted MVP is finally on Allen’s resume.
Allen also beat out Saquon Barkley, Joe Burrow, and Jared Goff.
Former NFL quarterback-turned-analyst Dan Orlovsky sat on the ESPN desk for "Get Up" the day after Championship Sunday with his head down.
Taking a breath, he spoke his mind after seeing the Buffalo Bills fall to the Kansas City Chiefs again in the playoffs – four straight times Josh Allen & Co. fell to Patrick Mahomes.
"I think it’s the most haunted organization and might be the most haunted player in the history of the NFL," Orlovsky told his colleagues. "Four straight Super Bowl losses 30-plus years ago, and now four straight losses to Patrick Mahomes when your quarterback plays just as good. Just as good in all those games, and the point differential is only five points."
Does Orlovsky have a point? Are the Bills, and Allen, the most haunted organization and player in the history of the league?
There are 12 teams who have never won a Super Bowl, four of which have never seen the "Big Game" on their schedule: Cleveland Browns, Detroit Lions, Houston Texans and Jacksonville Jaguars.
Of those 12 teams, only two have been to the Super Bowl four times but lost every time – the Bills and Minnesota Vikings. But there’s only one team in the history of the NFL to go to four straight Super Bowls and lose them all, and "Bills Mafia" had to deal with four years of the highest of highs followed by the lowest of lows in terms of fandom.
There were the "Curse of the Bambino" and "Curse of the Billy Goat" for the Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs, respectively, though they snapped those this century with World Series titles. For the Bills, the "Curse of Mahomes" might be the title for this Allen era, but the woes for the organization and fan base started in the 1990 season with an infamous kick.
Super Bowl XXV saw two New York teams, the Bills and Giants, going against each other for the Vince Lombardi Trophy.
In the fourth quarter, Jim Kelly, much like Allen in that they were both bonafide stars at the quarterback position at the time of the Bills’ success, had 2:16 remaining for a game-winning drive. On the team’s final possession, he led his offense down the field, moving the ball quickly with short passes and some runs.
The Bills managed to get in field goal range, where kicker Scott Norwood could attempt a game-winning kick from 47 yards out. But when Norwood connected with the ball, it went wide right, and the Giants ran out the clock to win their second Super Bowl title for the franchise.
The NFC East wasn’t kind to the Bills during this stretch, as they were beaten in Super Bowl XXVI by the Washington Redskins, 37-24, when Buffalo wasn’t able to put up a first-half point in the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis in 1992.
And if that was bad, it was even worse in 1993 when the Dallas Cowboys, led by multiple Hall of Famers in coach Jimmy Johnson, quarterback Troy Aikman, wide receiver Michael Irvin and running back Emmitt Smith, destroyed Buffalo, 52-17.
Kelly and the Bills got off to a hot start after Thurman Thomas scored from two yards out, but it was really all Cowboys from there. Jay Novacek had a 23-yard touchdown catch from Aikman, and a fumble recovered for a touchdown by Jimmie Jones gave Dallas the lead they wouldn’t look back from.
It didn’t help that Kelly got injured in the second quarter and Frank Reich had to take over at quarterback. But for a third straight year, Buffalo went home empty-handed.
These two teams would meet again in Super Bowl XXVIII for a rematch, this time in the Georgia Dome. But a second-half goose egg on the scoreboard led to a 30-13 defeat for the Bills, and Smith won MVP after scoring two touchdowns and rushing for 132 yards on 30 carries.
Four straight years and no hardware is a tough pill to swallow, and what’s worse, the fan base hasn’t been back to the "Big Game" since then.
For his regular-season career, Allen is 4-1 against Mahomes and the Chiefs, and he’s won each of the last four games. That included this season, where Allen broke multiple tackles on a 4th-and-short run to score the game-sealing touchdown in a fantastic performance at home.
But Allen and the Bills have known since the 2020 NFL campaign that Mahomes and the Chiefs are a different animal in the playoffs.
The first meeting was the AFC Championship Game in 2021, where the Bills had a 9-0 lead to start the game, but Mahomes turned up the heat in the second quarter, scoring 21 points that led to a 21-12 first-half finish they wouldn’t look back from.
Mahomes would finish the game 29-of-38 for 325 yards with three touchdowns, while Tyreek Hill had a franchise-record 172 yards on nine catches and Travis Kelce totaled 13 catches for 118 yards and two scores – the most receptions by a receiver in a conference title game.
