Bills’ victory a big statement in AFC
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – It rained and poured on the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday night.
The Chiefs were blasted by the Buffalo Bills, 38-20 in an AFC title game rematch at Arrowhead Stadium that saw its second half delayed 62 minutes by severe weather.
Buffalo’s Josh Allen – and not Patrick Mahomes – was the best quarterback on the field. Allen burned the worstranked defense in the league for 315 yards and three TD passes, with no picks and a season-high efficiency rating of 139.1. He also led his team in rushing with 59 yards, which included a 9yard TD run and a highlight film on a third-down conversion in the fourth quarter when he hurdled L’Jarius Sneed in the open field to extend what turned out as a signature, 12-play, 85-yard touchdown drive.
“That’s just Josh, doing what he does,” Bills offensive tackle Dion Dawkins marveled of Allen’s big run. “I looked over and it was, ‘What is he doing? Oh, that’s what he’s doing.’ “
Allen was also deadly with his deep throws, striking for 35 yards on a TD throw to Emmanuel Sanders, then later finding tight end Dawson Knox for a 53yard score while scrambling. He also connected with Stefon Diggs on a 61yard heave that set up a field goal and nailed a 41-yard completion to Knox, who finished with three catches for 117 yards.
Mahomes, on the other hand, had one of his worst games as a pro while matched against the NFL’s No. 1-ranked defense.
How the Bills defense would match up against the potent Chiefs offense was an intriguing subplot as the game rematch approached. Buffalo became the first time since the 2000 Baltimore Ravens to open a season with two shutouts in its first four games, but the lofty rankings came against struggling offenses fielded by Miami, Washington and Houston. Kansas City – which swept the Bills in two games last season, including the AFC championship game – posed a much tougher challenged.
Test passed. The Bills defense plastered the Chiefs receivers and doused all of the star power in using a scheme that relied almost exclusively on a four-man rush with seven defenders in coverage. According to NFL Next Gen Stats, Buffalo never blitzed on Mahomes’ 56 dropbacks (54 pass attempts, two sacks).
Furthermore, it prevented the explosive plays that are a staple of Kansas City’s offense – just one of Mahomes’ 33 completions went for more than 20 yards – and produced three turnovers (another Kansas City giveaway came on a kickoff return).
The second of Mahomes’ two interceptions – off a short pass that deflected off the hands of usually reliable Tyreek Hill – was returned 26 yards for a touchdown by Micah Hyde in the third quarter, extending Buffalo’s lead to 31-13. He also lost a fumble late in the fourth quarter, bobbling a shotgun snap while the Chiefs were in striking range, that dashed any remaining hopes of a miraculous rally.
“Obviously, last year left a bad taste in our mouth,” Hyde said. “So, we wanted to come back.”
Mahomes’ 70.9 pass efficiency rating wasn’t as low as his Super Bowl 55 mark (52.3) against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in February, but it was another of the patterns dogging the two-time defending AFC champs.
In falling to 2-3, the Chiefs are below .500 this late in the season for the first time since 2015, when a five-game skid left them at 1-5.
And the Chiefs suffered another blow that might have lingering effects as running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire, the team’s first-round pick in 2020, was knocked out of the game with a knee injury. The specific injury and prognosis is unknown, but Edwards-Helaire was helped off the field by teammates in the third quarter and almost immediately was ruled out for the remainder of the game.
It’s way too early to draw conclusions about how this season will end or whether the balance of power has definitively shifted in the AFC. But Kansas City is sitting alone in last place in the AFC West while Buffalo (4-1) might have made a statement by winning in such a complete fashion.
Then again, the Bills have matured enough to know that championships are not won in October.
“This going to made a bigger deal than what it is,” Allen said. “We’re only in Week 5, the last time I checked. Four wins doesn’t get you to the playoffs. We came into a hostile environment, played a really good team and ended up with a win.”
But really, Josh, didn’t you clear a hurdle – literally and figuratively – in beating the Chiefs?
“It’s a week-by-week league,” he said. “You’re either on top of the world or you need everybody fired and change everything up. We just wanted to come out here and execute a game plan.”
Part of the game plan was surely not to make the win bigger than it was. But it was still sweet.
“Today was a big step, going on the road and beating a team like this,” said Sanders, who caught two touchdowns. “But we’re not going to go crazy about it. We’ve got to go back to work.”