Four Takeaways From the KC Chiefs' 27-24 Win Over the Buffalo Bills
Andy Reid and Sean McDermott. Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen. The Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills. Football fans, as well as the league, couldn't have asked for a much better way to wrap up the Divisional Round of the NFL playoffs.
That ended up being the case on Sunday, as several lead changes contributed to a thriller of a game. With it being a three-point contest deep into the fourth quarter, Buffalo missed a game-tying field goal that would've set up another classic Mahomes and Co. finish. Instead, Kansas City simply ran the clock out and is advancing to the AFC Championship Game with a 27-24 victory.
With that in mind, here are four takeaways from Sunday's game.
Opportunities were limited in the game's opening quarter
Coming into the Divisional Round, most of the talk was centered around perhaps the game's two best signal-callers. With the Mahomes-Allen storyline, many expected fireworks directly out of the gate. While both teams had a pretty easy time moving the ball in the first quarter on Sunday, it didn't lead to many points. Neither side managed to put up more than a field goal in the game's opening frame.
Buffalo downright dominated the time of possession battle, holding it for over 11 minutes of game time to Kansas City's 3:33. The Chiefs had the ball just once in the first quarter, seeing their drive end early following a drop. With the Bills running a staggering 21 plays in the first quarter and then breaking through with a touchdown to start the second quarter, it was an uneventful contest early on.
Kansas City's run defense was problematic
If there was a single Achilles heel for Steve Spagnuolo's defense this season, it'd be its run defense. The Chiefs ranked 28th in EPA per play allowed versus the run, putting them in the bottom five in the entire league. For the most part, though, opposing teams either didn't have the personnel to commit to it, didn't want to commit to it or ran well but couldn't cap off heavy-run drives with touchdowns. The Bills didn't subscribe to those theories on Sunday.
In the first half alone, Buffalo gained 124 net rushing yards on an average of 5.6 yards per carry. Allen ran in a pair of touchdowns and averaged a video game-like 1.34 EPA per play on first-half rushes. In the third quarter of play, the Bills held the ball for nearly 8:30 of game time and executed a 15-play, 75-yard drive that gave them a go-ahead touchdown. Kansas City surrendered its most rushing yards all season, and it wasn't particularly close. That, combined with poor coverage and reaction time in the flats, led to a classic "dink-and-dunk" style of game. It made things unbelievably more difficult on the defense than they needed to be.
Andy Reid and Matt Nagy's offense showed major progress
Had you asked anyone before this game what the reason for a Chiefs loss would be, it'd be a safe bet to predict the vast majority picked a poor offensive showing. After all, this is the same group that cost the team several games during the regular season and looked good but limited in the Wild Card round of the playoffs. Despite that, Kansas City came out firing and moved the chains with relative ease on Sunday in hostile territory.
Putting up 13 points in the opening half of play, the Chiefs ran 21 plays to the Bills' 41 but averaged a scorching eight yards per play. That success parlayed into the third quarter, when another touchdown was scored and 11.4 yards per play was the new average mark. A tumultuous fourth quarter started with a big-time run by Isiah Pacheco, but a Mecole Hardman fumble to finish that drive and a punt on the following one slowed things down quite a bit. Although the final-frame offense was nothing to write home about, the defense clamped down when needed and paved the way for the Chiefs to survive and advance.
A trip to Baltimore for the AFC Championship Game is booked
For yet another year in the Mahomes era, the Chiefs are going to the AFC title game. This is the sixth year in a row that the reigning NFL MVP and his squad have gone to the AFC Championship contest, the second-longest streak for a team since the merger. That, in and of itself, is a serious accomplishment.
The 'Arrowhead Invitational' is taking a year off, as Kansas City has to travel to M&T Bank Stadium to square off against likely 2023-24 MVP Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens next Sunday. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. ET in Maryland, setting the scene for one of the best football matchups of the year. Even with how disjointed this Chiefs team has looked at times, it just keeps on winning. Kansas City has a chance to keep writing its story a week from now.