The Chiefs wouldn’t go on to win that Super Bowl, falling to Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 31-9, at Raymond James Stadium. But it was apparent to the Bills who you had to go through in the AFC to get back to the Super Bowl.
Arguably, one of the greatest postseason football games of all-time didn’t go in the Bills’ favor, and this is perhaps the biggest gut punch of them all in recent years.
Allen couldn’t have played any better in this 2022 AFC Divisional Round game, going 27-of-37 for 329 yards and four touchdowns, all of which went to receiver Gabe Davis, who set a playoff record with his four scores, which came on eight catches for 201 yards.
Davis’ final touchdown at Arrowhead Stadium was supposed to be the dagger in the Chiefs’ hopeful return to the AFC Championship, as there were just 13 seconds left on the fourth-quarter clock when the Bills’ kickoff commenced.
Leave it to Mahomes, though, as he threw a 19-yard pass to Hill, which ran five seconds off the clock, and then Kelce was left wide open for a 25-yard catch-and-run, which was another five seconds. So, with a game-tying field goal at 36-33 on the line for Harrison Butker, he drilled a 49-yard attempt to force overtime.
With the old overtime rules, where a touchdown ends it, the Chiefs took full advantage when they won the coin toss. Mahomes needed just one run and five passes to get into the red zone, where he found Kelce on an 8-yard pass for the win.
Sports fans will tell you where they were and what they were doing for the biggest, and worst, moments of their favorite teams. This is a memory that is truly haunting.
Bills fans had déjà vu last season during the Divisional Round in a game that wasn’t Allen’s best, but there was still a chance to get their own overtime revenge.
In a game at Buffalo this time, the Bills found themselves down three points in the fourth quarter with a chance to drive and at least kick a game-tying field goal to keep hopes alive for a trip to the AFC Championship.
But much like Super Bowl XXV, where Norwood missed his game-winning field goal wide right, Tyler Bass did the exact same. Bills fans at Highmark Stadium couldn’t believe history was repeating itself, as Mahomes and the offense picked up the necessary first down to seal victory.
Mahomes would go on to win back-to-back Super Bowls with an overtime victory over San Francisco, while Allen and the Bills had to wait for another crack in 2024.
That was Allen’s quote after the 32-29 loss in Kansas City in the AFC Championship, marking the fourth straight dropped to Mahomes and the Chiefs. And there were surely some controversial calls, like the Xavier Worthy catch near the goal line that was ruled a catch despite the ball touching the ground during replay review.
But the biggest of them all came in the fourth quarter, when the Bills were up 22-21 over the Chiefs and had a chance to further their lead with another good drive. On 3rd-and-short, Allen whipped a screen to Dalton Kincaid, who scampered forward for what appeared to be a first down. However, he was ruled short despite referees not seeing his knee never touched the ground where he appeared to get tackled.
Instead of a challenge coming from the Bills’ sideline, they moved quickly to get Allen set up for a quarterback sneak. When the ball was snapped, Allen got stuffed, but not before he seemed to cross the line to gain with the football.
Once again, though, the refs called him short, turning it over on downs. Five plays later, Mahomes rushed in for the second time in the game and a two-point conversion gave them a seven-point lead.
Allen, though, with ice in his veins, tied the game with a 4th-and-goal pass to Curtis Samuel, and the Bills’ defense got the stop they needed to force just a field goal for the Chiefs, who now owned a 32-29 lead.
Enough time was on the clock, and Allen had the ball again late in the game with the ability to tie the game or take the lead. But on 4th-and-5 at the two-minute warning, the Chiefs’ blitz had Allen scrambling, though he was able to heave a pass downfield to Kincaid. The tight end had a shot at making it a miraculous throw-and-catch effort, but it bounced off his arms and the Chiefs would go on to win.
Considering how great Allen and the Bills are, and the fact that they beat the Chiefs in the regular season, one would think Buffalo would pull one of these out.
But when Bass missed the field goal wide right this past season, the Bills tied the New Orleans Saints during their 2017-21 stretch with the most regular-season wins in a five-year stretch (58) without a Super Bowl appearance.
As for Allen, the last three Chiefs matchups in the postseason have resulted in 752 total passing yards and 179 rushing yards for a total of 931 yards with a 68.12% completion rate and nine total touchdowns with no turnovers.
So, despite averaging 310 yards per game over the last three meetings with the Chiefs in the playoffs and not turning the ball over, the Bills have not been able to win.
