Every matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills is bound to be a memorable one. Sunday’s Divisional Round contest, in Orchard Park, lived up to expectations. … except for the part about the home team finally winning one of these things, with the final score Chiefs 27, Buffalo 24.
Bills QB Josh Allen was asked to “put into words” what this feels like – again.
Replied an exasperated Allen: “It sucks. Losing sucks. Losing to them. Losing to anybody. At home. It sucks.”
There was craziness early. And craziness late. And failure at the end.
Chaos made an appearance instantly when Buffalo receiver Stefon Diggs fumbled on the game’s first offensive play. Tight end Dalton Kincaid batted the ball out of bounds – illegally – but likely saved a turnover. Two plays later, Josh Allen would complete a lateral, and after Kansas City declined to challenge, it counted. The 14-play opening drive would result in a Tyler Bass field goal.
The Chiefs would answer back with a field goal of their own, though special teams shouldn’t be taken for granted in this one. The wind has made long field goals far from a guarantee. … as Bass would learn late in the game.
Buffalo took its second drive into the end zone, capped off with an Allen rushing touchdown.
Leading 10-3 early in the second quarter, the defense stood up in the red zone, forcing a couple of incompletions from Patrick Mahomes and forcing another field goal. The chip shot was successful, but in a game of this magnitude, leaving points on the field feels like it could haunt the Chiefs.
It’s also worth noting that the Bills are legitimately thin at linebacker. They went into the game with just four healthy linebackers, and a Tyrel Dodson injury scare temporarily weakened them further.
It was only a matter of time before tight end Travis Kelce left his mark on this one, and he did just that soon after Edwards-Helaire’s big play. Two plays after it, Kelce found himself wide open in the corner of the end zone for a 22-yard touchdown and the 13-10 lead.
A circus-like play from Allen helped keep Buffalo’s final offensive drive of the half on track. Sprinting toward the line of scrimmage, with defenders collapsing on him, he turned and hit running back Latavius Murray for a 15-yard gain. He would follow that up with another huge scramble good for 18 yards.
After a huge contested catch by receiver Khalil Shakir, Buffalo was set up in a goal-to-go situation. Allen would finish the drive with a touchdown on a quarterback draw.
But there would be a weird fake punt by Buffalo, a lucky touchback to benefit the Bills, a bomb from Allen to Stefon Diggs that, if caught, probably changes the outcome … Craziness.
Both quarterbacks had great moments. Mahomes completed 17-of-23 passes for 215 yards and two touchdowns while posting a season-high passer rating of 131.6. He had zero turnovers and also wasn’t sacked. Allen finished with 258 total yards, a passing touchdown and a pair of rushing touchdowns.
But once again, Mahomes gets to experience what it feels like to win.
And Allen gets to feel like … well, how much “losing sucks.”
