Bills vs. Chiefs Drew 57.7M Viewers as Mahomes Beat Allen to Reach NFL Super Bowl 59

Sunday's AFC Championship Game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills drew huge ratings for the NFL and CBS.

According to Puck's John Ourand, the game averaged 57.7 million viewers, making it the most-watched AFC Championship Game since at least 1988.

Quarterback Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs outlasted quarterback Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills, winning the game 32-29 to advance to a third consecutive Super Bowl.

Ourand noted that Chiefs vs. Bills was also the most-watched non-Super Bowl game since the Minnesota Vikings vs. New Orleans Saints NFC Championship Game during the 2009 season.

Additionally, this year's AFC Championship Game viewership was up 4 percent from last year's game between the Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens.

Sunday marked the fourth time that Mahomes' Chiefs and Allen's Bills have met in the playoffs and the second time they clashed in the AFC Championship Game.

Kansas City won each of the first three matchups, although the Bills have won four of the past five regular-season meetings with the Chiefs.

Buffalo took a 22-21 lead late in the third quarter of Sunday's game when running back James Cook scored a one-yard rushing touchdown.

The Buffalo defense forced a Kansas City three-and-out on the next drive, giving the Bills' offense a chance to extend the lead.

However, the Chiefs made a controversial fourth-down stop at their own 41-yard line, as Allen was ruled short of the line to gain on a quarterback sneak.

KC went ahead by seven on a 10-yard rushing touchdown by Mahomes, and Buffalo answered with a four-yard touchdown pass from Allen to Curtis Samuel with 6:15 left in regulation.

The Chiefs left the door open by settling for a field goal on the next drive, but Buffalo's offense stalled out at its own 47-yard line when Allen's throw on fourth-and-5 went off the arms of a diving Dalton Kincaid and hit the ground.

Kansas City put the game away on the next drive by picking up a pair of first downs and forcing the Bills to exhaust their timeouts.

The Chiefs, who will face the NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LIX on Feb. 9, are the first team in NFL history to reach the Super Bowl on the heels of winning two in a row.

If they can beat the Eagles in the Super Bowl for the second time in three years, the Chiefs will be the first three-peat Super Bowl champions of all time.