"Sometimes you run into a Michael Jordan," Marshall said. "Sometimes you run into a Tiger Woods in their prime, and you got to deal with it."
Allen’s post-game response this year said it all: "To be the champs, you got to beat the champs."
The only thing he and the Bills can do is keep grinding, work on their fundamentals and execution and hope the Chiefs can somehow make those one or two mistakes that can flip the game in their favor.
Because what fans and experts alike can see is that Kansas City is buttoned up in those clutch moments while the Bills haven’t had things go their way.
Is it because they’re haunted by a ‘90s stretch that could have a curse on them now? Or is it, like Marshall said, the wrong era to go against someone like Mahomes, who has already entered the conversation as the best quarterback of all-time?
Whichever school of thought you fall into doesn’t matter. At the end of the day, the Bills have gotten so close, and yet they’re on the outside looking in for the past 31 years.
Buffalo Bills general manager Brandon Beane heard what the league office had to say, but he still believes his quarterback picked up a crucial first down in the AFC Championship.
The Bills were crushed by the Kansas City Chiefs once again in the playoffs, falling just short of a Super Bowl appearance in a 32-29 loss on the road this past Sunday.
One of the most controversial plays from the game was a fourth-and-inches quarterback sneak by Josh Allen. In real-time, it appeared that he made the gain, but referees called him short, forcing a turnover on downs to the Chiefs.
Five plays later, Patrick Mahomes rushed into the end zone for his second rushing score of the game to take a seven-point lead after a two-point conversion.
Other than the controversial spot, the play prior, where Dalton Kincaid appeared to pick up the first down, is just as questionable. And replay shows a Chiefs player was lined up in the neutral zone when Allen took the snap on the sneak attempt, which should’ve been flagged for a first down.
Beane discussed that particular sequence of events on Thursday.
"It’s frustrating," he said, per SI.com. "There’s only so much I can say. We work with the league to try to get clarity. I’ll give them credit. They’ve taken our calls. They’ve sent video and things like that. If you’re talking about like the fourth-down play, I feel like [Allen] got that. I still feel like he got that. I felt that in the moment and nothing has changed my mind on that."
Earlier in the game, a crucial replay review confirmed a catch by Chiefs rookie Xavier Worthy, and it also bothered Beane. Defensive back Cole Bishop went up with Worthy for an interception, and it appeared both of them had their hands around the ball as the tip of the pigskin hit the ground.
Like the later play, it resulted in a Chiefs touchdown as Mahomes scampered into the end zone.
"The play that we challenged was a good challenge," he explained. "I’m not sure either player had possession on the Bishop-Worthy play when the ball touched the ground."
Some fans have accused referees of favoring the Chiefs during this Super Bowl run, with another controversial call coming in the divisional round against the Houston Texans.
Will Anderson Jr. was called for a personal foul, a 15-yard penalty, for a hit to the head on Mahomes despite replay showing that wasn’t the case. Nonetheless, the third-and-long that wasn’t converted on an overthrown pass gave the Chiefs more life on their drive.
Officiating will be a storyline heading into this matchup with the Philadelphia Eagles, especially after fans believed their previous Super Bowl meeting two seasons ago ended controversially after James Bradberry was called for holding JuJu Smith-Schuster.
The penalty set up Harrison Butker’s game-winning field goal to start this streak for the Chiefs.
Kickoff will be at 6:30 p.m. ET on Fox and streaming exclusively on Tubi.
As Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs head to their third straight Super Bowl, NFL fans can't help but feel for the Buffalo Bills and quarterback Josh Allen.
The Chiefs can make history in New Orleans on Feb. 9 by winning their third straight Super Bowl. That history has come at the expense of Allen, who is 0-4 in postseason games against Mahomes and the Chiefs.
As good as Allen is — he's an MVP frontrunner alongside Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson this year — he has been unable to get the Bills back to the Super Bowl for the first time in over three decades.
And his postgame interview after falling to the Chiefs 32-29 showed his raw emotion. He was short with his answers and looked dejected.
One ex-NFL star, though, broke down Allen's challenge of having to get through Mahomes to achieve the team's goals to other sports greats.
"Sometimes you run into a Michael Jordan. Sometimes you run into a Tiger Woods in their prime, and you got to deal with it," former All-Pro wide receiver Brandon Marshall told Fox News Digital while discussing his new venture with his "I Am Athlete" partnering with Revolt.
