The Chiefs lose at home 24-20 in the divisional round rematch to Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills. Here are some positives and negatives to take away from this conference loss to the Buffalo Bills.
Patrick Mahomes and the offense were not able to get in a rhythm on Sunday afternoon as the Buffalo defense was able to contain and force mistakes in this game. Von Miller who was acquired in the offseason by the Bills had two sacks, one coming on a crucial third down that forced the Chiefs offseason to punt and a Qb hurry that forced Mahomes to throw a late pick at the end of the game that helped sealed the victory for Buffalo.
The offense had flashes throughout the game on a couple of drives where they drove down the field easily and were able to capitalize on points, but also, there were times when the drives were killed on penalties that were drive-killers and kept Buffalo in the game.
JuJu Smith-Schuster and Travis Kelce were the main contributors on the offensive end. Smith-Schuster had 5 receptions for 113 yards with a touchdown and Kelce had 8 receptions for 108 yards continuing his dominance as one of the best tight ends in the league as of now. Although it was a tough outing offensively for the Chiefs, we saw some positives that they can work off of going deeper into the season and we should expect some changes as they are past the toughest part of the schedule now.
Defensively, the secondary had a tough outing as they were very thin in the secondary coming into this game as they had two rookies who were drafted in the later rounds starting against one of the best offenses in the league. Joshua Williams, a fourth-round rookie, had to replace Rashad Fenton due to Fenton’s injury and gave up two touchdowns to Gabe Davis and Stefon Diggs. It was expected, especially with what we saw last year in both matchups in the Week 5 and AFC divisional matchup as they went nuts offensively and made it tough for the Chiefs secondary.
Even though there were times the secondary was exposed, holding Buffalo to only 24 and making key 4th down stops and turnovers, they put the team in a position to win the game and or at least capitalize on a lead. Chris Jones had a sack on third down, that forced Buffalo to punt and give the offense back the ball with 7 minutes left in the fourth quarter. Nick Bolton once again led the defense in tackles with 9 solo and 2 tackles for a loss. His energy in the middle has been fueling this young defense to come up in moments many believed still would occur in the absence of Hitchens and Mathieu.
Statistically, it will look like Buffalo’s offense had a lights-out performance, however, if you actually watched the games, there were moments where the defenses bent, but they did not break. They gave extra opportunities to the offense to make a difference and try to put themself ahead in the game, but the Bills were just as resilient as the Kansas City Chiefs and leaving Arrowhead with a victory putting them at 5-1 and having the head to head advantage over the Chiefs.
This was a loss on many experts’ and fans’ minds coming into the season after the Bills were embarrassed by the 13-second taunt they faced all offseason after being eliminated by the Chiefs in the AFC Championship game. With many injuries that had key players out for both teams in this Week 6 matchup, there is no question both teams may see each other in the playoffs later in January determining who will represent the AFC in the Conference Championship.
With the loss, KC should not hold their heads down as they were missing some key pieces defensively and only allowing 24 points offensively against this high-powered offense. Mahomes and the Chiefs will gloss over this and get back to it next week as they will travel to San Francisco to take on the 49ers in a Super Bowl rematch, looking to go into the Bye Week 5-2 with a win and prepare for the second part of the season looking to get to their third Super Bowl in five years.
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