Dalton Kincaid’s drop is even more heartbreaking for Bills with this angle

A Super Bowl appearance hung in the balance as the Buffalo Bills approached the line of scrimmage for a 4th-and-5 play on their final drive against the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2025 AFC Championship Game. Buffalo trailed by three points with two minutes left in regulation and had the ball on their own 47-yard line, well outside of field goal range. The Bills had to go for it, and they had to convert to finally get past the Chiefs boogeyman.

Josh Allen’s pass ultimately fell incomplete. The Chiefs picked up one more first down after they gained possession, and won the game to advance to Super Bowl LIX. Kansas City is now one win away from being the NFL’s first ever three-peat champion in the Super Bowl era.

Much of the credit for the Chiefs’ stop goes to defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, who dialed up a blitz that busted Buffalo’s play with immediate pressure on Allen. Spagnuolo’s blitz call immediately goes down in Chiefs lore, but Allen deserves credit for still giving his team a chance to make a play.

Allen sprinted right and immediately backpedaled as the Kansas City defense came down on him. He lofted up a prayer down the field and somehow found tight end Dalton Kincaid. Unfortunately for Buffalo, the pass slipped right through his hands.

More angles of Kincaid’s near catch have surfaced a day after Buffalo’s devastating defeat, and it won’t make the loss any easier to stomach. Kincaid was so close to making this grab, he just couldn’t haul it in.

Here’s a closeup of Kincaid’s drop. It went right through his hands.

It’s impossible to not think of a drop by a tight end a week earlier that helped put the Bills in the AFC Championship Game. Baltimore Ravens tight end Mark Andrews dropped a potential two-point conversion pass from Lamar Jackson in the AFC Divisional round that allowed the Bills to advance to face the Chiefs. Andrews’ drop was more obvious in the moment, but the replays of Kincaid’s drop shows it’s almost as bad.

This isn’t to throw Kincaid under the bus. Making the grab there would have been a tremendous play. It isn’t easy to locate a scrambling QB, track the ball, and make a diving catch. The margins in the NFL Playoffs are just that slim, and sometimes you end up on the wrong side. The Chiefs always seem to end up on the winning side one way or another.

The blame game always falls on the quarterback. After Andrews’ drop, the conversation was immediately focused on why Jackson can’t ever win a big playoff game. Now that Allen fell short again against the Bills, fans are wondering if Patrick Mahomes will leave his rivals ring-less the way Michael Jordan once did to his ‘90s NBA peers.

The Chiefs may feel inevitable, but they were so close from being the danger zone on Sunday. The Bills didn’t lose the game because of one play, but it sure would have helped if Kincaid could have made that catch.