The Buffalo Bills leaned on a familiar combination to help them prevail against the Kansas City Chiefs, with the enduring brilliance of Josh Allen and Stefon Diggs no surprise to their team-mates in a potentially critical win.
Buffalo gained a measure of revenge for the Bills' incredible overtime loss in the AFC Divisional Round last season with a 24-20 win at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday.
Taron Johnson's fourth-quarter interception of Patrick Mahomes sealed the win at the end of an absorbing contest between two teams that entered Week 6 at 4-1.
Prior to the pick by Johnson, Allen and Diggs linked up three times on a go-ahead drive, including for an 18-yard completion that set Buffalo up at the Kansas City 28-yard line. Allen then showed astonishing athleticism to hurdle a defender on a 16-yard run before finding tight end Dawson Knox on a pinpoint touchdown throw to the corner of the endzone.
Diggs finished the game with 148 yards and a touchdown, with Knox saying of his rapport with Allen: "We see it every single game, every quarter.
"Those two making plays where it's almost not surprising at this point. I mean, they make incredible plays every game, but we're so used to it now, it's like, 'Oh there's Josh and Stef making another incredible play.'
"You know, Josh hurdling people yet again - it scares me. It works so yeah… it's fun being team-mates with those guys."
While Knox seemingly attributed little importance to the Bills standing atop the AFC after six games, he understood the significance of the victory over the team likely to be their primary challenger for the top seed in the conference and home advantage throughout the road to the Super Bowl.
Knox added: "Obviously, it's great to be on top of the conference, but we'll enjoy this one for 24 hours and then move on to the next one.
"We do know the importance of a home playoff game. It's a testament to their fans here in Kansas City. It's a great home field advantage for them. And they're so loud that we have to go silent count.
"Communication is really hard, which is a whole extra level of difficulty, but we know that in Buffalo, it's a whole different level. So, we want to do everything we can to get home playoff games."
Johnson sealed the win as he broke downfield after dropping into zone coverage and picked off a late throw from Mahomes over the middle to rookie receiver Skyy Moore.
"We were playing zone and he read it perfectly," said safety Jordan Poyer of Johnson.
"I told him that was one of the greatest plays that I have seen on the field. The situation, the moment, that was just a hell of a play for this team.
"Taron has been a guy who's been in the system a long time, who we all trust. We all know he's going to go out there and make plays. Nobody played perfect and it was just always, 'Next play, next play, next play.' And at the end of the day, he came up with the biggest play of the game and allowed us to win the game."