"If these guys can pull off one or two, then that’s what they can do. But [Mahomes has] been in the league eight years and been to the Super Bowl five times.
"Great job, Josh Allen, but this is the wrong era to be a quarterback."
Marshall said that was "no knock" against Allen, Jackson, Joe Burrow or even C.J. Stroud with his Houston Texans falling to the Chiefs in the divisional round.
But as good as Basketball Hall of Famer Karl Malone was with the Utah Jazz, they couldn't beat Jordan and the Bulls in the two NBA Finals they played. And when Woods was in his golfing prime, some players accepted that finishing second place any given week was an accomplishment because Woods would likely be lifting the trophy.
It's the unfortunate result of greatness. Someone or some team has to lose.
Marshall described Mahomes and the Chiefs as a "once-in-a-lifetime" phenomenon to watch in sports, and it's not just because of the two-time MVP.
"There’s a few people. There’s Patrick Mahomes. It shows his greatness," Marshall explained. "It shows Andy Reid’s greatness, and they both need to be in the conversation of the greatest quarterback of all-time and also the greatest coach of all-time, challenging Tom Brady and Bill Belichick.
"Another person that we have to include in this conversation since he’s taken over this defense is Steve Spagnuolo. Before he got there in 2018, this defense was dead last. It was one of the worst defenses in the league for a few years. Insert Coach Spags. Now they’re top 10, and they’re doing a phenomenal job, which results in Patrick Mahomes being more of a game manager.
"He’s still spectacular and magical, but he doesn’t need to go out there and put up 40 points. He doesn’t need to go out there … he doesn’t even need Tyreek Hill."
Allen's numbers in the last three Bills games against the Chiefs in the playoffs are outstanding: 931 total yards, nine touchdowns and no interceptions. Yet, he's lost them all.
Like Marshall said, it's not a knock on Allen. It's just clearly showing how great Mahomes and this Chiefs dynasty is it looks to make history against the Philadelphia Eagles.
PUSHING BOUNDARIES WITH REVOLT
Marshall loves watching and discussing the league he played in 13 seasons and other sports and culture with his "I Am Athlete" sports media platform. But he feels he’s going to take it to the next level with the brand’s partnership with Revolt, the Black-owned multimedia platform that announced its launch of Revolt Sports.
Marshall, with media personality and cultural commentator Kayla Nicole as a co-host, will be featured on Revolt Sports Weekly powered by "I am Athlete," which will feature unscripted discussions with the duo and other celebrity contributors from the top stories in sports to the hottest cultural topics.
The first episode, which featured Marshall’s former UCF teammates, Josh "Beezo" Bellamy and Mike Sims-Walker, discussed the NFL’s conference championship matchups, while also going deep on whether celebrating rapper Big Meech with a welcome back party next month after spending 16 years in jail for drug trafficking and money laundering is right for the community.
"People want the real. They want authentic, and that’s what our culture is," Marshall explained. "These are the conversations we’ve been having in the locker room since sports were established. It’s the same conversations we have in the salons and barbershops. This is the same conversation we have on the stoops on the block, same conversations.
"’I Am Athlete’ lives at the intersection of hip-hop and sports. So, talking about things that are relevant to the culture — pop culture, whatever you have it — is just a general conversation that is natural to us. That’s what you’ll get from this show every single week. We’ll dive into the hottest topics in sports and also the biggest stories in pop culture."
Josh Allen’s MVP-caliber season ended in heartbreak over the weekend after the Buffalo Bills lost to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC championship game. But for fiancée Hailee Steinfeld, the veteran quarterback is still her MVP.
In an exclusive interview with E! News published Tuesday, the actress and singer opened up about their relationship, Allen’s football career and the team’s success this season.
"To say the least, I am so proud of that man," Steinfeld said. "Everything he’s done and everything that the team has done together."
Allen is among the frontrunners for the NFL MVP award. His 76 career wins, 262 total touchdowns and 30,595 total yards are the most by an NFL player in his first seven seasons, and he topped 40 total touchdowns for the fifth straight season.
"He is the hardest-working person I know," Steinfeld continued.
Allen led the Bills to the postseason for the sixth straight season. But the Chiefs, chasing a historic three-peat, were too much for Buffalo to overcome, and Allen dropped to 0-4 against Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes in the playoffs.
