The Buffalo Bills won a nail-bitter in Orchard Park, holding off a late rally by Kansas City to win 28-21. Buffalo improves to 6-2 this season and 4-1 at home.
Here's what we learned from the win:
1 — Bills prove they can win with their brand of football
At the start of Week 9, only one of the Bills' five victories had come against teams with a winning record, the lone win coming against the Carolina Panthers with backup QB Andy Dalton. Fair or not, skepticism remained on if the Bills' style of play — a dominant rushing attack bolstered by takeaways on defense — could hold up against the league's top teams.
That notion was put to rest on Sunday as the Bills played their brand of ball against the Chiefs by controlling the line of scrimmage, the clock and the score for the majority of the night. Buffalo won the time of possession battle by nearly 10 minutes, converted over 50% of their third downs, stopped the Chiefs on 10 of 13 third downs and won the turnover battle.
"We feel like this is more of who we are," quarterback Josh Allen said, who totaled just shy of 300 total yards and three touchdowns.
Buffalo got out to an early lead, going up 7-0 on the first possession of the game. The Bills averaged 7.5 yards per play in the first half to build a 21-13 advantage. They recorded a 57.6% success rate on offense in the first half, their second highest total in the first half of a game this year.
"I think Joe did a good job of scripting some stuff early on," Allen said.
Though they needed a last second knockdown in front of the goal line by S Jordan Hancock on a Hail Mary as time expired, this was a battle that the Bills were prepared for and executed their game plan in the biggest moments.
"The journey of a game, kind of like the journey of a season. And I think we learned a little bit about ourselves today," said head coach Sean McDermott. "I saw the team come together when it got tough."
Buffalo's defense got after a Chiefs team that had won three straight games and averaged 29.6 points per game during that stretch. The Bills held QB Patrick Mahomes to his lowest career completion percentage in a single game, 15 of 34 (44%) and held the Chiefs to their fewest points scored since Week 3.
"You learn from adversity," said DE Joey Bosa on the team's two-game skid going into the bye. "Losing sucks and it's a long season. We got a week off, and we just kind of walked in and came back to work. And here we are, two wins in a row."
Bosa recorded his fourth sack of the season in Sunday's win and was part of a Bills defensive line that repeatedly made life uncomfortable for Mahomes. Buffalo's 14 QB hits were the most its had in any matchup against Mahomes since he came into the league and the second-most hits Mahomes has taken in any regular season game of his career.
"We did a good job of just being disciplined. Making him think he had openings, and then taking them away," DE A.J. Epenesa said.
Bosa had five QB hits alone and 10 total pressures, his most in a game since Week 3 of 2021.
"You got to [get pressure]. You got to do it," McDermott said. "Patrick is a once in a lifetime player, and so difficult to beat. And when he stands back there, and he's not affected, it's for that type of quarterback, it's almost like seven on seven… we were able to do some things with our rush and coverage working together."
The Bills pressured Patrick Mahomes on 52.6% of his dropbacks and Mahomes completed just 3 of 16 passes for 61 yards and an interception when pressured, according to Next Gen Stats. In regular and postseason combined, the Bills are 6-1 against the Chiefs when they have six or more QB hits on Mahomes; they are 0-4 when recording less than six hits.
2 — Run game leads to explosive pass plays
With 114 yards on 27 carries, Bills running back James Cook III is first RB to gain over 100 rushing yards against KC in the last 33 regular season games. Cook logged a season-high in carries and leads the NFL with five 100+ yard rushing performances this season.
He's just the second Buffalo RB in franchise history to record 330+ rushing yards in a two-game span.
"We got a 100-yard rusher against the Chiefs, which does not happen too often at all," Allen said. "The way that James ran the ball tonight was awesome."
Cook's effectiveness opened up the field for Allen as he was able to stretch Kansas City's defense with several throws downfield and found open receivers for explosive gains. Allen had three passes that went for gains of 25 or more yards, the most the team has had since Week 1.
The 23-yard touchdown to Dalton Kincaid on the opening drive of the game was Allen's first TD pass with at least 20 air yards this season.
"Trusting what Joe's calling. Again, if it's something underneath that's open, just take it early, especially early, but finding completions and just trying to stay in front of the sticks," Allen said of his mentality.
Perhaps unexpectedly, the Bills generated those two of those 25+ yard plays with their tight ends, a 47-yard gain from Dalton Kincaid midway through the second quarter and a 30-yard reception by Dawson Knox just after the two minute warning before half. Both receptions occurred on back-to-back drives and helped Buffalo find the end zone on both possessions.
Allen displayed pinpoint accuracy against Kansas City, setting the franchise record for highest completion percentage in a game (88.5%). He shared that his throwing mechanics felt smooth and clean out of the gate; he finished 23 of 26 and eclipsed 270 yards passing for the first time since Week 1.
"You feel it in your mechanics sometimes — at least I do," Allen said. "Early on in the game, you know when — I call it slotted — the ball is coming out of your hand is as good as you really want it. I've been working really hard over the last couple weeks trying to get back into that feeling and felt like I had a good feeling early on in this game."
Buffalo has four games this season with 400+ total yards and 0 turnovers, tied for their most such games in a single season.
3 — Maxwell Hairston gets his "big introduction" to Buffalo
Rookie Maxwell Hairston had a home debut to remember. In just his second game, the first round pick rose to the occasion and picked off Patrick Mahomes late in the fourth quarter to preserve a 28-21 lead.
"Games like this are the games that I prayed for growing up," he shared. "This game as a little kid you wanted to be a part of. And the fact that I was a part of this game tonight man was truly like a dream come true."
Hairston mainly drew the assignment of covering speedster Xavier Worthy and the rookie was more than up to the task.
On one particular play, Hairston showcased his own speed and ran stride for stride with Worthy down the sideline, not allowing any breathing room for Mahomes to squeeze a deep shot into his intended receiver.
"I knew coming into this game that they got straight up about four or five receivers that could just go. And then having Worthy who just set the 40 record last year… Just being confident because I ran a fast 40 too. So I know I feel confident running with anybody," Hairston said.
In the waning stages of the game with Buffalo protecting a 7-point lead, Hairston once again stayed in front of Worthy on a 3-and-10 play. Bosa got pressure off the left side of the line, forcing Mahomes to throw deep and Hairston was there to pick it off downfield.
The Bills disguised their coverage look, according to Hairston, showing man pre-snap but then going into zone.
"It's a zone where we kind of make it look like man and then kind of fall back," he said. "Really just trusting what I saw from their two minute drive in the first half, knowing that they will come back to it at the end of the game. Just trusting what I see, being at the right spot doing my 1/11th and the ball found me."
Having the confidence and awareness to trust the play call and make a play impressed McDermott.
"It's only his second game in the NFL, this is a pretty big introduction to the NFL when you're in this type of game, so really proud of him," he said.
