The Buffalo Bills had to win this game by narrowly defeating the Kansas City Chiefs. This was accomplished by Josh Allen making key plays, his receivers making important catches, and Von Miller causing problems for Patrick Mahomes.
The Bills won in Kansas City, which is good. However, the way they won was more important than just the fact that they won. They beat the Chiefs by only 4 points, which is better for them in the long run.
The Bills are the best team in the NFL but they need to win games against good teams to keep their title.
“I’m proud of our team for how they fought tonight. We didn’t start off well, but everyone kept calm, trusted the plan, and kept playing. We wanted to win and that’s what we did.”
The play that Allen mentioned was when the Buffalo’s player fumbled the ball on the pitch, and the Kansas City’s linebacker recovered it. This could have been a bad sign for the Buffalo team, but instead it made them more optimistic about what this team could become.
The Bills have had great success when they have completely outplayed their opponents. Unfortunately, they have not done as well in recent games that were close. Since the beginning of last season, they had lost seven games in a row that were decided by only one score (including the playoffs) before finally winning 23-20 against the Baltimore Ravens in Week 4. The most significant of these losses was the 42-36 overtime loss to the Chiefs in Kansas City during the Divisional Round of last season’s playoffs.
The Bills won against the Chiefs, which makes them 5-1 and first in the AFC East. This win is especially good because the Bills lost to the Chiefs in the playoffs last year.
The best part of Sunday’s game was watching Buffalo’s new player, Miller, pressure Mahomes so much that Mahomes threw the game-clinching interception to Bills cornerback Taron Johnson with less than a minute left.
“I know what happened today — we won,” said Miller, who finished with two sacks. “Everything else is in the past. I think it’s better not to know and I didn’t feel that (desire for redemption after the playoff loss). I wasn’t here with these guys to go through that game. But I was here today, and I saw these guys work all week and all offseason long to be successful.”
The Bills chose Miller to join the team because they thought he could help them win a championship. In the past, Mahomes had beaten them in the playoffs two times in a row, so they needed someone who could stop him. As it turned out, their quarterback continued to improve and did well in this match.
Buffalo was behind 7-3 late in the first half when Allen led his team on a 7-play, 96-yard drive that ended with a 34-yard touchdown pass to Gabe Davis, giving them a lead. But Kansas City’s Mahomes put his team in position for Harrison Butker to kick a team-record 62-yard field goal as the half ended, so they were ahead again 20-17. Then with 5:31 left in the game, Allen got the ball and led a 12-play, 76-yard drive that ended with his 14-yard touchdown pass to tight end Dawson Knox, which put them ahead again with 1:04 remaining.
Allen wasn’t able to make those plays consistently a couple years ago, but he made them last season when it counted. Buffalo wasn’t able to stop Mahomes when it mattered most, but kept it in perspective. They know there’s a good chance they will need those same types of plays in the postseason, perhaps against the Chiefs again.
Allen said that they are just trying to be playoff-caliber and that every game is big in the NFL. He said that it does not matter if they are playing a team that is 4-1 or 1-4 because any team can win on any given day.
Allen admitted that he didn’t know who was up next for Buffalo, as the Bills have a bye before hosting Green Bay on Oct. 30. He did acknowledge that he was looking forward to some downtime, with some golf or fishing likely on the agenda.
The Bills are off to the fast start every team hopes for, so a little relaxation won’t be a bad thing. They know that the more success they have now, the more it will mean when they’re playing postseason games.
This win was sweeter than others because Buffalo won in Kansas City last October. That game was a 38-20 victory, a blowout like the Bills’ demolition of the Rams in this year’s season opener and their 35-point win over the Steelers last week.
Since Miller came, the Bills have been feeling differently. They talk about winning a championship and have taken some real steps to make that happen. But what they should know better than anyone is that championships aren’t easy to get. You have to work hard for them, and it helps to have a lot of experience with that.
Fred Cole is a seasoned news reporter with over 15 years of experience in the industry. He has worked for some of the biggest news outlets in the country, including the Associated Press and CNN.