"Yeah, it sucks. You keep going back and thinking about what you could have done differently, plays even throughout the game," Allen said after the 32-29 loss Sunday. "Any time you lose, you’re going to have those thoughts in your head and just understanding that you’re not promised opportunities like that all the time."
Allen is still up for the MVP award. The winner will be announced at the NFL Honors ceremony next week ahead of the Super Bowl.
Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen and Jayden Daniels have all opted out.
Jackson's Baltimore Ravens fell to Allen's Buffalo Bills, 27-25, in the divisional round. Allen again lost to the Kansas City Chiefs in the playoffs and is now 0-4 against them in the postseason.
Daniels and the Washington Commanders were walloped by the Philadelphia Eagles, 55-23, in the NFC title game.
New England Patriots rookie Drake Maye is replacing Jackson on the AFC roster, Pittsburgh's Russell Wilson is filling in for Allen and Tampa Bay's Baker Mayfield was selected to fill Daniels' spot.
Bills running back James Cook was named as a replacement for Derrick Henry of the Ravens. Buffalo center Connor McGovern was also tabbed as a replacement.
Jackson and Allen figure to be the top two finishers in the NFL MVP voting. It's likely they'll be in New Orleans next week, but not for the reason they had hoped.
The Pro Bowl Games run Thursday through Sunday in Orlando, Florida, and include skills competitions and a flag football game, replacing a game between the NFC and AFC that had b become practically unwatchable.
The Kansas City Chiefs once again saw confetti falling in their favor in a crucial game, as they won the AFC Championship for the third straight season to give themselves a chance at Super Bowl history in New Orleans next month.
On the other sideline, the Buffalo Bills were gutted when they saw Samaje Perine run for the first down necessary to seal the 32-29 victory.
After the game, quarterback Josh Allen let his feelings out when asked about his emotions following yet another loss to the Chiefs in the postseason.
"It’s just not fun," he said after letting out a sigh. "But to be the champs, you got to beat the champs, and we didn’t do it tonight."
Allen is now 0-4 against the Chiefs in the postseason, so the regular season victory over Kansas City at the Bills' Highmark Stadium does not matter in the end for this squad or its quarterback.
However, the ball was in Allen’s hands to change that winless streak late in the fourth quarter. However, with the two-minute warning and fourth-and-5 on the scoreboard, the Chiefs dialed up the perfect pressure, and Allen launched a prayer downfield to tight end Dalton Kincaid.
It hit his arms but went incomplete. Then, with the Bills down three points, Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs knew a couple of first downs equaled another Super Bowl trip.
"They gave a good look," Allen said when asked what he saw before that fourth-down snap. "Didn’t see anything in my first cadence. They were sliding left, the corner came…yeah."
There was not much else Allen could say just minutes after falling just short again at the Bills’ first trip to the Super Bowl since 1993. However, Mahomes was classy after the game, giving kudos to Allen during his speech while hoisting the AFC title trophy.
"I have so much respect for Josh, man," he said to CBS Sports’ Jim Nantz. "He’s a true competitor, a true warrior, a great football player. They always come down to the wire. Luckily, we were on the winning side this time. I’m excited to get down to New Orleans. Let’s go make history."
The Bills wanted to be looking at one more game to hopefully give the franchise its first-ever Super Bowl – they infamously lost four straight from 1990-93 – but they will have to go back to the drawing board with the offseason starting to see if they can change that in 2025.
Allen could be getting a massive personal accolade, as he is an MVP finalist and expected to be a frontrunner alongside Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson for their work during the 2024 campaign.
However, Allen will say he does not care about individual achievements right now. His Bills lost, again at the hands of the Chiefs, and they will have months to stew over it before a new season begins.
"You can either get it done, or you can’t. We didn’t get it done," Allen said.
NFL officiating was a talking point in the midst of the biggest game of the year between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Buffalo Bills on Sunday night in the AFC Championship.
The Bills were stuck with a 4th-and-1 with about 13 minutes to play in the game. Josh Allen ran a quarterback sneak to try to achieve first-down yardage. At first glance, the push from his teammates appeared to be unsuccessful in getting a new set of downs.
The game was stopped as officials reviewed the play. The CBS broadcast appeared to show the two sideline judges initially disagreeing with the spot of the ball. One official spotted the ball closer to the marker than the other.
The replay appeared to show Allen may have gotten the ball across the line as he inched backward into Chiefs defensive linemen. However, officials ruled that Allen did not get the ball to the marker, and Buffalo turned the ball over.
