Buffalo Bills
6-2
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- REWATCH: Chiefs-Bills on NFL+ Premium
- Bills’ defense made the critical plays. A Buffalo defense missing key members on every level of the unit rose up with its biggest performance of the season in beating the Chiefs. The Bills won the battle in the trenches, sacking Patrick Mahomes three times and holding him below 50% completions for the first time in his NFL career. Time after time, the Bills made timely stops. Christian Benford's touchdown-saving tackle before halftime saved four points. Cole Bishop had a tackle for loss and a pass breakup on consecutive plays. Joey Bosa had a critical sack in the fourth quarter, leading a vibrant rush group. The Bills allowed a fourth-and-17 completion and the TD drive (and two-pointer) that made it a seven-point game, and Mahomes had the ball in his hands with a chance to win. But rookie Maxwell Hairston got his first NFL interception in his second game, picking off Mahomes’ deep heave with just over four minutes left, then knocked down Mahomes’ final pass in the end zone. Mike Hoecht (Achilles) getting hurt was among the few negatives. The Bills’ defense has looked massively improved the past two games, even with key members out.
- Chiefs defense couldn’t pick up the slack. Can the Chiefs win games against top competition if Patrick Mahomes and his offensive line aren’t in top form? Coming into this game, the defense had stacked three straight strong performances, but on Sunday, the Bills were able to convert too frequently on third downs (7 of 12) and in the red zone (3 for 3). Kansas City had gone 27 straight games, including playoffs, without allowing a 100-yard rusher, but James Cook broke the century mark. Josh Allen also completed 23 of his 26 passes for 265 yards and a TD, and he converted several key runs for first downs. Is it possible the Chiefs just aren't good enough in the front seven right now? They did have back-to-back sacks late in the game to force a punt and give Mahomes a chance, and there’s no looking past the offense’s struggles. But on a day when the defense needed to be stout, it withered too often.
- Bills leaned on tight ends to fuel offense. When Josh Allen needed a big play Sunday, he went to his tight ends. The group had meager production last week against the Panthers but helped give Allen more than half his passing yards against the Chiefs. Dalton Kincaid led the way, catching all six of his targets for 101 yards and the first-quarter TD that got the Bills going. He also had a 47-yard catch to set up the go-ahead score in the second quarter and converted a late third down to help drain the clock. Dawson Knox and Jackson Hawes also got involved with catches of 30 and 18 yards, respectively, and each of them (especially Hawes') helped generate yards as run blockers, too.
NFL Research: Josh Allen has 47 career games with one or more passing TDs and one or more rushing TDs, which is the most in NFL history.