Dalton Kincaid played through knee injuries vs. Chiefs, says Bills teammate Dawson Knox

For the fourth time in the last five years, the Buffalo Bills crossed paths with the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC bracket of the NFL playoffs on Sunday. Buffalo had yet to beat the Chiefs and quarterback Patrick Mahomes in the postseason and that trend continued as Kansas City won 32-29 in another close contest.

The game's biggest play came with less than two minutes to go as the Bills faced 4th-and-5 near midfield. Quarterback Josh Allen dropped back and was immediately pressured by a blitz package by the Chiefs' defense.

Allen threw a desperation heave toward tight end Dalton Kincaid, who was well past the first-down marker, but Kincaid couldn't hold on while working back to the ball.

It'll be a lasting memory from the game of that effort by Kincaid in a critical moment.

It took a lot for him to be out there in the first place. Fellow Bills tight end Dawson Knox said Kincaid was playing through PCL injuries in both knees.

Kincaid had two catches for 13 yards in Sunday's AFC championship game.

The second-year tight end missed three games during the regular season with an injury to his left knee suffered in Week 10 against the Indianapolis Colts.

AFC championship game: Dalton Kincaid's pain 'going to linger for a while' after dropped pass, loss to Chiefs

He was full-go for the playoffs, though, and had four catches for 58 yards on five targets combined in the wild-card and divisional rounds. He had a postseason-high four targets against the Chiefs but couldn't make good on the last one.

"Josh got the ball off. He was pressured, and it was hanging up there and I just wasn’t able to catch it," Kincaid said after the loss. "Right now it obviously hurts a lot, and it’s going to linger for a while, but eventually you’ve got to move on. And hopefully you grow from this, and I believe that will be the case, but for the time being, it’s going to hurt a lot."

Both Bills coach Sean McDermott and Allen voiced their support for Kincaid after the game.

"He gave it everything he had," McDermott said. "I love Dalton Kincaid. Sometimes those work out. He makes more of those than he doesn’t, and he’ll make the next one."

"I've gotta be better for him... I know he's been battling throughout the entire year, bumps and bruises, probably some games he shouldn't have played he was in," Allen said. "But he's a tough sucker and I've got nothing but love for him, how he's approached this year. He's gonna be so much better next year, let his body heal up. And I'm gonna be better for him, and I can promise you that."

Bills fans support Kincaid after loss

Fans of the Bills and Buffalo's playoff foes Baltimore and Kansas City have come out in support of Kincaid after the loss.

The Summit Center, a Buffalo-area organization that provides programs for people with autism and other developmental disabilities, has been Kincaid's charity for the "My Cause My Cleats" NFL initiative.

Organizers say more than 160 people have donated to the center since Sunday's game. Ravens, Bills and Chiefs fans have posted on social media calling for donations.

This continues the trend started by the Bills fan community. Bills fans raised over $100,000 for Breakthrough T1D, a non-profit devoted to Type 1 diabetes research supported by Baltimore Ravens tight end Mark Andrews, after Buffalo's 27-25 win over Baltimore in the AFC divisional playoffs.

Bills fan Nicholas Howard organized a GoFundMe for the charity after the win.

"As many of you know Ravens TE wasn't able to catch the the game-tying 2-point conversion and upset Ravens fans," Howard wrote in the fundraiser description. "On top of that the TE has been receiving death threats and nasty comments after his performance last night. We want Bills Mafia to donate to Mark's charity for [type 1] diabetes. Let's reach a goal of at least 5k."

The Ravens thanked the Bills fans for their support on social media.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Dalton Kincaid played through knee injuries vs. Chiefs, says Bills TE