NFL fans watching the game were highly critical of the ball spot and expressed it as much during the game.
The Chiefs scored on the following drive. Buffalo did tie the game on the next possession. However, it was Harrison Butker’s field goal and a Chiefs defensive stop that put an end to the game.
The Allen stop was not the only questionable call in the game. A huge Xavier Worthy play in the second quarter was ruled a catch despite the ball seemingly touching the ground.
Did we expect anything less than a thriller in this AFC Championship between these bitter rivals?
The Kansas City Chiefs held off the Buffalo Bills to win the AFC Championship Game, 32-29, in an absolute thriller at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday night.
The Chiefs will now have a shot at NFL history, as they can become the first team to ever win three straight Super Bowls if they can defeat the Philadelphia Eagles again.
The Chiefs won Super Bowl LVII over the Eagles in Arizona, 38-35, during the 2022 season.
Meanwhile, Josh Allen and the Bills are now 0-4 against the Chiefs in the postseason despite giving them one of their two losses during the 2024 regular season.
But Buffalo's offense found themselves where they wanted to in this game: late in the fourth quarter with the ball in their hands. The defense got a stop on Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs' offense, forcing a field goal that Harrison Butker split the uprights with to take a 32-29 lead.
Allen, who has been clutch all season long, had a chance to at least tie the ball game, or better yet, have a game-winning touchdown drive with 3:33 left in the fourth quarter.
However, Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo dialed up the perfect play call on back-to-back plays, starting with a third-and-10 from the Buffalo 42-yard line where he sent an all-out blitz. It led to a five-yard gain for Amari Cooper, leaving Allen and the Bills with a fourth-and-5.
Then, another blitz was called, but it was a cornerback being sent to the pocket after the Chiefs disguised it with both linebackers at the line of scrimmage and dropping back into coverage instead.
Allen heaved a prayer to the middle of the field, and tight end Dalton Kincaid had a chance to make a chance, but it bounced off his chest and hit the turf.
That came after the two-minute warning, and Mahomes and the entire Chiefs sideline knew they needed a couple first downs to ice the game. In typical Chiefs fashion, they got what they needed as Isiah Pacheco picked up a first down on a 10-yard catch and Samaje Perine, on his only touch of the game, went for 17 yards with 1:35 left and no Bills timeouts to seal the victory.
The celebrating begun after a hard-fought Chiefs win that was a thriller right from the start.
Mahomes and the Chiefs were dialed from the first possession of the game, going 90 yards on just nine plays to see Kareem Hunt score on the ground from 12 yards out to take the early lead.
But this game went back and forth throughout, as Allen was able to take the lead early in the second quarter after orchestrating a 72-yard drive on 10 plays, capped by a James Cook six-yard rush.
The Chiefs, however, took their largest lead of the game after responding with 14 unanswered points as they scored back-to-back touchdown drives to end the first half. It was rookie Xavier Worthy once again finding the end zone from 11 yards away, while Mahomes himself scrambled from one yard out to make it 21-10.
Buffalo, however, wasn’t going away without a fight, cutting the lead to 21-16 before the end of the half after Mack Hollins hauled in a beautifully thrown deep ball from Allen for a 34-yard touchdown.
The Bills would eventually get their lead back in the second half after Cook scored his second touchdown of the game, and it came on fourth-and-goal and required him to leap over Chiefs defenders and stick his arm across the goal line to make it a 22-21 contest.
Perhaps the biggest turning point in this game, though, came on the next Bills drive after they forced a punt on the Chiefs. On fourth-and-1 from the Kansas City 41-yard line, the Bills elected to go for it with 13:01 left in the fourth quarter. Allen had a quarterback sneak, but after replay review, he was ruled short of the line to gain, giving the Chiefs the ball with great field position to get the ball back.
Mahomes wasted no time with the opportunity, needing just five plays to get downfield and finish off his drive with yet another rushing score for himself to make it 29-22.
If the suspense wasn’t enough, the Bills found themselves on the Chiefs’ four-yard line after Allen shot a pass to Hollins again deep downfield for 32 yards on third-and-8 on the ensuing drive. On fourth-and-goal, Curtis Samuel slipped free from coverage and kept two feet in the end zone as he hauled in the touchdown to tie it once again.
These two AFC juggernauts traded blows, but the victor remained the same and a rematch will be seen in New Orleans on Feb. 9 on Fox and streaming exclusively on Tubi for free.
