13 seconds… That’s all we’ve heard for the last 9 months. “You can’t beat Mahomes” “Should’ve squib kicked it” “Can’t win big games” “Josh Allen can’t lead a comeback” blah blah blah.
Buffalo was a surprising 2.5-point favorite coming into today’s game (the first time that Patrick Mahomes was a home underdog).
Early on, it appeared as if nobody wanted to take control of the game.
Buffalo took the opening kickoff down the field but would fumble the ball away in the red zone when Josh Allen tried lateraling the ball to Isaiah McKenzie who was not ready for the ball. The Chiefs would take over and march down the field themselves but Mahomes would throw an end zone INT (Kiar Elam would get the Interception).
In fact, the game would be 0-0 after the first quarter.
Buffalo would draw first blood in the second quarter thanks to a Tyler Bass 39-yard field goal, giving the Bills a 3-0 lead.
KC would answer right back and score the game’s first touchdown when Patrick Mahomes would hit Juju Smith-Schuster for a 42-yard pass (and sloppy Buffalo tackling).
The Bills would get the ball back later in the quarter and Josh Allen would hit Gabe Davis for a 34-yard touchdown pass giving the Bills a 10-3 lead with only 22 seconds until halftime. But déjà vu would strike again, and KC would mount a quick and efficient march in that short timeframe and get into field goal range. Harrison Butker would connect on a 62-yard field goal (the longest in Chiefs history) to tie the game at 10 going into halftime.
The second half started out pretty slow but we would finally see some action with 7 minutes left in the quarter when Josh Allen would connect with Stefon Diggs for a 17-yard touchdown to put Buffalo back in front by a score of 17-10.
Not to be outdone, Patrick Mahomes would answer on the ensuing Chiefs drive and would hit Mecole Hardman on a 3-yard touchdown pass to tie the game back up at 17-17.
The game stayed tied heading into the fourth quarter where Buffalo would go for it on fourth down at midfield and not convert… KC would cash in that short field and kick the go-ahead field goal (44-yarder) to give them a 20-17 lead.
The Bills and Chiefs would trade punts before Buffalo would get the ball back with 5:31 remaining in the game. Josh Allen would lead the Bills on a 12-play, 76-yard drive and end it by connecting with TE Dawson Knox on a 14-yard TD pass to put the Bills in front 24-20 with only 69 seconds left in the game.
Trying to recreate more magic, Patrick Mahomes would fall short and end up throwing an interception (Taron Johnson with the interception) and allowing the Bills to run out the clock and leave Arrowhead with the W.
Interesting fact: Josh Allen is now the only QB to beat Patrick Mahomes twice at Arrowhead.
Also, today was the first regular season home loss the Chiefs suffered since week 5 of last season (a 38-20 loss to Buffalo).
Buffalo heads into their bye week sitting at 5-1.
Kansas City (4-2) will regroup and head out west where they will take on the San Francisco 49ers (3-3) next Sunday.
– Jason Harris