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'This is not the finish line' | Bills players and coaches react to beating the Chiefs

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Bills Mafia left Highmark Stadium feeling on top of the world after the Bills took down the undefeated Kansas City Chiefs 30-21 on Sunday afternoon and improved to 9-2.

"Fans were incredible as always, that's how it goes here," head coach Sean McDermott said.

Even while the Bills were missing key contributors in RT Spencer Brown, TE Dalton Kincaid and WR Keon Coleman, others stepped up in their place. RT Ryan Van Demark played in place of Brown and did not allow any sacks.

"Just a guy that loves football, loves his teammates," QB Josh Allen said. "He works his tail off, he cares so much about this game… Didn't seem like we missed a beat."

The Bills dominated in all three phases of the game, starting on defense and permeating to the offense and special teams.

For the second week in a row the defense started off the game with an interception, when S Taylor Rapp intercepted QB Patrick Mahomes on the Chiefs second play from scrimmage.

"Something we've emphasized all season is starting fast, and that's something that I think we did tonight," DE A.J. Epenesa said. "We were trying to send a message early, and that's something we've tried to do most games… finishing games is what's the most important. Starting fast just sets the tone. But we finished all of our games we played this season, played full four quarters, and that's probably the most important thing other than starting fast."

After the game, CB Taron Johnson continued to emphasize how proud he was of this team and how incredible and fortunate they are to have a quarterback like Josh Allen, who sealed the game away with a 26-yard touchdown run.

"I'm just proud of our guys," Johnson said. "We stepped up in all phases. Defense came out, I thought we played well. Our offense, I mean, Josh is incredible. We're just blessed to have a guy like that on our squad. So, it's a huge win and I feel pretty happy anytime we win."

The most noticeable piece on the field on the defense was LB Terrel Bernard. Bernard was not able to play in the playoff game that the Bills lost to the Chiefs in January, but on Sunday he made his presence felt.

"It was awesome," Bernard said. "To have the opportunity to go out there and do it today. It was fun… Look forward to keeping it going."

Bernard had an early sack on third down that forced the Chiefs to punt, and he caught the game-sealing interception late in the fourth quarter.

"He's a great middle linebacker, one of the best in the league," Johnson said of Bernard. "Just to have a guy like that, who's a great leader, who's talking consistently throughout the entire game, I feel like it helps us a ton."

"He's just a playmaker," DB Cam Lewis said. "He's the captain of, our defense, and makes everything go with the communication… he just makes plays time and time again. That's what he does, and he shows that every time he's on the field."

As they spoke about throughout the week leading up to the game, the Bills kept a level-headed mentality, saying that this game did not have any higher magnitude than any other because of their opponent.

"It's just a win," LT Dion Dawkins said. "It feels good to win, especially against a great team. Anytime that we play the chiefs, we already know what type of time it's going to be and to get a win, which is beautiful, but it's not the Super Bowl… The respect is there, and the respect is high, but it's a good thing going into the bye week. It puts everybody in good faith and good spirits and good smiles."

Several players said that this is not the Super Bowl and that they will get back to work, following the bye week.

"This is not the finish line, as we talked in the locker room, this is the next game," McDermott said. "We get to nine wins, it's hard to do, so we're extremely grateful for that, and looking forward to getting a little bit of rest here."

Allen and EDGE Von Miller both echoed those sentiments after the game at the podium.

"Means we have nine wins," Allen said. "Last time I checked, nine wins probably doesn't get you in the playoffs. Going into this bye week, get to enjoy ourselves a little bit, but coming back ready, a hungry team and just trying to go 1-0."

"It's not our Super Bowl," Miller said. "The season's not over… but we have to celebrate wins like this. It's so hard to win in this league… It's so much that goes into that 60 minutes that we play on Sunday night, Sunday afternoons. So, you have to be able to debrief and take a step back and look at all the great things that you do, and then break it down… We're gonna celebrate this one. And we got a bye week too, so we might celebrate this one for two days instead of just one. It'll be a great night in Buffalo, for sure."

Check out the best on-field and in the locker room images from the Bills win in Buffalo. This gallery is presented by Ticketmaster.

Sitting at 9-2 heading into the bye week, the players are excited about their opportunity to get some rest before the home stretch of the season that will feature three more division games, a Sunday night matchup against the 49ers and games against the Detroit Lions and Los Angeles Rams.

"I think it gives us opportunity to go back and correct some things after a win, which is always good," Bernard said. "And then, physically kind of take a breath, get your legs back underneath you, get some things cleaned up, physically get away from it for a little bit, which is good at this time of the year, and then come back with a fresh mind, fresh spirit, fresh soul and get back to work."

Scroll through some of the best fan photos from the Bills Week 11 game against the Chiefs. This gallery is presented is presented by SnapDragon Apples. Notable Bills Legends and fans in attendance include: Peerless Price, Steve Tasker, Thurman Thomas, Adrian Wojnarowski, Lou Young, Lil Mo Mozzarella and more!