ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Here are my five takeaways from the Buffalo Bills’ victory 30-21 against the Kansas City Chiefs Sunday at Highmark Stadium:
1. I understand the sentiment that the only games that matter between these teams are the ones played in the postseason. I get that these teams will probably meet again in January – something Patrick Mahomes mentioned to Josh Allen on the field after the game – and that the Bills are 0-3 in those encounters.
I still count this as an important win.
Besides giving the Bills a head-to-head advantage for a potential tiebreaker in playoff seeding, it also provides them with a huge momentum boost to take into the grind of a three-game stretch beginning after next weekend’s bye. They handed the NFL’s lone unbeaten team and defending Super Bowl champion its first loss of the season while winning their sixth game in a row. They continued to overcome injuries and show the resilience and toughness that define their 9-2 season.
And they did it in an electrified atmosphere with a crowd roaring at playoff decibels.
“Well, when it’s hard to hear on the headset, what the coaches in the booth are saying, you know it’s pretty darn loud,” Sean McDermott said.
McDermott did his best before and after the game to downplay the significance of what the outside world was billing as the game of the year and a possible preview of the AFC Championship Game.
“(He said), ‘It’s just another game,’ and, ‘A hundred years from now, nobody’s going to remember,’” Von Miller said. “We’re like, ‘(Bleep) that. This is a big game. This is why we’re here. When the bright lights come on, we rise to the occasion.’
“We don’t need to sugarcoat it to take the pressure off of us. Pressure comes from within. And everybody in the defensive line room kind of rose to the occasion. It’s a special moment … It’s a statement win. They were undefeated.”
Miller did say the game was not the Bills’ Super Bowl. They’ve beaten the Chiefs before in the regular season, winning four of the last five non-playoff meetings. The problem has come in the postseason, where the Allen-led Bills have gone 0-3 against the Mahomes-led Chiefs.
Asked if he expects to see the Chiefs again in the playoffs, Miller said, “One hundred percent, one hundred percent. In some form or fashion, whether it’s at our place or their place, we’re going to see the Chiefs again, whether it’s in the division round or the AFC Championship Game or whatever it may be. We’re going to see the Chiefs again.”
Said Allen, “Yeah, given our history, we tend to meet in the playoffs. So, again, we’re not there yet. We’ll focus on that when we get there.”
2. Josh Allen made the play of the season with his 26-yard run for the winning touchdown with 2:17 remaining on fourth-and-two and the Bills ahead, 23-21.
It wasn’t only a decisive play. It was a remarkable showing of Allen’s speed, strength and sheer determination to get into the end zone.
McDermott knew that a field goal wasn’t going to be enough to put the Chiefs away. Allen knew that do. It was touchdown or bust.
“Any time you give the ball back to Pat and that offense with the game on the line, you know, I’ll tell you, they like their odds in that situation,” Allen said. “I’m going to do anything and everything I can to help this team win football games. Sometimes, it’s handing it off. Sometimes, it’s throwing it. So, whatever I’m asked to do, I’m just trying to do to the best of my ability.”
Allen was solid with his passing. He completed 27 of 40 attempts for 262 yards and a touchdown. He also had a terrible interception on fourth-and-three in the second quarter that set up the second of Mahomes’ three TD throws to give KC a 14-13 lead.
But Allen still got the better of his fiercest QB rival, both with his passing arm and his legs, which generated 55 yards and an average of 4.6 yards per carry.
3. The Bills’ defense set the tone and put the finishing touches on this one.
It started with Taylor Rapp intercepting Mahomes on the game’s second play from scrimmage. That set up Buffalo’s first touchdown and the first of two TD runs by James Cook.
“Yeah, I was just in the middle of the field and, you know, kind of a classic play,” Rapp said. “And, you know, got a good read on the ball. He overthrew it and capitalized on it.”
The game-sealing play was an interception by Terrel Bernard with 1:07 left.
Buffalo's defensive line was dominant, with Miller and Greg Rousseau winning their one-on-one matchups. The Bills sacked Mahomes twice and constantly harassed him in the pocket. They did a good job of forcing him off his mark and creating discomfort and confusion for him for most of the game.
The Bills also made standout tight end Travis Kelce virtually disappear with only two catches on four targets for eight yards, six on one catch. Additionally, they held the Chiefs to 42 rushing yards and 4.2 yards per carry.
4. Time and again this season, the Bills have refused to let injuries get the better of them. Sunday was another example with their pass-catchers.
There was no Dalton Kincaid, who was sidelined with a knee injury. There was no Keon Coleman, who was sidelined with an injured wrist. And there was Amari Cooper, playing with a wrist injury that resulted in his being listed as questionable.
No problem. The rest of the receiving corps picked up the slack. Kahlil Shakir led the way with eight catches on 12 targets for 70 yards, 22 on a drive that ended with a 12-yard touchdown pass to Curtis Samuel. It was Samuel’s first TD of the season, one of his five receptions on what was his best performance as a Bill.
“I stay with it each and every week,” Samuel said. “I never got frustrated. I knew the time was going to come at some point. I'm a team guy. It’s all about winning.”
5. The Bills enter the bye with a sense of comfort and confidence, having passed their largest test to date.
“It’s not the Super Bowl, though,” Miller said. “But we’re going to celebrate this one for sure. Take this momentum into the bye week, and who knows after that?”
The Chiefs have their flaws. Perhaps they don’t look the part of a team that has won the last two Super Bowls. But they still have one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history. They still have one of the greatest coaches in the game in Andy Reid.
Now, the Bills can relax and recharge for a stretch of games that begins with an NBC Sunday Night Football home clash against San Francisco, which fell to 5-5 after losing against Seattle Sunday. After that, the Bills travel to Los Angeles to face the 5-5 Rams, followed by a trip to Detroit to take on arguably the NFL’s best team, the 9-1 Lions.
“I think the bye week is coming at a perfect time,” Rapp said. “Got a lot of banged up guys. Freshen up, get away for a little bit, sharpen our swords, and come back and ready to make another run.”