Buffalo ‘D’ braces for Mahomes
Soft portion of the Bills’ schedule behind them
Josh Allen preferred to stay in the moment following the Bills’ latest rout rather than looking ahead to Buffalo’s next opponent: Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs.
“It’s no surprise that I think you guys are going to make a big deal out of it,” Allen said after a 40-0 win over the Houston Texans on Sunday. “But we won’t turn our attention to them until tomorrow.”
Try as Allen might to deflect, the showdown at Kansas City this Sunday night has been eafield gerly anticipated since the schedule was released.
The rematch of last season’s AFC championship game could be an early battle for conference supremacy. Even with the Chiefs off to a 2-2 start, the Bills (3-1) face the lingering question of whether they can finally close the gap on Kansas City.
While the Bills have run up scores against opponents’ backup quarterbacks over the past three weeks, Mahomes is healthy and the Chiefs return many of the same players who handily defeated Buffalo twice last year, including a 38-24 win in January.
The degree of difficulty in Buffalo’s schedule steepens following a stretch in which the Bills outscored three opponents by a combined 118-21 after a season-opening 23-16 dud against Pittsburgh.
The Bills’ defense has allowed a combined 615 yards while generating 12 takeaways and 10 sacks in blanking two of its past three opponents, including a 35-0 win over Miami.
But Miami’s Jacoby Brissett, Washington’s Taylor Heinicke and Houston rookie Davis Mills aren’t often included in the same conversation as Mahomes, who entered Monday leading the NFL with 14 TDS passing. He was second with a 119.6 passer rating and fourth with 1,218 yards passing.
The Bills’ offense, meantime, has endured its share of sputters.
Buffalo is tied with Kansas City for second in the NFL in scoring with 134 points, but struggled to finish drives against Houston. The Bills settled for goals on four trips inside the Texans’ 20 before scoring three touchdowns in the final quarter.
Allen has acknowledged difficulty finding his rhythm, especially early in games.