The Buffalo Bills ended the Kansas City Chiefs’ bid at an undefeated season Sunday, winning 30-21 in a battle of AFC contenders.
Nursing a tenuous 23-21 lead late in the fourth quarter, Bills quarterback Josh Allen led a 12-play, 70-yard drive culminating in a 26-yard touchdown run by Allen on fourth down that effectively put the game away.
On the Chiefs’ next drive, Patrick Mahomes was intercepted with a little over a minute to go, and Buffalo knelt out the clock.
The Bills’ offense was the story of the game.
Kansas City entered Sunday’s game fifth in scoring defense, allowing only 17.9 points per game. The Chiefs also hadn’t allowed a team to score 30 points since the Philadelphia Eagles did in Super Bowl 57 in February 2023.
Buffalo put an end to that, however, thanks to a balanced attack. Allen threw for 262 yards, while the team ran for 104. (Allen was also the Bills’ leading rusher, with 55 yards.) The steadiness in both the pass and the run games allowed Buffalo to control the ball for 34 minutes and three seconds — keeping Mahomes off the field.
The Bills converted nine of 15 third downs compared to only five of 10 for Kansas City.
Mahomes also struggled by his standards. He was intercepted on his first pass and was ultimately ineffective in the second half. In the final two quarters, the Chiefs scored on only one drive, punting on their first two possessions before the pick on the desperation drive trailing by nine.
The loss is Kansas City’s first since Christmas, a span of 328 days.
While Buffalo is closer to securing first place in the AFC, that won’t be a silver bullet for the team in the playoffs.
Buffalo has beaten Kansas City four times in a row in the regular season, three of them on the road. However, Mahomes and the Chiefs have never lost to the Bills in the postseason. Kansas City has beaten Buffalo in three straight playoff matchups — including at the Bills’ home stadium in January.
The loss dropped Kansas City to 9-1 and improved Buffalo to 9-2, placing the Bills a half-game out of first place in the conference.
Buffalo is on a bye next week.
The Chiefs will next play the Carolina Panthers.
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