Will it be the Chiefs making NFL history? Or will the Eagles get their Super Bowl revenge with Saquon Barkley leading the way in the backfield alongside Jalen Hurts & Co.?
Before he became one of the best tight ends in the NFL ever, Travis Kelce was an all-conference high school quarterback who passed for more than 1,500 yards and 20 touchdowns in his senior year.
He committed to the Cincinnati Bearcats football program as a tight end and played quarterback in wildcat formations. He emerged as a better pass-catcher than passer and became a third-round draft pick of the Kansas City Chiefs in 2013.
Kelce admitted on Friday ahead of the AFC Championship against the Buffalo Bills that he wanted to be a quarterback much in the style of Josh Allen.
"Josh is who I used to dream of being like in the NFL," he told reporters. "Big, athletic quarterback. Big arm. Being able to be a dual-threat guy.
"His ability to do everything – you can tell, he really took the bull by the horns and been their leader up front, and channeled that. Guys come in and out of the building and he's the main guy that makes them go, and I have a lot of respect for that guy."
Kelce had been gifted the opportunity to throw the football three times in the regular season and once in the playoffs. He came through in the clutch in the postseason, throwing a touchdown pass in the 2021 divisional-round playoff game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Allen, a 6-foot-5, 237-pound gunslinger, has emerged as one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL and is vying for the first NFL MVP award of his career.
He’s been the face of the Bills since he took over the starting job. He had 3,731 passing yards and 28 touchdown passes this season. He also ran for 531 yards and 12 touchdowns this season.
The two teams will meet again with a trip to Super Bowl LIX on the line.
The Kansas City Chiefs are no strangers to playing in big games, especially against the Buffalo Bills.
Chiefs head coach Andy Reid was asked on Wednesday if the Chiefs had an advantage over the Bills in the AFC Championship game due to so many players having experience in these types of games.
"Listen, it normally doesn’t hurt, for sure. I don’t know how you weigh out the advantage of it, but I feel like we play these guys all the time. They know us, we know them but … to answer your question, I’m glad we have all those guys, and you’ll need all of them," Reid said in his press conference.
NFL fans usually use the phrase "frozen tundra" to describe the conditions at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin. But on Sunday night, it could have been used to describe the field at Highmark Stadium for the playoff game between the Buffalo Bills and Baltimore Ravens.
Temperatures in Orchard Park, New York, fell to around 16 degrees as light snow fell onto the field. It made the ball slippery and tougher to catch as well as made the tackles hurt just a little bit more.
The Bills held the lead in the fourth quarter with two Tyler Bass field goals and won the game, 27-25.
It was the Ravens who felt the brunt of the conditions late in the game.
Lamar Jackson found tight end Mark Andrews for a 16-yard completion with 8:50 left in the game. But Bills linebacker Terrel Bernard punched the ball out of Andrews’ hands and Buffalo recovered the fumble. It was one of three turnovers Baltimore committed.
It was far from over.
Jackson and the Ravens could still tie the game up. He led the team on an eight-play, 88-yard drive that ended with a 24-yard touchdown pass to Isiah Likely. The Ravens were down two points.
Baltimore got set for the 2-point conversion attempt. Jackson broke out to his right and had Andrews open. The ball went into the veteran tight end’s hands, but he could not come up with the catch. The Bills breathed a sigh of relief and closed the game out.
Josh Allen finished with two rushing touchdowns in the game. He was 16-of-22 passing with 127 yards.
For the Ravens, their magical season came to an end.
Jackson was 18-of-25 with 254 passing yards, two touchdown passes and an interception. The Bills’ defense held Derrick Henry to 84 rushing yards. It was the fewest yards he had since Dec. 15 against the New York Giants.
The Bills next meet the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship with a trip to Super Bowl LIX on the line. Buffalo beat Kansas City on Nov. 17, 30-21.
Buffalo hasn’t made a Super Bowl since the 1993 season. They have never won a Super Bowl. It will be their first conference championship game since the 2020 season. They lost to the Chiefs in that game.
NFL officials missed a blatant holding penalty in the wild-card playoff game between the Buffalo Bills and Denver Broncos on Sunday afternoon.
Bills quarterback Josh Allen looked to score on third down and ended up taking a sack because his receivers were covered. However, a replay showed that Broncos defensive back Patrick Surtain II was holding onto Bills tight end Dalton Kincaid during the play.
