Kansas City Chiefs offensive tackle Donovan Smith seemingly accused the Buffalo Bills of intentionally turning off the hot water in the visiting team's locker room following his group's 27-24 win in the AFC divisional round on Sunday night.
Whether Smith's words have any merit remains to be seen, but one Buffalo official said Monday that the allegations were "false."
"This is false," Erie County press secretary Peter Anderson said, according to TMZ Sports. "There is no way to turn hot water off on one side or the other. There are two huge hot water tanks which feed both home and away locker rooms."
The lineman's claims came after both teams played through temperatures in the low 20s at Highmark Stadium.
Anderson offered a possible explanation for any issues Smith may have had with enjoying a warm postgame shower.
"It is no different than in your home," he said. "When the water runs continuously, it will struggle to keep up with demand. Everything for hot water in the locker rooms was upgraded in recent renovations."
The locker room water temperatures weren't the only gripe that Kansas City players had after the victory.
Chiefs linebacker Drue Tranquill posted on social media following the contest, roasting members of Bills Mafia for their apparent meager snowball throws at his teammates.
I caught the snowball. If it didn’t break in my hand, it was getting launched right back at him.
— Drue Tranquill (@DTranquill) January 22, 2024
We’d beat them in a snowball fight too.
Truth is, my four year old throws a meaner snowball than #BillsMafia .#ChiefsKingdom https://t.co/5es3a0Nx4A
Regardless of whether any of Kansas City's complaints are warranted, it's clear that fans in western New York are frustrated and rightfully disappointed with yet another playoff shortcoming.
For the Chiefs, this is their sixth consecutive year advancing to the AFC Championship Game (all since Patrick Mahomes became the starting quarterback) and Sunday was their third time in four years eliminating Buffalo in the postseason.
Bills quarterback Josh Allen is now 3-4 against Kansas City in his career, including a 0-3 mark in the playoffs.
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