The Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills delivered yet another epic battle today as Buffalo bested Kansas City, 28-21, with Bills quarterback Josh Allen once again outplaying his Chiefs counterpart, Patrick Mahomes, as per usual during the regular season.
The Chiefs may own Allen and the Bills in the playoffs, but Allen Clearly outplayed Mahomes in this one, with the Chiefs quarterback held to just 15 for 34 with 250 yards and an interception. Allen, meanwhile, finished 23 for 36 for 273 yards and a touchdown.
Those numbers might suggest that Buffalo had an easier time of it in this one, but nothing comes easy for the Bills against Mahomes. Buffalo led for most of the first three quarters and they went into the fourth with a seemingly safe 28-13 lead, but no lead is safe against Mahomes in a big game.
The Chiefs closed the gap to 28-21 with just over five minutes left in the fourth quarter, with running back Kareem Hunt capping off a 66 yard, 11-play drive with a two-yard run, followed by a Mahomes pass to tight end Travis Kelce for the two-point conversion.
After that it was nail-biting time for Bills fans as Buffalo tried to hold off Mahomes and the Chiefs. A potential game-clinching field goal by Bills kicker Matt Prater from 52 yards out bounced off the right upright, and Mahomes led the Chiefs on a final drive to the Buffalo 40.
Three straight Mahomes incompletions resulted in a desperate last throw that fell short of the goal line and was batted down by rookie cornerback Maxwell Hairston, and Buffalo went to 6-2 to remain a half-game behind the AFC East-leading New England Patriots.
As brilliant as both quarterback were, it was the respective running games that accounted for a big part of the difference. To put it simply, the Bills had one, but the Chiefs didn’t. Running back James Cook had 114 yards on 27 carries for Buffalo, while Kansas City’s Kareem Hunt held down the fort with Isiah Pacheco out with an MCL sprain, gaining 49 yards on 11 carries to go with a touchdown.
The Buffalo defense stepped up as well. Holding Mahomes under a 50 percent completion rate is no small task, but Buffalo constantly countered Mahomes’ usually brilliant playmaking with confusing coverages and an effective pass rush that sacked the Kansas City quarterback three times for 24 yards.
The setback was significant for the Chiefs, but it’s by no means devastating. They get their bye to regroup this week, and Chiefs fans have to be thinking that coach Andy Reid will finally have to get a real running back at the trade deadline to lighten the load for Hunt with Pacheco possibly missing multiple games.
Kansas City hits the road to meet the Denver Broncos when they return to action in Week 11, and that game really could be an all-or-nothing affair, especially if Denver beats the Las Vegas Raiders this Thursday as expected.