While NFL fans let their opinions fly on social media, head referee Bill Vinovich was seen going over to the Bills’ bench to talk to Allen. It occurred right after the penalty was missed.
"I wasn’t happy with what was going on, and I was yelling a little bit, and he said, ‘Don’t be yelling.’ So my bad. Sorry," Allen said of the interaction after the game, via Pro Football Talk.
Luckily, the missed call did not affect the game too much.
Allen was 20-of-26 with 272 yards and two touchdown passes. James Cook ran for 120 yards and a touchdown. Buffalo won the game, 31-7.
"I don’t think there was one certain thing over another. We just wanted to come out and execute well," Allen said. "At the end of the day, we just wanted to come out and play our best football, and I feel like we did that today."
Buffalo has advanced to the divisional round for the fifth straight season. The Bills will play the Baltimore Ravens in a matchup between two NFL MVP favorites – Allen and Lamar Jackson.
"This is what everyone’s been waiting for, right?" Bills head coach Sean McDermott said. "So it’ll be a nice week and everyone will be looking forward to it, and they’re a great football team. I mean they handled us pretty good the first go around, and they’re certainly playing well."
Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills took care of business in the wild-card round on Sunday afternoon, as they dominated the Denver Broncos, 31-7, to move on to the divisional round.
The Bills will now host the Baltimore Ravens next week to see who will have a spot in the AFC Championship.
The Bills were the heavy favorites in this game considering rookie quarterback Bo Nix was going to play his first playoff game on the road against a veteran Buffalo squad when it came to January football.
But just like he has all season, this game began with Nix trusting his talent and launching a 43-yard strike to his old Oregon teammate Troy Franklin to put Denver up 7-0.
However, while the "Bills Mafia" wasn’t too happy about that start to the contest, they knew Allen, their MVP frontrunner, wasn’t going to let them down.
What ensued was 31 unanswered points by Buffalo, which began with a field goal and touchdown on the team’s first two offensive drives.
The first touchdown for the Bills was scored by none other than James Cook, who co-led the NFL with 16 rushing touchdowns on the season. He capped a 13-play drive with a five-yard barrel into the end zone to make it 10-7.
Cook finished the game with 120 yards rushing on 23 carries against a Denver defense that has been one of the best in the league all season.
Thanks to long, methodical Bills drives, the first half ended with Broncos kicker Wil Lutz smacking the goal post with an attempted field goal to tie the game at 10 apiece, and that was just about as close to scoring as the Broncos would see the rest of the game.
Buffalo scored on every second-half drive except to kneel down at the end of the game, which included touchdown passes from Allen to Ty Johnson on a ridiculous throw and catch from 24 yards out, and Curtis Samuel breaking free for a 55-yard score to truly seal the victory at 28-7 as the fourth quarter began.
In the end, Allen was an efficient 20-for-26 for 272 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions, while also rushing for 46 yards on eight carries.
Samuel was his best receiver in terms of yards thanks to that huge gain. He finished with 68, while Khalil Shakir had six catches for 61 yards.
Meanwhile, Nix was 13-for-22 for 144 yards with one touchdown, while also rushing for 43 yards. The Bills were stingy when the Broncos tried to establish a run game, holding the Broncos to a total 79 yards.
Courtland Sutton was Denver’s top receiver per usual, hauling in five catches for 75 yards.
NFL officials are expected to be sharp in the playoffs with a shot at the Super Bowl hanging in the balance, but fans found they missed a crucial penalty during Sunday’s game between the Buffalo Bills and Denver Broncos.
The Bills drove down the field right out of halftime. Josh Allen got the offense within a few yards of a touchdown. On third down, Allen was forced to take a sack because there were no receivers open. But there was a reason why no pass-catchers could break away from their defender.
Bills tight end Dalton Kincaid appeared to be held in the end zone by Denver Broncos defensive back Patrick Surtain II. The officials didn’t throw a flag on the play and the Bills were forced to settle for a field goal to make the game 13-7.
Head referee Bill Vinovich was seen talking to Allen before Buffalo kicked the ball away.
NFL fans were not happy with the lack of a penalty, especially in such a crucial spot.
Buffalo was looking to stave off any Denver comeback attempt. They were able to score a touchdown in the second half to take the lead. The Broncos had a chance to tie the game but Will Lutz missed a field goal.
Bo Nix started the scoring with a 43-yard touchdown pass to Troy Franklin in the first quarter. The Broncos haven’t scored since.
