The cold and rainy conditions partially contributed to the stalling of the Buffalo Bills offense. The Kansas City Chiefs contributed the other portion that limited the Bills’ progress all evening en route to KC grabbing a 26-17 win at Bills Stadium in Week 6.
All in all, the Chiefs showed that they are part of the upper tier of the NFL. Meanwhile, the Bills are still just on the outside looking in. Once again on a national stage, Buffalo showed they are just out of reach of being in such consideration.
Buffalo’s offense, which was explosive over the first four weeks of the season, could not muster anywhere near enough of an attack to challenge the Chiefs. The things that worked during the first four games have largely been absent over the past two outings.
The Bills put the first points of the night on the board with a 48-yard field goal from Tyler Bass. As a microcosm of the Bills struggles through the air, Josh Allen went two-for-five for 15 passing yards on this scoring drive.
On the subsequent drive, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce scoring his first touchdown of the night, an 11-yard pass from Patrick Mahomes over the middle of the field. Kansas City plowed through the Bills defense quickly, going 75 yards in only five plays.
Even so, Buffalo’s offense found a way to put up points again, as Stefon Diggs made a tremendous catch on the side of the end zone, dragging both feet just inside the boundary to give the Bills the lead once again.
Stefon Diggs showing off with the toe drag swag 😎pic.twitter.com/wG4J0rB0P4
— PFF (@PFF) October 19, 2020
However, that was the high watermark for the Bills.
Buffalo’s offense could not sustain any sort of presence on the field for the next two quarters. Offensive coordinator Brian Daboll put the game back in Allen’s hands, picking up the pace in the fourth quarter. Allen reacted well, leading a six-play, 75-yard drive culminating in an eight-yard Cole Beasley touchdown reception. Allen accounted for all of the yards on the drive with his arm and legs, outside of a Chiefs pass interference penalty.
Still, the Bills offense racked up only 206 total yards. Allen went 14-of-27 for 122 passing yards, two touchdown passes, and the late-game interception. The problems on the ground continued for Buffalo’s offense, as the Bills ran for 81 yards. No part of Buffalo’s offense really put fear into Kansas City’s defense at any point.
On the flip side, the defense was consistently on their heels in this game. The Bills schemed up another bend-but-don’t-break defensive scheme, which should cause some worry moving forward.
Buffalo’s defense kept the Chiefs from completing the explosive play. However, the methodical movement of the Kansas City offense faced little resistance. Mahomes did not have to have a big game, as the ground attack demolished the Bills. Kansas City racked up 245 rushing yards.
When the Chiefs needed a play through the air, they did find it, though. The Chiefs completed nine-out-of-14 third-down attempts, including several third-and-longs.
Kansas City, even without their traditional explosive passing offensive numbers, put up 466 total yards on offense. This dwarfed Buffalo’s 206 total yards.
Even with all of this, the Bills were close in this game (at least on the scoreboard. A missed field goal at the end of the first half by Tyler Bass came back to haunt Buffalo, as the Bills were down nine after the two-minute warning.
The moment that was the microcosm of the game was the fourth-and-inches rush by Darrel Williams. In the fourth quarter, Kansas City held a field goal lead. The Bills held tight, forcing a fourth down. However, Williams took the handoff and burst through the line for a 13-yard touchdown score, giving the Chiefs a 20-10 lead. The 10-point lead felt as if it were twice as large.
Buffalo is not at the point of exploding by any means right now. However, if there were a dam holding back water, it’s starting to show some cracks. The defense is can not hold down everything on their own. Even Tre’Davious White and Jordan Poyer took uncharacteristic personal fouls in the fourth quarter against the Chiefs.
It’s quite a flip from the first few weeks of the season when the Bills were firing on all cylinders with all facets of their game. Now, Buffalo will need to right the ship and fortunately, they will see the lowly New York Jets next Sunday. It will be the ideal spot for a team that largely struggled to complete anything positive over the past two games.
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