The Buffalo Bills‘ matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, October 16 was absolutely thrilling down to the final play. With less than two minutes in regulation, Kansas City had a 3-point lead when quarterback Josh Allen leaped over a Chiefs safety to secure the first down and then found Dawson Knox for what turned out to be the game-winning touchdown.
Allen’s 14-yard dart into the endzone under pressure was already a magnificent feat, but hearing Knox describe what happened in the huddle before recording his first touchdown catch of the season made it all the more impressive.
During an appearance on NFL’s Twitter podcast on Tuesday, October 18, the 25-year-old tight end revealed a startling detail, noting that he couldn’t even hear what his quarterback was saying before the final offensive snap.
“Especially in a place like Kansas City, that home-field advantage is pretty insane,” Knox said. “It’s something that kinda doesn’t get talked about enough having to go silent count having to have different signals at the line of scrimmage. I mean, even in the huddle, it’s like we’re having to read Josh’s lips.”
“That place gets so loud that you’re like — it’s hard to think,” Knox continued. “So, it kind of gets us extra motivated to try to win those home-field advantage games for the playoffs. Because we’ve seen it in Kansas City the last couple of years how important that is to have that home-field advantage.”
Knox Said The Bills Blasted ‘The Chiefs Chant’ During Practice All Week
The Bills knew they were going to be playing in hostile territory at Arrowhead Stadium in Week 6, and did their best to prepare for the high level of crowd noise during the AFC showdown during practice.
“During the week, there’ll be blasting music blasts and fan noise or blasting the Chiefs chant the whole week,” Knox said. “You know everything they can to get us used to that noise. But there’s nothing quite like being in that stadium with, you know, 70 or 80,000 fans screaming. But again, we know what it’s like to play in Buffalo, and our defense is out there, and we got a bunch of Bills fans yelling their heads off. So we’re gonna do everything we can to get as many home-field advantage games as we can.”
Knox Dedicated the Touchdown to His Late Brother Luke
Just before the season started, Knox’s little brother, Luke Knox, who played football at FIU, suddenly died ta get 22. Immediately after catching that touchdown pass in Kansas City, Knox looked up to the sky and dedicated the score to his late brother. The fourth-year veteran shared a photo of the moment on Instagram and wrote, “That one’s for you 16 👆🏼,” referring to Luke’s jersey number.
Allen gave Knox a heartfelt shout-out during his postgame interview, recognizing the hardships his teammate has gone through this season.
“He’s been battling through some stuff this year,” Allen said. I’m so proud of resilient he is. I love the guy. He’s one of the most loved guys in our locker room. He’s got a smile on his face 24/7. He deserves that.”
Bills wide receiver Stefon Diggs also commented on Knox’s resilience while speaking to the media after the game. “To see him just triumph and a moment to (rejoice), you’re just like, ‘Damn.’ A guy like that battling hard each and every day regardless of what’s going on his life… You try to just love him up and keep him in that good space. To see him have the game-winning touchdown, it was like ‘OK, Knox, good s***.”
Bills head coach Sean McDermott gave “our boy 88” the first game ball in the locker room during his post-game speech.
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Bills TE Reveals ‘Pretty Insane’ Detail About Josh Allen’s Final Play Call