Chiefs Rely on Rushing Attack in 26-17 Win Over the Bills
Following a disappointing loss to the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 5, the Kansas City Chiefs were able to respond in an unfamiliar way with a 26-17 win over the Buffalo Bills on Monday.
A cold and wet afternoon in Buffalo made for less than ideal scoring conditions for both teams. As mist would fall on New Era Field, neither squad would score on their first possession and found it difficult to throw the ball.
But the Bills were able to get on the board the next time they had the ball but they wouldn’t find the endzone. The Chiefs were able to force a field goal just outside the red zone as kicker Tyler Bass would hit a 48-yard field goal to give Buffalo an early lead.
Kansas City would respond on its next possession with a five-play, 75-yard drive that resulted in an 11-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Patrick Mahomes to tight end Travis Kelce.
With the catch, Kelce's now owns a streak of 101 consecutive games with a reception, the second-best mark in franchise history, which ties for the fifth-longest active streak in the NFL.
The touchdown pass was Mahomes’ 90th career passing touchdown in only his 37th career game. That breaks the Super Bowl era record for the fewest games to reach 90 passing touchdowns, surpassing Dan Marino's previous record of 40 games.
Buffalo would turn to the rushing game after the Chiefs took the lead. Allen would lead the Bills down the field to retake the league thanks to a pass interference call on cornerback Charvarius Ward. After the call, Allen would find Diggs on a 4-yard touchdown pass to retake the lead.
Not to be outdone, Kansas City would heavily rely on the run on their next drive as running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire would garner 36 yards on the ground en route to Mahomes’ second touchdown pass to Kelce. Kicker Harrison Butker would miss his fourth point-after attempt of the season to give the Chiefs a 13-10 lead.
The Chiefs have been victims of a slow third quarter throughout the year and it looked to be more of the same as the Bills stalled Kansas City’s first drive of the half. The defense for the Chiefs gave the offense a pick me up as a three and out led to a 7:47 Kansas City drive.
A rushing clinic from Edwards-Helaire and an improv run play from Mahomes. On fourth-and-1, running back Darrell Williams took a handoff 13 yards to the endzone to put the Chiefs up 20-10.
Kansas City’s defense continued to shine as the front four continued to get pressure and forced yet another three-and-out, forcing a punt.
On the Chiefs’ next possession, they’d go 75 yards but wouldn’t find the endzone. Butker would kick a 37-yard field goal to extend the Chiefs lead to 23-10.
Allen and the Bills would finally start to get things going as the home team was able to put their first points on the board since the second quarter. Wide receiver Cole Beasley hauled in an 8-yard touchdown pass from Allen to bring the score to 23-17 with 6:34 left in the game.
The rushing game would be vital in the Chiefs’ drive following the drive as Kansas City was able to run the clock down to under two minutes before Butker would hit a 21-yard field goal to put the Chiefs up nine points.
Safety Daniel Sorensen would cap off the day with an interception stopping Allen's hurry-up offense.
Kansas City finished the game with 245 rushing yards, the most in the Andy Reid era.
Edwards-Helaire carried the ball 26 times for 161 yards. Mahomes completed 21 of 26 passes for 225 yards and two touchdowns. Wide receiver Demarcus Robinson led receivers with 5 receptions for 69 yards.
